Joint pain is a common symptom that occurs with various diseases. In most cases, arthralgia occurs during movements and heavy physical exertion. Less commonly, pain bothers a person at rest, as well as at night. According to the majority, arthralgia develops in old age in almost everyone. Actually it is not. Often young people complain that their knee hurts. The causes of this symptom may not be associated with age-related changes in bone and joint tissue. It happens the other way around: in some cases, the joints do not bother a person until old age.
The knee is a large joint made up of several anatomical structures. These include the heads of the tibia, tibia, and femur. They are connected to each other by cartilage and menisci. There are also several ligaments in the knee joint. They are needed for its strength and to ensure motor function. These include the anterior and posterior cruciate, as well as the lateral ligaments. The articulation is covered by the articular bag. So why does aching pain in the knee occur? The reasons may be related to the defeat of any of the anatomical formations that make up the joint.
Pain in the knee area is an unpleasant symptom that interferes with sports, normal movements and even sleep. To get rid of it, you need to seek help as soon as discomfort appears. Even minor pain can indicate a serious pathology of the joints. With complaints of discomfort in the knee area, you should consult a general practitioner. He will prescribe examinations, after which he will determine the cause of the pain and refer him to a specialist. Rheumatologists, surgeons and orthopedists deal with joint pathologies.
Aching knee pain: causes
The causes of such pain can be various ailments. Discomfort during exercise often indicates the presence of some kind of injury. Pain develops with inflammation and destruction of the joint. Also, the reasons should include pathologies that are not associated with damage to the musculoskeletal system. Therefore, the doctor must conduct a qualitative differential diagnosis if the patient has pain and aching knees. The causes of this symptom may be as follows:
- Inflammatory pathologies. These include drives and bursitis. Inflammatory damage can be caused by various bacteria and viruses that penetrate the knee joint by the hematogenous route. Also, pathogens enter the joint cavity when it is damaged, integrity is violated. Inflammation of the knee joint itself is called gonitis, and the protective bag is called bursitis. Most often, these pathologies lead to the fact that the knee aches at rest. The causes of inflammatory diseases lie in infectionvarious microbes and the spread of the latter throughout the body.
- Systemic pathologies of connective tissue. The most common of these ailments is rheumatoid arthritis. It affects almost all joints. This pathology leads to irreversible destruction and curvature of the knee joints. Also, such inflammatory processes include systemic lupus erythematosus, rheumatism. With these diseases, patients do not always complain that the knee hurts. The causes of aching pain lie in the temporary inflammation of the joints. Unpleasant sensations are often observed in one joint, then in another. These pathologies rarely lead to joint deformity.
- Ankylosing spondylitis. This is a severe progressive pathology of the musculoskeletal system, which can lead to complete immobility of a person. The disease mostly affects the spine, but in the initial stages there is aching pain in the legs below the knee. The reasons for its appearance are not fully understood. It is believed that the disease is inherited or occurs due to genetic changes.
- Gout is a metabolic disorder in which uric acid crystals accumulate in the joint cavity. Most often, it affects the metatarsophalangeal joints of the big toes, but other joints are also involved over time. The knee joints are no exception.
- Traumatic lesions. These include: bruising of the knee joint, ligament rupture, meniscus injury, fractures of the bones that make up the articulation. Sometimes with injuries, hemarthrosis can form - an accumulation of blood. It accumulates in the cavityjoint, leading to its compression, dysfunction and pain. An inflammatory exudate may also form.
- Neoplasms of the connective tissue are often the reason why the knee hurts. The reasons can lie both in the appearance of benign tumors, and in the occurrence of oncological pathologies. Most often, neoplasms of the joints and bones are diagnosed in young and childhood.
Discomfort above or below the knee has been linked to muscle and nerve disorders. Also, pain can appear due to excessive physical exertion. Including being overweight. In some cases, discomfort occurs due to impaired blood supply.
Night pain in knee joints
If the discomfort during the day can be explained by excessive loads, then what about the fact that the legs are aching below the knees at night? The reasons for this phenomenon can also be different. In some cases, they are associated with muscle diseases, sometimes with impaired blood supply or innervation. Aching pains are often accompanied by cramps or unpleasant twitching of the legs. Naturally, these symptoms interfere with normal sleep. To deal with this problem, you should consult a doctor. In some cases, pain occurs due to a deficiency of trace elements in the body. Among them are calcium and magnesium.
Women are more likely to complain that their legs are aching below the knees at night. The reasons may be hormonal changes. With a lack of estrogen, calcium levels are noticeabledecreases, resulting in discomfort in the muscles of the legs. A decrease in the amount of female sex hormones occurs during pregnancy, lactation and during menopause.
Wearing high heeled shoes all day also causes pain below the knee in the evening and at night. In order not to develop serious circulatory disorders, shoes should be changed. The causes of discomfort below the knee include varicose veins and other vascular pathologies. To identify them, you should do an ultrasound of the arteries and veins of the lower extremities with dopplerography.
Discomfort at the back of the knee
Despite the fact that the knee joint protrudes forward, pain sometimes occurs on its back surface. They can be associated both with various muscle pathologies, and with being in the wrong position (long-term sitting with bent legs). In some cases, the causes of aching pain under the back of the knee lie in excessive motor loads. Most people note discomfort in this area after intense training, climbing mountains, cycling. In such cases, pain under the knee along the back of the leg is not a pathology. It is associated with stretching of muscle fibers. Most often, discomfort disappears on its own after 2-3 days.
Sometimes patients complain that their knee hurts all the time. The reasons in this case often lie in traumatic lesions of the ligamentous apparatus. Pain under the knee may occurdue to damage or rupture of the meniscus. The appearance of swelling in the popliteal fossa may indicate the presence of a benign neoplasm. In this area, Becker's cyst is often found, which consists of connective tissue and is located in the cavity of the joint capsule. It does not transform into cancer, but it can grow in size and compress surrounding tissues. The result is pain and impaired motor function. Due to excessive loads, meniscus cysts can form. Often they are found in people involved in sports.
Knee injuries
Sometimes patients complain that after an injury, the knee periodically ache. The causes of discomfort are associated with improper healing of the injury or lack of proper treatment. The following injuries can lead to aching pain:
- Bruised knee joint. It develops as a result of a fall or impact. A bruise is considered one of the easiest traumatic lesions.
- Dislocation of the patella. It occurs due to large loads on the joint. Often, dislocation is associated with untwisting of the joint.
- Sprain. Occurs as a result of weight lifting, long jump, sliding on ice. In addition to ligaments, you can stretch the tendons of the knee joints.
- Rupture of the meniscus. This injury is quite dangerous. Unlike the injuries listed above, a meniscal tear is accompanied by severe pain and limited movement. It is often associated with traumacruciate ligament inside the joint.
- Cracks on the articular surface of the bones. Arising from blows.
- Bone fracture in the knee area. This injury is accompanied by severe pain when trying to bend the leg. Fractures occur in athletes, as well as in the elderly. More often they are diagnosed among the female population. This is due to osteoporosis, a bone disease that develops due to calcium deficiency.
- Violation of the structure of cartilage tissue.
Any injury to the knee joint is accompanied by pain. In some cases, the discomfort builds up gradually, some time after the injury. At the same time, aching and pulling pains during walking and physical exertion predominate. Not only injuries, but also degenerative pathologies can lead to a violation of the integrity of the anatomical structures that make up the knee joint.
Diseases of the muscular apparatus
Unpleasant sensations above or below the knee joint often develop as a result of damage to muscle tissue. In addition to ordinary overwork or stretching, there are many pathologies of striated muscles. Some diseases belong to the group of genetic lesions and develop gradually, leading to disability at a young age. Others indicate the presence of systemic pathology. The most "harmless" muscle diseases include myositis - inflammation of the striated muscles. Some patients complain that their legs are aching above the knees. The reasons for this symptom are different. These include injuries andinflammatory pathologies of soft tissues, neoplasms, inflammatory diseases of bones, nerves and blood vessels.
In some cases, discomfort on the front of the leg above the knee is due to necrosis of the femoral head. It develops due to the destruction of the joint. The causes of necrosis include coxarthrosis, poliomyelitis, bone tuberculosis, etc. Unpleasant sensations above the knee on the back of the thigh often arise from pathologies of the spine and impaired innervation. The cause may be a hernia of the lumbar. Inflammatory diseases include sciatica - damage to the sciatic nerve. It develops as a result of hypothermia.
Disruption of blood supply below the knee
Sometimes pain in the knee area is not associated with a violation of the integrity of the joint itself. Unpleasant sensations can be localized below the joint and indicate pathologies of the arteries or veins. The most common of these is varicose veins. It consists in pathological tortuosity and dilatation of the veins of the lower extremities. At the same time, constant aching pains below the knee are noted, especially in the shin area. Unpleasant sensations in the initial stages of the development of pathology occur after a long walk. They then appear at rest. The complications of varicose veins include a disease such as thrombophlebitis.
Atherosclerosis of the lower extremities, diabetes mellitus and Leriche's syndrome lead to damage to the arteries. These diseases are accompanied by a gradual narrowing of the lumen of the vessels and a violationleg blood supply. In addition to painful sensations, patients note a coldness of the extremities and a decrease in sensitivity. The pulsation of the arteries gradually disappears and trophic ulcers develop. If pathologies are diagnosed in a timely manner, serious complications can be avoided.
Causes of aching muscle pain
Patients often report that their knees hurt at night. The causes of these discomforts may be associated with muscle pathologies. The most common of these is considered an inflammatory disease of the muscles - myositis. This disease develops as a result of hypothermia or the spread of infection by the hematogenous route from other lesions. Pain often occurs in the calf muscles. Due to the fact that the knee joint is located near the lower leg, inflammation can pass to the muscles and ligaments of the articulation. The pain is more pronounced at night, as during the day a person spends time on his feet and does not notice discomfort. Some bacterial and viral infections are accompanied by myositis. These include influenza, tuberculosis, HIV and other diseases.
Muscular discomfort may accompany rheumatoid arthritis and systemic lupus erythematosus. With these ailments, systemic inflammation of all connective tissues develops, including striated muscles. Constant pain in the muscles is noted with dermatomyositis. Such ailments are treated by a rheumatologist. It helps to stop or slow down the progression of pathology.
Feet hurt and ache below the knees: causes than cure
To relieve pain in the knee area, applyvarious methods of treatment. Among them are medical and physiotherapy, surgery. The choice of treatment tactics depends on the nature of the pathology. First of all, the doctor finds out why the legs are aching below the knees (reasons). How to treat pathology, the specialist must decide! If aching pain is due to myositis, anti-inflammatory drugs and antibiotics are prescribed. With sciatica, the use of warming ointments, physiotherapy is recommended.
If the cause of knee pain is an injury, surgery may be required. It is carried out with ruptures of ligaments and menisci, fractures. Joint replacement is indicated in cases where marked tissue destruction is noted. Surgery may be required for vascular disease. In case of systemic pathologies of the joints, hormonal drugs and non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs are prescribed.
Drugs for aching pains
What to do if there is aching pain in the knee? The causes and treatment of articular pathologies are interrelated. Before carrying out therapeutic measures, it is necessary to find out why the pain appeared. The drugs used to treat joints include the drugs Artoxan, Melbek, Diclofenac. If the cause of the disease is systemic inflammation, glucocorticoids are prescribed. These include the drugs "Hydrocortisone" and "Prednisolone". Methotrexate is also used to treat rheumatoid arthritis. With discomfort caused by inflammation of the sciatic nerve, painkillers are prescribedand B vitamins.
Therapeutic exercise for articular pathologies
What else can you do if your knees are aching? Both the causes and the treatment of joint diseases with non-drug methods should be asked from the doctor. To reduce the intensity of discomfort and prevent complications, various exercises are prescribed. These include flexion and extension of the knees, rotation of the joints, squats. It is worth remembering that a large load is contraindicated. Exercises can not be done with bone fractures and in the postoperative period. If the pain is caused by chronic destructive pathologies, physiotherapy exercises in the early stages are very important. It allows you to slow down the pathological process for a long time.
