What is Knee Pain?

Knee pain is usually related to stress on the area over a period of time without proper allowance for recovery time in between.  Not just prone to a particular area, knee pain can affect the front of the knee (anterior pain), back knee pain (posterior), inner and outer knee area.  Knee pain can also be defined as a sudden or acute injury or accident, an unexpected fall or twist or be an arthritis related issue.

What Causes Knee Pain?

Those that play an active sport or who exercise regularly are more prone to suffer from knee injuries.  Inadequate time for warm-ups and cool-downs before and after an exercise session can also aid in the onset of knee pain.

People who carry excess weight can also have knee pain or joint pain issues.

A condition which commonly causes knee pain is arthritis whether osteoarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis or gout.  Not just limited to the elderly, arthritis can affect individuals at any age including children in what is known as juvenile rheumatoid arthritis.

Diseases such as Lyme disease (a common tick borne disease) and Osgood-Schlatter disease can also cause knee joint pain.

An occupation which allows for a lot of bending, lifting or other manual related activities also causes knee pain or joint pain over a prolonged period of time.  Also jobs such as gardening or housekeeping which require lengthy periods of kneeling can also pose problems.

Types of Knee Pain

• Arthritis - Arthritis is a general term for a number of conditions which can affect knee joints.
• Sudden Acute Injuries - A sudden injury or accident is enough to cause knee pain in an individual without any prior history of knee or knee joint pain.  An accident can lead to a tear in a ligament or in the cushioning of a knee joint.  Dislocation is also frequent in both the knee joint and kneecap.  Knee sprains and breaks are also common.
• Anterior Pain - This refers to knee pain occurring at the front of the knee in and around the patella and is the most common symptom relating to sports medicine.  This type of knee pain usually occurs with those who exercise regularly, ride bikes or climb stairs.
• Back Knee Pain - One problem which can occur in the back of the knee is known as Baker's cyst although it is actually a symptom of another possible issue such as arthritis, a torn cartilage (meniscus) or associated with Lyme disease.  A build up of fluid occurs which pushes out the joint forming a benign cyst.

Symptoms of Knee Pain

In order to truly understand the cause of one’s knee pain, we must ask the following questions:

• How old is the person complaining about the pain?
• What part of the knee does the pain appear to be coming from?
• Did the pain appear suddenly or over a period of time?
• Was there some sort of recent injury before the pain began?

Some symptoms of knee pain include:

• Popping or snapping - Although quite common, unless accompanied by pain, there should not be need for concern.
• Crunching or grinding - Once the knee’s cartilage has worn away, there is often a sense of grinding.
• Buckling or instability - The feeling that your legs are going to give-out or they do give-out can be an indication of an injury to the ligaments.
• Knee locking - When you cannot bend or straighten your leg, there may be something blocking the movement of the knee or it may just be too painful to move.
• Swelling - Swelling of the knee often occurs within an hour of injury or trauma.  If the knee has swollen and there has been no trauma, it could be the result of gout or arthritis.

Managing Knee Pain

Rest of the injured area may be helpful but treatment will be dependent on the type of knee pain you suffer from.  One should also be directed to not only see their doctor but also by visiting their local health products retailer to speak to an alternative medicine practitioner.  Treatment can involve therapy, use of braces, medication or in more severe cases, surgery.