Why do knees hurt? If we were, say, professional runners, the causes of knee pain would be understandable. But why do we, ordinary people, relatively young, have pain in the knee or under the knee, or do our knees start to hurt when bending?
Here’s a short video in which Dr. Syed lists some of the factors that can cause knee pain .Check it now!
Knee pain: the main causes
The knee is a hinge that can bend and unbend. Sometimes the work of this hinge is disrupted; we begin to feel stiffness and pain. Knee pain can have many causes, and the pain itself can be acute or chronic.
Some of the most common causes of knee pain are arthrosis , rheumatoid arthritis, and post-traumatic arthritis. Arthrosis is a slowly progressive degenerative disease in which the particular cartilage gradually wears away. This disease is the most common form of knee arthritis. The likelihood that arthrosis settles in your knee depends on many things: on excessive physical activity, or, conversely, on the fact that you spend too much time in a sitting position, as well as on weather changes.
Another cause of knee pain may be a torn meniscus. The knee joint is formed by three bones: the femur, the patella, and the tibia (shin). In between these bones are parts of the cartilage called menisci. They help absorb shock loads. Similar to a ligament tear, a meniscus can also tear when the knee is subjected to too much shock or is rotated too wide.
Knee pain can also be caused by tendinitis, an inflammation of the tendon tissue. The patellar tendon runs from the lower leg to the patella, triangular in shape. Frequent jumping, being overweight, muscle imbalance, or overextension of the leg muscles can all cause small tears in the patellar tendon. As soon as there are too many such ruptures, inflammation begins in the tendon, which leads to patellar tendinitis.
If your dearest one suffers from chronic knee pain, it’s high-time to get contact with London physiotherapy clinics.
Why does the knee hurt when bending?
Sometimes knee pain occurs exclusively when the joint is flexed. One of the reasons the knee hurts when bending is bursitis. Joints contain small, fluid-filled sacs that act as buffers between bones and tendons. They are called bursae. With bursitis, they become inflamed. Not only can this cause pain and stiffness in the knee, but it can also cause swelling, redness, and fever in the knee.
Another reason why the knee can hurt when bending is gout . This is a form of arthritis that usually starts in the big toe and then spreads to other joints, including the knees. The occurrence of gout is associated with the action of uric acid. It is a byproduct of purines found in various foods and beverages, such as organ meats, mushrooms, scallops, and alcohol. The purines contained in these products form in the body the so-called urates – crystals of uric acid salts, which then migrate up to the joints, provoking knee pain when flexing.