What's wrong with the muscle pain beside the knee

The pain in the muscles and bones around the knees is due to regular activities and walking, which puts a lot of pressure on the knees. It will gradually cause pain in the kneecap. In severe cases, bone spurs will form and even affect normal activities, leaving a root cause and causing great impact on people, especially the elderly who need to be careful.

What causes knee pain?

Osteoarthritis

Middle-aged and elderly people often experience redness, swelling and pain in the knees, pain when going up and down stairs, and knee soreness when sitting, standing or walking, which are relieved after rest. If the X-ray reveals joint wear, bone hyperplasia, narrowing of the joint space, or even joint deformity, it means that the knee joint has degenerated to the stage of osteoarthritis, which is irreversible and needs to be taken seriously. For mild cases, rehabilitation and pain relief treatment can be adopted, while for severe cases, arthroscopic cleaning surgery or joint replacement surgery should be performed.

To slow down the degeneration of the knee joint, people over 45 years old should control their weight, avoid obesity, and reduce the burden on the knee joints; wear elastic soft-soled shoes to reduce the impact force on the knee joints and reduce the degree of wear and tear; try not to participate in sports that wear out the knee joints, such as mountain climbing and stair climbing, and insist on exercising the knee muscles every day, such as practicing side leg raises.

Sports Injuries

Some sports injuries can cause knee pain, such as meniscus injuries. When the lower limbs are weight-bearing, the feet are fixed, and the knee joints are slightly flexed, if the knee is suddenly excessively internally rotated or externally extended (for example, when turning around and shooting a ball in football), it may cause a meniscus tear. Meniscus injury will cause an obvious tearing feeling in the knee, followed by joint pain, limited movement, and limping when walking. Some patients with meniscus injury only experience mild pain and discomfort, which worsens when walking with weight. Some patients experience snapping sounds when their joints move.

Treatment depends on the severity of the injury, whether conservative or surgical. Generally, meniscus injuries are difficult to heal on their own, and many patients require arthroscopic surgery.

Synovitis

There are many types of synovitis, such as villonodular synovitis, tuberculous synovitis, traumatic synovitis, aseptic synovitis caused by degeneration and wear, etc. Among them, aseptic synovitis is more common. When there is excessive exercise or exposure to cold or hot stimulation, the synovial membrane is easily worn, leading to aseptic inflammation, swelling, pain and other symptoms. At this time, you should reduce your activities, keep warm, and do some rehabilitation exercises appropriately.

Loose bodies in the knee joint

If you suddenly feel your legs become weak and your joints become stuck while walking, as if you are stuck in a position and cannot move, this is because the articular cartilage wears off and falls off to form loose bodies that are stuck in the joint gap. Gently lift your legs and shake them, and the stuck feeling will disappear. In addition, patients may experience symptoms such as joint swelling and effusion due to irritation of the synovial membrane. Repeated loosing of cartilage surfaces may lead to secondary wear of the cartilage.

If there is a loose body in the joint, regardless of size, it is recommended to remove it as soon as possible. Otherwise, the knee joint will wear out faster and faster and the pain symptoms will become more severe. If you are afraid of having a loose body removed because of a fear of surgery, don't be afraid. Nowadays, most people use arthroscopy to remove loose bodies in the joint cavity, which is minimally invasive and safe.