Almost everyone periodically has unpleasant backache, sharp pains or tingling in the knee joint. Most often, such sensations worry after physical exertion in the gym, but sometimes they appear at rest or at night. Moreover, the knees ache not only in the elderly, pain can occur even in children and adolescents.
Joint damage
Knee injury is a common cause of severe and unbearable pain. The consequences of an unsuccessful jump or severe bruise become immediately visible, but it is not always possible to understand which part of the compound is injured. When knees ache, the reasons can be very different. Possible options for joint damage include:
- Meniscus injury. Immediately after the bruise, severe acute pain in the knee joint appears, disappearing on its own after a few seconds. After 20 minutes, when the shock state passes, the discomfort becomes bursting and aching as a result of vascular damage.
- Fracture of the femur or patella. Almost always, such damage leads to severe pain in the knee, deformation, excessive mobility or unnatural position of the limb. This trauma is accompanied by swelling, damage to soft tissues with hemorrhages in the joint and unpleasant sensations when moving the leg.
- Sprain or rupture of ligaments. With such an ailment, a characteristic crunch appears as a result of damage to the fibers, a sensation of dislocation of the leg and a sudden sharp pain. Severe injury leads to joint instability. After some time, swelling and hemarthrosis join, and aching pain becomes leading.
If the knees, hips and lower leg ache, then, most likely, the pain arose due to excessive physical exertion, which should be abandoned for a while.
Joint pain due to inflammatory pathologies
If the knees ache, the causes may be the inflammatory process that occurs in the joint. In this case, the pain is sharp or chronic.
For example, discomfort in the knee can occur with bursitis. With such a disease, one or more articular bags become inflamed, leading to redness, decreased motor activity and swelling of the limb.
My knees still ache with the development of arthritis. With this pathology, the inflammatory process proceeds in the joints. In many cases, various types of knee arthritis become the initial stage of the formation of polyarthritis of several articular groups. During this disease, the following symptoms are observed: redness and swelling of the joint, increased pain at rest, at night and when the weather changes.
In addition, tendonitis can provoke the appearance of pain in the knee joint. With inflammation of the tendons and ligaments, there is swelling and discomfort in the damaged area, which become more pronounced with muscle contraction and flexion-extension of the limbs. Pain with such a disease often spreads to the hips and lower leg muscles.
Quite often, a hernia of the popliteal fossa becomes the cause of pain in the knee joint . Becker cyst is capable in the active stage of causing pain of varying intensity under the knee. They spread along the calf muscle and increase when the joint is bent.
Non-inflammatory diseases
With such dystrophic pathologies of the knee, most often only one of the types of connective tissue is affected:
- meniscus;
- ligaments;
- cartilage;
- tendons.
These diseases provoke the appearance of pain in the knees during flexion, extension of the legs, movement, as well as crunching in the joint. In some cases, involuntary mowing of the limb occurs when walking.
Degenerative changes
Irreversible damage of this kind to articular tissues, especially cartilage, is usually of a very long nature. It is for this reason that the symptoms of the disease develop gradually, drawing more and more compounds into the destructive process.
Often knees ache with arthrosis of the joint and spine. Coxarthrosis of the hip joint and gonarthrosis always cause pain in the knee. With such pathologies, unpleasant sensations appear only at the very beginning after exertion, they pass independently at rest. During the progression of the disease, discomfort first becomes periodic, and then permanent. As a result, abnormal mobility occurs in the compound or ankylosis develops.
When pain radiates to the knee joint, but there are no problems in the joint itself, it is imperative to examine the spine for radicular lesions. Neuropathies in the knee or adjacent structures also lead to the appearance of discomfort in the joint.
Vascular pathology
Aching sensations in the knee joint can be caused by vascular diseases. With such an ailment, soreness is felt immediately in two limbs, capturing the leg from the knee and below. Even with light physical exertion, discomfort in the joint appears, and after hard training it intensifies even more.
During severe circulatory disorders, aseptic necrosis of the knee bone may occur. The hard part of the tissue with this disease usually dies in a few days. This pathological process is accompanied by acute, sometimes even unbearable pain.
In contrast to the unpleasant sensations when walking, pain in the absence of movement, for example at night, most often indicates problems with the vessels. The knee aches at rest, as a rule, with venous stasis. Discomfort in most cases disappears after a short workout. After all, when the affected veins restrict blood circulation, during exercise there is an intensification of the movement of blood through the vessels.
In this case, it is better to seek the help of a specialist to determine the cause of these symptoms. Only a doctor can prescribe a suitable treatment. If the disease is severely neglected, they resort to surgery, during which the veins located below the knee are removed. Of course, immediately the pain will not disappear.
The recovery period after surgery will last a long time. To speed up rehabilitation, you should regularly perform special exercises and undergo various procedures.
What to do with joint pain at night?
If the knee aches at rest, first of all you need to see a doctor. If necessary, the specialist will send for additional examinations in order to choose the appropriate treatment. Legs, knees, feet and hips are aching at night often due to severe overwork, so it is recommended to reduce physical activity.
Nighttime discomfort in the knee is an alarming symptom. Thus, the body signals the presence of pathology. Therefore, you must always listen to yourself in time to prevent the development of the disease or eliminate it in the early stages.
In general, when knees ache at night, they resort to conservative therapy aimed at relieving inflammation and eliminating infection. Sometimes hormones and steroids are prescribed to get rid of such pains. In case of dislocation, the joint is manually adjusted by a traumatologist.
Knee hurts, aching: what to do in this case?
Remember that only the doctor can determine the exact cause of aching pain in the knee joint. Therefore, visiting the clinic is an important step to quickly resolve the problem. But whatever the cause of the discomfort in the knees, the first thing to do is to reduce the stress on the joints.
Quite often, with sharp pains in the knee, a person must observe bed rest with further activation of the limb. It is advisable to use crutches or a cane while walking, as well as wear comfortable and soft shoes. The doctor may still recommend the use of orthopedic insoles.
Drug treatment of discomfort in the knee involves the use of anti-inflammatory, chondroprotective and painkillers. Such drugs are available in the form of ointments, gels, tablets, creams and injections.
To relieve joint pain, medications such as:
- Anti-inflammatory drugs - "Voltaren-emulgel" and "Fastum-gel." They alleviate the condition, but do not completely eliminate inflammation, moreover, such gels are useless for vascular pathologies.
- The warming preparations are Troxevasin, Menovazin, Kapsikam, Espol. They can not be used for synovitis, arthrosis and arthritis.
- Apisatron and Virapin ointments based on bee venom. Such funds are prohibited for women during menstruation and children.
When the knees are sore and aching, it is anti-inflammatory drugs that most effectively remove the inflammatory process in the joint. But they do not eliminate the cause of the development of pathology.
Chondroprotectors are not able to relieve pain, but with prolonged use they restore joint function and damaged cartilage tissue, reduce the number of relapses of the disease. The most common of these are Dona and Alflutop.
To relieve pain in the knee, you can try to apply a fixing bandage. But you need to consult a doctor, because with some injuries it can not be used, otherwise you can only aggravate the situation.
When knees ache, only a specialist knows what to do. But if the pain arose from sitting in one place, you just need to move a little. Remember that a sedentary lifestyle is extremely dangerous - it increases the risk of gaining extra pounds. Being overweight places a heavy strain on the knee joints.
Physiotherapeutic procedures for joint pain
If the leg and knee ache for a long time, in addition to drug treatment, a physiotherapy course should be taken. Such procedures help to eliminate aching pain and reduce the dose of medication.
During physiotherapy, the healing process of tissues in various diseases is accelerated. But it must be remembered that it can not be carried out with infectious and severe heart ailments, systemic diseases of the kidneys and connective tissue. With discomfort in the knee joint, the following procedures are performed:
- laser treatment;
- magnetotherapy;
- mud therapy;
- mineral water treatment;
- UHF therapy;
- electrophoresis.
Massage and exercise for joint pathologies
If knees ache when standing up, a crack is heard, and discomfort disturbs even at night, massage sessions and therapeutic exercises will help get rid of these problems. But exercises are allowed to be done only if the patient is not too painful to step on his leg and the doctor has allowed.
Gymnastics must be performed slowly, without sudden movements. In the event that there is great discomfort in the knees during training, you should switch to simpler exercises. The load must be increased gradually.
In a sitting and lying position, they pull the knee to the stomach, bend-unbend legs, take limbs to the sides, and also perform alternate half-turns. At the end of the workout, you should relax a bit, and then proceed to the massage. This procedure also helps to relieve pain in the knee joint.
You can stretch your limbs yourself. Of course, it is better to entrust the massage to a specialist. To eliminate many unpleasant symptoms, it is necessary to undergo a course of similar procedures. The massage session should last about 20 minutes, during which they press on the kneecap, rub the lateral, external and internal surfaces of the legs. When performing the massage, care must be taken not to be bothered by severe pain in the knee.
Elimination of discomfort with folk remedies
Compresses perfectly relieve aching pain in the joints and prevent their occurrence in the future. Natural yellow clay helps to quickly eliminate unpleasant sensations in the knee, because it contains a lot of healing minerals that penetrate directly into the affected area.
You must first add clay to warm water and mix well. The resulting mixture should be applied in a thick layer over the affected area. Then cover with a film, insulate on top with a woolen scarf and leave it overnight. After waking up, this remedy needs to be washed off with water. This procedure should be carried out every day for 7 days. For prevention, you can do this compress 2 times a week.
A mixture of chestnut, dandelion and lilac is also used to eliminate aching pains in the knee joint. All these ingredients must be put in a glass jar and pour vodka. The container should be removed in a dark place for insisting. After two weeks, the mixture can be used. In it, you need to moisten a gauze napkin and put on a sore spot. Also, insulate, as in the previous case, and leave overnight. This compress will even relieve severe and sharp pain in the knee.
Herbal infusion for internal use
Such a decoction has a powerful restorative and anti-inflammatory effect. The first step is to rub the horseradish root. After that, it is poured with hot water and put in a water bath. Raw materials are cooked for at least 20 minutes. Take the finished drink should be 1 spoon several times a day. The duration of such therapy is 21 days. This decoction will quickly relieve discomfort in the knee joint.
You can find out exactly why your knees ache, only by contacting a doctor. To avoid such pains, you need to eat right, adhere to an active lifestyle and treat various diseases in a timely manner.