Knee swelling is often normal after activity. It’s important to stay well rested and maintain a healthy diet. If your knee swells or hurts, you should let your doctor know right away.
When you have swollen knees, it can be painful and prevent you from moving around normally. Knee swelling is common as people age because of changes in the cartilage that cushions your joints.
It also occurs if you have a medical condition such as arthritis or gout, or if you've had surgery on your knee joint. Swelling may also occur after an injury to the knee, such as a fall or twisting of the joint while playing sports. If your doctor suspects there's something wrong with your knee, he'll probably order several tests to determine what's causing the swelling and how best to treat it.
There are the most common reasons for knee swelling:
Injury to the knee
There are several types of knee injuries, including torn cartilage and ligament tears. When a kneecap (patella) is dislocated or out of place, it can be painful to bend your leg or walk.
A partially torn medial collateral ligament in your knee can cause pain when you kneel on the ground but not when you walk. If the injury occurs suddenly and causes swelling, bruising or bleeding around the joint, see a doctor right away.
knee osteoarthritis
Osteoarthritis is a condition in which the cartilage between joints breaks down. Cartilage provides a smooth surface for bones to move easily against one another. Osteoarthritis often affects the knees, hips, and lower back.
The most common symptom of osteoarthritis is pain when you move your knee joint or bend it from side-to-side. Other symptoms include swelling and stiffness around your knee joint when you first wake up in the morning or after sitting still for a long time. It may be difficult to get out of bed because your knee feels stiff at first.
Knee osteoarthritis can be treated with medication and exercise. Medications include anti-inflammatory drugs, analgesics (painkillers) and cortisone shots that reduce inflammation in the joint to relieve pain.
Exercise helps build muscles around the knee joint, which gives more support and makes it easier to move your leg. Physical therapy can help you develop a safe routine of exercises for optimal results. Knee braces may also help provide some relief from pain by stabilizing the knee joint as you move it.
Bursitis
Bursa are small sacs of fluid that cushion and protect the bones, tendons, muscles, and other tissues in your joints. When irritated by overuse or injury, bursa can develop into a painful condition called bursitis.
Bursitis causes swelling and pain around affected joints. The most common areas for bursitis are the shoulder, elbow, hip, knee, back of the knee (called "jumper's knee"), heel (plantar fasciitis), buttock (femoral tenosynovitis), and side of the foot or ankle (Achilles tendon).
Gout
Gout is a joint disease that causes severe pain, redness and swelling in one or more joints. It most commonly affects the big toe, but it can also affect other joints such as the ankle, knee, foot, hand and elbow.
Gout usually occurs when uric acid builds up in your blood because you don't produce enough of an enzyme called urate oxidase.
Uric acid is a natural waste product that forms when your body breaks down purines -- chemicals found in certain foods. When you have too much uric acid in your blood, it's excreted into your urine where it gets filtered through the kidneys.
Gout is a painful type of arthritis. It occurs when uric acid builds up in the joints and causes inflammation. When this buildup happens, crystals form and can cause pain, stiffness, swelling and redness in your joints.
The condition most commonly affects the big toe but can also affect other parts of your body such as the hands, wrists or elbows.
Pseudogout
Pseudogout is a rheumatic disease that causes inflammation of the joints. It is caused by deposits of calcium pyrophosphate dihydrate crystals, which form in and around the joint.
The knee joint is one of the most common areas for this to occur, but it can also cause damage to other joints, including those in your hands. Symptoms include pain in and around the affected joint, swelling, redness and increased warmth.
The symptoms may be worse when you are inactive such as at night or during cold weather conditions. Treatment includes anti-inflammatory medication to help relieve pain and reduce inflammation on active days.
Rheumatoid arthritis
Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is an autoimmune disorder that attacks the joints of your body. It most often damages the fingers, toes, wrists and ankles. But the knee joint can also be affected by RA. Specifically, it may cause inflammation of the lining between the cartilage (the synovial membrane). This causes pain and swelling in your knee joint. If you think you have RA affecting your knees.
Treatment for rheumatoid arthritis depends on the severity of symptoms. In most cases, an individual with rheumatoid arthritis is evaluated and placed into one of three categories: active disease, mild disease or inactive disease.
If you have the condition in your hands or feet, you may need to take medications once a day. The drugs might include methotrexate (Rheumatrex®, Trexall®) and hydroxychloroquine (Plaquenil®). These medications can slow down the progression of joint damage by reducing inflammation in your joints but do not prevent you from developing it later on.
Treatment of knee swelling
Knee swelling can be caused by a number of things. If you have knee pain, you should see your doctor to determine the cause of your swelling. Knee swelling is usually not serious and is often remedied easily.
You might need to take over-the-counter medications or use home remedies to get rid of your knee swelling. Your doctor may prescribe steroid injections if the problem does not go away on its own.
Summary
knee swelling differential diagnosis is confusing in many cases so you need to ask for your doctor's help for accurate diagnosis and proper treatment.
By.Dr.Fatma Ragab
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Read more:knee injuries
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