My knee hurts, what's going on?

Some people may experience pain in certain parts of the body due to various reasons. They don't take it seriously at first, but the pain will become more and more intense as time goes by. Some people don’t know why their knees are painful and swollen. There are many reasons for knee pain and swelling. It may be caused by ligament injury, synovitis, arthritis and other diseases. Here we will introduce to you the reasons for knee pain and swelling.

Arthritis or joint disease involves a very wide range of areas, with many types and different causes. The common clinical symptoms can all manifest as joint pain. Arthritis caused by any reason can generally be cured or relieved if timely medical treatment and symptomatic treatment are received.

Causes and common diseases

1. Ligament injury

Injury of periarticular ligaments: The stability of the knee ligaments is relatively poor when the knee joint is slightly flexed. If it is suddenly subjected to external force causing eversion or inversion at this time, it may cause injury to the medial or lateral collateral ligament. The patient will have a clear history of trauma, knee pain, swelling, bruising, and limited motion.

2. Cartilage damage

It is mainly a meniscus injury of the knee joint. When the knee joint is slightly flexed, if the knee is suddenly excessively internally rotated or externally extended, it may cause a meniscus tear. Meniscus injury will cause an obvious tearing feeling in the knee, followed by joint pain, limited movement, limping when walking, and popping when the joint moves.

3. Synovitis

When the synovial membrane of the joint is damaged due to trauma or excessive strain, a large amount of fluid will accumulate, increasing the pressure within the joint, leading to joint pain, swelling, tenderness, and frictional and astringent sounds. For example, when the knee joint is actively and extremely extended, especially when the knee extension exercise is performed with a certain resistance, the pain below the patella will be aggravated. The pain is also significantly aggravated during extreme passive flexion.

4. Autoimmune system diseases

Immune system diseases such as lupus and psoriasis can also affect the joints and cause swelling and pain.

5. Growing pains in children

This type of patients are mainly children in the growing period, and boys are more common. The pain is commonly found in the knee joint, hip joint, etc. This situation is a normal physiological phenomenon that occurs during children's growth and development.

6. Traumatic joint pain

Due to some kind of accident or incident, the joints of the shoulder, wrist, knee, ankle, etc. may suffer trauma (such as soft tissue injury, fracture and dislocation, etc.) without any serious fracture, causing joint pain.

7. Septic arthritis

There is a history of infection in other parts of the body or a history of local trauma. The painful joints may be swollen, and the deep location may not be obvious, but there are symptoms such as increased body temperature, joint pain, inability to move, and increased blood count.

8. Osteoarthritis

The onset of osteoarthritis is mostly after the age of 40. Joint pain is worse in the morning and gets better during the day and night. Bone hyperplasia and bone spurs in the joints rub against surrounding tissues, causing joint pain.

9. Osteoporosis

Elderly women experience pain in multiple joints throughout the body, feel extremely weak, and are unable to walk with weight. If other diseases are ruled out, they may have osteoporosis. 10. Rheumatic and rheumatoid arthritis mostly occur in women aged 20 to 45. Rheumatoid arthritis often presents with migratory pain, with pain, swelling, and stiffness mostly occurring in the wrist area. Joint sensitivity, swelling, and pain occur simultaneously and are symmetrical.

11. Gouty arthritis

Gout pain is common in the thumb and first metatarsophalangeal joint (the outside of the big toe). It is mainly due to eating seafood and drinking alcohol which induce purine metabolism disorders in the body.

12. Strain

The pain caused by the relatively large amount of activity in the joints leads to strain on the muscles and other soft tissues around the joints, which in turn causes pain. Common examples include frozen shoulder and tennis elbow.

13. Pain caused by tumor

The appearance of local tumors in the joints is also one of the important factors causing joint pain, which is more common in children and the elderly during their growth and development period. If joint swelling and pain occur, the pain is more severe at night than during the day, and painkillers are ineffective, you should go to the hospital for further examination to rule out joint tumors.