What Is Back Of The Knee Called
There is pain in the back of the knee, called the popliteal fossa, but there is a wide range of symptoms that can be caused by the condition. The most common symptoms are pain, swelling, tenderness, and redness. The pain is usually felt in one or both knees and can last from a few minutes to several hours.
In some cases, the pain may be so severe that it causes the patient to have to lie down or walk with a limp. Other times, it may not cause any pain at all. It is important to note, however, that there are many different types of kneepain and the symptoms can vary from person to person.
Hamstring Injury And Pain At The Back Of The Knee
An injury to your hamstring is a very common reason for sharp pains at the back of your knee.
Your hamstring starts at the bottom of your pelvic bone and crosses the back of the knee and ends at the lower leg. Doctors from the American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons say that your hamstring helps you bend your knee.
Hamstring injuries can result in pulling the hamstring muscle or completely tearing it. This can result in pain at the back of your leg below your knee. You may also notice bruising of your leg and may find it difficult to walk for a few weeks.3
Dr. Tyler Wheeler on WebMD says that you can prevent hamstring injuries by warming up before exercising. You should also strengthen your glutes which make up your buttocks to prevent extra strain on your hamstring muscles.
At the end of the article, you can find out how to treat a pulled or torn hamstring and help ease the pain behind your knee.
Fast Facts On Pain In The Back Of The Knee
- There are many possible causes of this kind of pain.
- Receiving early treatment for knee pain often prevents the injury from getting worse.
- In some cases, the pain may be due to fatigue or not stretching before exercise.
It is important to work closely with a doctor to diagnose pain in the back of the knee, as some causes require long-term treatment to heal completely.
Some possible causes of pain in the back of the knee include the following.
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Jolting Pain Behind The Knee
Pain in the back of the knee can stop you in your tracks making bending and straightening very difficult at times. The pain can be sharp and jolting or a dull ache. Possible causes of pain in the back of the knee include Bakers cyst, hamstring tendon irritation or inflammation, ligament instability, and posterior horn meniscus injury
Urgent Advice: Get Advice From 111 Now If:
- your knee is very painful
- you cannot move your knee or put any weight on it
- your knee is badly swollen or has changed shape
- you have a very high temperature, feel hot and shivery, and have redness or heat around your knee this can be a sign of infection
111 will tell you what to do. They can tell you the right place to get help if you need to see someone.
Go to 111.nhs.uk or .
You can also go to an urgent treatment centre if you need to see someone now.
They’re also called walk-in centres or minor injuries units.
You may be seen quicker than you would at A& E.
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Causes Of Knee Pain When Bending:
Pain behind knee when bending can be the result of many causes, including arthritis, overuse, or sports injuries. All of these can result in knee pain when bending or activating the knee joint. Some knee discomfort can have a clear cause. For example, if you fell on your knee during an athletic workout, its safe to assume thats why your knee hurts. Other causes of knee pain, such as arthritis or a degenerative condition, will require a clinical evaluation and professional diagnosis.
How To Prevent Knee Pain When Bending
Before you begin having serious problems with your knees, there are prevention tips to incorporate into your daily living.
- Strengthen knee muscles with exercises for the thighs
- Always stretch before and after a workout or exercise routine
- Do strength training exercises for your back and abdominal muscles
- Use proper posture when performing tasks, sitting, standing, and walking
- If standing for prolong periods, shift weight from one foot to the other or alternate feet using a foot rest
- Avoid placing strain on knees with bending or squatting by using proper techniques
- Follow a healthy diet to maintain good health of the muscles
Having knee pain when bending can limit your daily activities and may lead to further complications. Our knees allow us to move in many ways, and we depend on the proper functioning of the kneeâs many components. An injury or disease to any part of the knee can be debilitating. Good health and strengthening exercises for the knee joint and its connecting partners are key to maintaining pain-free movement.
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Why Can I Not Bend My Knee It Hurts
Potential causes of knee pain when bending Muscle strains The muscles around the knee can become tight and strained, actually making it painful to bend. Arthritis Breakdown of knee cartilage and the drying out of lubricating joint fluid can cause joint inflammation and associated stiffness and pain.
Where Does Your Knee Hurt
Knee pain on the front of the jointcould be patellar arthritis or patellar tendonitis. These conditions tend to hurt when bending the knee, kneeling and/or squatting. Typically the deeper the knee bend the worse it will hurt.
Pain on the lateral or outside of the knee is common in runners.Iliotibial band syndromeis one of the most common knee ailments affecting the lateral aspect of the knee.
The discomfort localized to the medial or inside of the knee could indicate tibiofemoral arthritis or meniscal irritation.
Nagging pain or pressure that is localized to the back of the knee could be a sign that youve damaged your meniscus. It is also possible that you irritated the popliteal muscleand surrounding area.
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Arthritis In Your Knee
Arthritis is a common cause of knee pain. There are many different types of arthritis, but the two most common types that affect the knee are osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis.
Osteoarthritis is a degenerative disease that causes the cartilage in the joint to break down. This can lead to bone rubbing on bone, which can be very painful. Osteoarthritis usually develops over time and is more common in older adults.
Rheumatoid arthritis is an autoimmune disease that causes inflammation in the joint. This can damage the cartilage and bone. Rheumatoid arthritis can occur at any age, but it is more common in middle-aged adults.
There is no cure for either type of arthritis, but there are treatments that can help manage the pain and other symptoms. For example, Modomas hyaluronic acid knee injections are a popular treatment option for osteoarthritis. This injectable medication helps lubricate and cushion the joint, which can reduce pain and improve mobility. Physical therapy exercises may also be recommended to help strengthen the muscles around the joint and improve range of motion. In some cases, surgery may be necessary to repair or replace the damaged joint.
What Causes Pain Behind The Knee
There are many different causes of posterior knee pain, including injury, inflammation or infection of the knee joint, overuse, wear and tear with age, osteoarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis, cysts or in very rare cases, cancer.
Leg cramps
Leg cramps occur when your leg muscles tighten up. Symptoms include a sudden muscle spasm, with pain lasting from several seconds up to 10 minutes. After the spasm, your muscles may feel sore for several hours.
Leg cramps are most common during exercise and pregnancy. However, they can also be caused by:
- Problems with the nerves in your legs
- Toxins in your blood eg lead or mercury
Jumperâs knee
This is also known as patellar tendonitis and occurs when a tendon in your knee is injured, often while playing sport. The tendon develops tiny tears that cause swelling stiffness, weakness and difficulty bending and straightening your knee.
Biceps femoris tendonitis
Your hamstrings are three muscles that run along the back of your thigh and help you bend your knee. Hamstring injuries most often occur when playing sports, usually when the hamstring is overstretched . However, the hamstrings can also be torn, which can take several months to heal.
Bakerâs cyst
A Bakers cyst is a fluid-filled sac that sits behind your knee that can develop if you have arthritis or sustain a knee injury, which causes your knee joint to become swollen and inflamed.
Symptoms include sudden pain and swelling, bruising and weakness in your leg.
Meniscus tear
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If You Feel Pain Behind Your Knee When Bending Or Squatting:
You may be feeling a symptom of Patellar Tendonitis . This is caused by repetitive activity like kicking, jumping or running. The repetitive exercise puts a lot of strain on the tendon resulting in tiny tears and inflammation along the patellar tendon. Other symptoms include pain just below the kneecap, pain with any pressure to the knee, aching and stiffness after activity, knee stiffness in the morning and thickening of the patellar tendon.
Whats Behind Your Knee A Brief Anatomy Lesson
The back of the knee is a complicated area. There are several critical structures back there. From a functional perspective, we have many muscles, such as the hamstring and calf muscles. The hamstrings start at the pelvis, cross the back of the knee, and attach to your tibia or shin bone. The calf muscles start on the back of your thigh bone or femur, cross the knee and form the achilles tendon, which attaches to your heel.
Behind our knee, we have critical structures such as the popliteal artery and the nerves to the leg. The nerves are the peroneal nerve and the tibial nerve. The peroneal nerve is a troublemaker sometimes. It doesnt cause pain in the back of your knee but can cause pain elsewhere. We discuss the peroneal nerve elsewhere on this page.
Most people think their knee joint is in the front. But the back of our knee goes further back than we think. The attachment of both the medial and lateral meniscus is in the back of the knee. These meniscus attachment points are called roots. Root tears can be a cause of severe knee pain which may start in the back of your knee. We cover root tears of the meniscus in this post.
There is cartilage on the bones in the back of the knee. Osteoarthritis can start back there, so the first sign of osteoarthritis could be pain in the back of your knee.
Below we are going to cover some of the more common causes of pain behind your knee.
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What Does It Mean When The Back Of Your Leg Hurts Behind The Knee
Pain at the back of your knee when bending depends on several factors. These include how the pain started, your age, medical history, and so on.
If you are an athlete and/or play contact sports often, you could have:A hamstring or gastrocnemius tendinitisPes anserine bursitis
- If you think you might have DVT
Exercises And Stretches That May Help
People whose knee feels tight when bending should avoid exercising in some instances. Thats because some knee ailments require time to heal and may be better served by rest than exercise.
A stiff knee caused by arthritis, on the other hand, may benefit from exercising. According to the Arthritis Foundation, certain workouts and stretches can aid in various ways:
- Strengthening exercises: Increasing muscular strength around the knee joint relieves joint tension. Leg lifts and hamstring curls are examples of these exercises.
- Range-of-motion exercises: Stretches and exercises that expand the range of motion of the knee keep the joint moving, which helps to alleviate stiffness. Heel slides and stretching with a yoga strap are examples of these activities.
- Aerobic exercises: Cardio exercises can increase a persons energy levels and help them lose weight, which helps reduce strain on the knee. Cycling and swimming are examples of these exercises.
- Balance exercises: The muscles surrounding the knee are strengthened, while also lowering the danger of falling and further damaging the joint. Single leg standing and standing on a foam pad are two examples of these workouts.
Before beginning any new fitness routines or programs, a person with arthritis should consult with their doctor.
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Knee Hurts When Bending Backwards
There are 4 ligaments in the knee, which work in the sets. The anterior cruciate ligament and posterior cruciate ligament control the forwards and backwards motion of the knee and are truly important for providing stability. The medial and lateral collateral ligaments offer sideways stability for the knee.
Torn Anterior Cruciate Ligament
You hear a pop and can’t move after you suddenly change direction — often while playing soccer, football, or basketball. You may have torn your ACL, which connects the femur and the tibia and prevents the tibia from moving too far forward. Your knee will hurt and swell and feel unstable.
You can tear or strain any of the tissues that hold your knee together: Ligaments connect bones to each other tendons connect muscle to bone. Irritated tendons from using them too much? That’s tendinitis.
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Common Causes Of Pain Behind The Knee
Where do we start with making an accurate diagnosis?
Generally, most doctors use a methodological process to confirm or rule out causes. Firstly, we perform a thorough assessment to test the joints, ligaments, and tendons that pass across the back of the knee. Then, we consider imaging to confirm our thinking. X-rays often pick up major arthritis in the knee. MRI can detect soft tissue problems such as tendonitis or muscle tear. Occasionally, we perform other tests such as blood, ultrasound, or nerve studies depending on the presentation.
Generally, the more common causes of pain behind the knee include:
Why Do My Knees Hurt When I Bend Them Or Go Up And Down Stairs
Many knee pain patients will report that they have trouble with deep bending through the knee, or going up and down stairs due to an increase in anterior knee pain. When you bend the knee under load, such as when you go down or up the stairs, there are a lot of muscles that are working, and putting pressure on the kneecap via their strong tendinous attachments. The patella sits above a groove in the femur when we are standing. When we start to bend the knee, the kneecap glides into this groove. This groove keeps the kneecap stable and in place. Within the groove, there will be building pressure within the patellofemoral space . Under normal circumstances, we will be able to tolerate this increase in joint pressure without any concerns. However, when there is thinning of the cartilage on the underside of the kneecap, as is the case of chondromalacia patella, our tolerance for compression is lessened, and this may provoke feelings of pain. Further, if there is osteoarthritis in the knee, affecting the joint space or shape of the bone, this can slightly change the way the kneecap tracks and alter the forces seen acting on the knee.
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Knee Pain Treatment In Boynton Beach Fl
If you are experiencing knee pain, the orthopedic specialists at Personalized Orthopedics of the Palm Beaches can examine your knee and quickly diagnose the condition or injury responsible for it. Part of the customized treatment plans we offer our patients is top-notch physical therapy to restore knee strength, flexibility, range of motion, and function.
To diagnose and treat your knee pain, make an appointment with one of our orthopedic doctors today. Call 733-5888 or use our online request form. We look forward to serving you in our state-of-the-art facility.
Stretching Exercises To Help Alleviate Some Of The Pain And Discomfort That Comes With Bending Your Knee
Some stretching exercises that you can do are the quadriceps stretch, hamstring stretch, and calf stretch.
In addition to this, you can also do a simple thigh-stretch just by standing with one leg up on a chair or bench and putting the heel of your other foot on the ground. You then lean into the raised leg until you feel a gentle stretch around the back of your knee.
When done regularly stretching exercises will improve muscle tone around your knees which in turn will make it easier for you to bend down without pain.
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What Tendon Is Behind The Knee
There are two main types of tendons in the knee: the patellar tendon and the quadriceps tendon. These tendons connect the kneecap to the tibia. These tendons are the ones that control the movement of the knee. The patellar tendon is the longest, attaching to the tibia while the quadriceps tendon is the shortest. Both tendons work together to provide mobility to the knee.
When the patellar tendon tears, the kneecap is forced to move out of place. X-rays of the knee can help diagnose this condition. A side view X-ray can help determine whether or not the tendon is completely torn. Depending on the cause of the pain, a doctor may decide to use other tests to diagnose the condition.
The knee is comprised of three bones: the thigh bone , shin bone , and patella. The femur has two round knobs called femoral condyles, which articulate with the tibial plateau on the inside of the leg. This joint is surrounded by a ridge of cartilage called the patellofemoral groove. The patella sits in the patellofemoral groove, and the patella serves as the knee cap, preventing the femur from sliding backwards or forwards on the tibia.