Knee Pain With Straightening: 11 Causes And How To Fix Them
Do you have pain when trying to straighten your knee? The cause of pain might not be what you think as there are many different reasons that you can have pain as you move into knee extension.
You might have pain when you are sitting with your knee bent and you feel a sharp pain as straighten it or possible when youre walking and the knee starts to straighten out.
There are many reasons for pain with extension of the knee and it can be difficult to figure out which one is causing pain. Well go over the top causes, treatments, and other tips that will help speed up healing in this article.
Reasons You Cant Straighten Knee
Severe knee injuries can cause loss of full motion in your knee. As a result, you feel unbearable pain when trying to straighten your leg.
Knee pain has varying causes and intensities. For instance, you may not straighten your knee because you feel like something is blocking it from moving. Another reason could be severe pain and swelling from an injury when you extend your knee.
The treatment of knee injuries depends on your lifestyle and the intensity of the pain. You can also opt for cell-based therapy as a low-pain treatment for your knee issue.
Loose Body In The Knee Joint
Loose bodies in the knee joint can cause pain by straightening out your knee. This is often a pain that comes and goes and can be difficult to diagnose. The onset of pain may seem completely random.
A loose body is a fragment of bone or cartilage that has become dislodged from where it was originally located in the knee. It can move around freely causing pain and restriction of motion if it gets lodged in just the wrong spot.
The cause of a loose body in the knee joint can be from many different things such as a previous injury, arthritis, or scar tissue from surgery.
Diagnosis can be difficult due to inconsistent symptoms and changing pain patterns. Loose bodies may show up on an x-ray or an MRI but they can be difficult to see if they are small in size.
Over time your body may be able to process the loose body but it may require surgery to go in and retrieve the foreign body.
Don’t Miss: How To Reduce Swelling In Knee
Why Does My Knee Crack When I Bend It
It is defined by the medical term knee. What is Crepitus? How can you find out more about it? When the knee bends and straightens, a person with knee crepitus can usually feel the crunching or cracking sensation by holding his hand over the knee cap. It is generally considered to be a minor irritation that will pass away without causing any discomfort.
Causes Of Knee Pain When Straightening Your Leg
Knee pain can come from a variety of direct causes, whether it’s sprinting downhill or even kicking a ball. However, the most common cause of knee pain is usually doing “too much too soon,” says Tyler Nightingale, DPT, a physical therapist with Bespoke Treatments in New York City. A rapid increase in activity or repetitive performance of a new movement can result in tissue overload, causing swelling or pain.
If you’re feeling pain while straightening the knee, it’s probably due to cartilage or joint surface damage between your larger leg bones , says Nightingale. When you extend your knee, contact between these bones increases, which can cause painful pressure. This damage is usually the result of an injury.
Here, we’ll break down the most common injuries that cause knee pain when straightening the leg, which can be categorized as either overuse injuries or traumatic injuries.
Read Also: Cancer Of The Knee Symptoms
Knee Popping By Activity
Knee Popping When Extending: Knee popping when you straighten your knee is usually due to gas bubbles , plica syndrome or patellofemoral pain syndrome.
Knee Popping and Pain When Bending: If you get knee popping and pain when bending your knee e.g. squatting down, it is most likely due to a problem with the knee cartilage such as a meniscus tear or chondromalacia patella.
Knee Popping When Extending And Bending: If you get knee pain and popping with both knee flexion and extension, it is likely that there is damage to the joint surface such as cartilage damage or knee arthritis. If there is no pain, it is likely to be gas bubbles popping.
Knee Popping With Twisting: Sudden knee pain and popping when you twist is usually doe to a knee ligament injury, most often an ACL injury and/or MCL tear. If the knee swells up or feels unstable after hearing a pop as you twisted, seek medical attention immediately.
Knee Popping When Walking: Almost all the possible causes of knee popping that weve looked at here can cause knee pain and popping when walking, be it arthritis, runners knee, cartilage tear or ligament injury. There will usually be other symptoms associated here that will lead to a clearer knee pain diagnosis.
Recommended Reading: How Much Does An Artificial Knee Weigh
Knee Injury: 6 Things To Do For The Pain
Your plan will depend on your specific injury. Mild to moderate issues will often get better on their own. To speed the healing, you can:
Some people with knee pain need more help. For instance, if you have bursitis, your doctor may need to draw out extra fluid from the bursa in your knee. If you have arthritis, you may need an occasional corticosteroid shot to settle down inflammation. And if you have a torn ligament or certain knee injuries, you may need surgery.
Recommended Reading: How To Stop Pain From Wisdom Teeth
Also Check: What Are The Best Gel Shots For Knees
Why Do My Knees Hurt Common Causes
Your knee is a complex structure. It includes three bones:
- The bottom of the thighbone
- The top of the shinbone
Strong ligaments and tendons hold these bones together. Cartilage under the kneecap cushions and stabilizes the bones.
Any damage or disease in these structures can lead to knee pain. Common causes of knee pain include:
Is It Arthritis If My Knee Hurts When Straight But Not When Bent
Often, when people suffer from knee pain, they experience pain as a sensation when bending the knee. However, some conditions cause the knee to hurt more when its straight rather than when bent.
If you suffer from knee pain when its straight but not when bent, you may be wondering about the cause and how it can be treated. Some have concerns that this pain could be the sign of arthritis. While its possible that your knee pain when straightening your knee could be related to arthritis, its more likely related to runners knee or jumpers knee.
Read Also: Can You Reverse Arthritis In Your Knees
Is It Possible For Adults To Have Growing Pains
No one knows for certain what causes âgrowing pains.â They are defined as self-limited and recurrent pains in the extremities of children with no other explanation or clear musculoskeletal causes. These usually occur during sleep and may awaken the child. Some physicians believe they occur due to fatigue, overuse, and mild orthopedic abnormalities, but the cause is still unknown. No matter what causes growing pains, we know that adults do not have them â most growing pains occur between age 2 and 12. It is possible to have similar pains, however, due to very mild injuries or overuse of muscles.
Why Do I Have Pain Behind My Knee
Pain behind the knee may be caused by several things, from age or the presence ofosteoarthritis or rheumatoid arthritis, to a knee injury or an infection in the joint.
If youre under 50 and your pain is in the crease at the back of your leg behind theknee, it may be the result of an injury, such as a hamstring or other knee-relatedissue.
If youre over 50 and you have a creaking, squeaking pain behind the kneecap, or acyst on the crease at the back of your leg behind the knee, it may be arthritis. Again,your doctor can help identify arthritis by excluding other issues.
Also Check: Why Does The Back Side Of My Knee Hurt
Dont Skimp On Strength Training
Strength training offers countless benefits, but specifically building up the muscles around your knee may help mitigate joint pain associated with loss of cartilage, says Dr. Ciotola.
Keeping the quad muscles strong around the knee will help patients tolerate the symptoms of arthritis much better, he says. People who have very strong legs will tolerate a very worn-out joint much better than a couch potato.m
Recommended Reading: Tooth Pain Antibiotics Not Working
How Are Knee Problems Diagnosed
In addition to a complete medical history and physical exam, other tests for knee problems may include:
-
X-ray. This test uses invisible electromagnetic energy beams to make images of internal tissues, bones, and organs onto film.
-
Magnetic resonance imaging . This test uses large magnets, radiofrequencies, and a computer to make detailed images of organs and structures within the body can often determine damage or disease in a surrounding ligament or muscle.
-
Computed tomography scan . This test uses X-rays and computer technology to make horizontal, or axial, images of the body. A CT scan shows detailed images of any part of the body, including the bones, muscles, fat, and organs. CT scans are more detailed than general X-rays.
-
Arthroscopy. A minimally-invasive diagnostic and treatment procedure used for conditions of a joint. This procedure uses a small, lighted, optic tube , which is inserted into the joint through a small incision in the joint. Images of the inside of the joint are projected onto a screen used to evaluate any degenerative or arthritic changes in the joint to detect bone diseases and tumors to determine the cause of bone pain and inflammation.
-
Radionuclide bone scan. A nuclear imaging technique that uses a very small amount of radioactive material, which is injected into the patient’s bloodstream to be detected by a scanner. This test shows blood flow to the bone and cell activity within the bone.
Also Check: How To Remove Dark Patches On Knees
Knee Hurts When Straightened
With every action you take, your knees not only flex and align however also bear the weight of your body. The knees usually accomplish these jobs without symptoms however this is not constantly the case. Pain provoked by correcting your knee can arise from acute injuries or chronic disorders impacting many structures in and around the joint, consisting of cartilage, tendons, ligaments, bursae, muscles, bones or the synovial membrane.
Recommended Reading: What To Do For Sore Knees From Working Out
Why Does My Knee Pop When I Walk
There are a few reasons why your knee might pop when you walk. One reason could be that you have a loose body in your knee joint, such as a piece of cartilage or a bone fragment. This can cause the joint to become unstable and make a popping sound when you move it. Another reason could be that you have a meniscus tear, which is a tear in the cartilage that cushions your knee joint. This can also cause the joint to become unstable and make a popping sound.
If you hear popping sounds in your knees and feel pain, it is possible that you are suffering from a medical condition. Some parts of the knee may have become loose during an injury, resulting in the need for unnecessary noise. In addition to a torn ligaments and tendons as a result of strenuous physical activity in recent weeks, the source of the problem could be a strained nerve. The popping sound is caused by the rubbing of your knees together closely, resulting from a loose kneecap. It may also become painful if there is too much weight placed on it. A good facial rock hill specialist can assist you in reducing stress and creating an environment within your body to remove that stress and allow you to be more at ease.
Don’t Miss: What Kind Of Doctor For Knee Pain
Rare And Unusual Knee Instability Causes
Causes of knee instability that occur even less frequently include the following.
- Partial dislocation: If you do something strenuous enough to damage the ligaments, it is likely that you will have damage to the cartilage around the knee bone as well. The patella, or kneecap, can become partially or completely dislocated. A partial dislocation is called a subluxation. Dislocation can occur if the ligaments are damaged and are not holding the kneecap firmly in place as usual.
- Cartilage tears: The cartilage at the ends of the upper and lower leg bones, which meet under the kneecap, can become torn. This often happens along with a ligament sprain.
- Cartilage wear: Cartilage can gradually wear away over time, causing pain and difficulty moving since there is no longer enough cushioning material between the bones.
- Birth deformity: You may have been born with knee structure that makes the joint vulnerable to slipping out of place.
This list does not constitute medical advice and may not accurately represent what you have.
When I Straighten My Knee It Pops And Hurts
When you straighten your knee, the quadriceps muscle contracts and pulls on the patella, or kneecap. This may cause a popping sensation and pain in the knee. The pain is usually temporary and will go away with rest. However, if the pain is severe or persists, you should see a doctor.
My knee hurts when I bend it straighten it. Your knees bend all day long. When you walk, descend stairs, or get into and out of the car, you straighten your knee. It is possible that your knee is suffering from a minor, temporary irritation or that it is indicative of a more serious issue. It is most commonly caused by knee misalignment, also known as cartilage loss. Osteoarthritis, an injury to the knee joint known as the MC, or inflammation of the low leg tendons are all factors that contribute to knee pain. Something as simple as a popping noise in your knee can be quite frightening.
Also Check: How To Treat Arthritis Flare Up In Knee
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
When I Straighten Or Stretch My Leg I Feel Pain Behind My Knee What Should I Do
Difficulty in stretching your leg may be due to a collection of synovial fluid. If you can also feel a swelling in the back of your leg it may be a Bakers cyst which makes the knee feel tight. This is not serious, but if it does not clear up you should see your doctor. Swelling in the calf may be a blood clot in the popliteal vein which is serious and should be seen by a doctor as soon as possible particularly if the swelling is accompanied by warm/red tender skin. Difficulty in straightening your leg may also be due to arthritis or a tear in a meniscus. You should see your doctor and get a proper diagnosis.
Don’t Miss: Why My Knees Always Hurt
Underlying Problems With Back Of Knee Pain When
There are many underlying problems that can cause knee pain. This is especially true with the back of the knee pain which can be caused by many different things. Its important to go to a doctor and find the root of the problem so you can begin treating it right away. The longer you wait, the worse things might get!
Iliotibial band syndrome is an overuse injury that results in inflammation of the iliotibial band, which runs along outside of the thigh from the hip to the knee. Tight ITB will lead to pain on the outside of the knee when the runner straightens his/her leg after bending it for running or cycling.
Similarly, hamstring tightness can cause back knee pain when straightening the leg because the hamstring attaches just above the knee joint and pulls on the lower part of the thigh bone when you straighten your leg.
If the cause of back knee pain is not clear, you should visit a physical therapist or sports medicine doctor who can help pinpoint what is causing your pain and offer suggestions for reducing it.
What You Can Do
Take over-the-counter NSAID drugs like ibuprofen and naproxen to ease pain and swelling. RICE — rest, ice, compression, and elevation — can often help, too: Get off your feet. Raise your leg so it’s higher than your heart. Put a cold pack in a thin cloth or towel on your knee for 10-20 minutes at a time, several times a day. Wrap an elastic bandage around your knee when you’re up and about, snug but not tight.
Don’t Miss: What To Take For Sore Knees