Back Of The Knee Pain Caused By Bakers Cyst
A Bakers cyst will cause a lump at the back of your knee along with pain and discomfort.
The cyst that forms at the back of your knee is usually caused by arthritis or tearing a cartilage. This results in a buildup of fluid that causes a lump behind your knee.
Doctors from the Mayo Clinic say that the swelling behind your knee can be a cause of knee pain. You will probably find it difficult to flex the knee and your symptoms may be worse after physical activity. To treat a Bakers cyst, doctors usually drain the fluid to reduce the swelling and ease knee discomfort.8
What Is The Muscle Behind The Knee
The gastrocnemius muscle and the soleus muscle make up your calf, which is the back of your lower leg. These muscles help you bend your knee and point your toes. Any sport that requires you to quickly go from a standing position to a run like tennis or squash can strain or tear the gastrocnemius muscle.The gastrocnemius musclegastrocnemius muscleAnatomical terms of muscle The gastrocnemius muscle is a superficial two-headed muscle that is in the back part of the lower leg of humans. It runs from its two heads just above the knee to the heel, a three joint muscle . https://en.wikipedia.org wiki Gastrocnemius_muscle
Conditions Due To Cartilage Damage
There are two triangular, or wedge shaped, pieces of cartilage in the synovial joint which are called menisci. One lies on the inside, or medial side, of the knee, and one on the outside or lateral side. They act as shock absorbers between the femur and tibia, the end surfaces of which also have a cartilage covering called articular cartilage. At the front of the synovial joint is the patella which is an oval bone protecting the front of the joint and lined internally with cartilage.
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When Should I Call My Doctor
Contact your doctor right away if you:
- Cant move your leg and pain in your thigh persists.
- Experience ongoing difficulty with walking.
- Experience numbness in your lower back, hips or legs.
A note from Cleveland Clinic
Your hamstring muscles play a vital role in helping you walk, run, bend your knees and extend your legs. But these muscles are also very susceptible to injury, especially if you play soccer or football or do other activities that require a lot of quick stops and starts. While most hamstring muscle injuries heal with conservative treatments, some require surgery. You can take care of your hamstring muscles and reduce your risk of injury by incorporating proper warm up and stretches prior to physical activity. You should also rest your muscles if you feel pain or fatigue. More importantly, if pain persists in the back of your thigh, seek immediate attention.
Damage To The Ligaments Of The Knee
Ligaments are strong, flexible, fibrous and elastic connective tissue which connect one bone to another, provide stability and support joints. They do not connect muscles to joints, that is done by the tendons.
The ligaments of the knee comprise the medial and lateral collateral ligaments, on the inside and outside of the knee respectively, which give sideways stability to the knee joint, and the anterior and posterior cruciate ligament at the front and back of the knee. There is also a patellar tendon, which is really a ligament, which attaches the bottom of the patella to the top of the tibia.
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Bakers Cyst And Pain In The Back Of The Knee
A Bakers cyst is a fluid-filled pocket in the back of the knee. Bakers cysts are a common cause of painful swelling. If the cysts are small, they do not create much discomfort.
A Bakers cyst can grow larger. If a cyst becomes large, it can put pressure on the muscles, blood vessels, and nerves behind the knee and can cause discomfort. Most people with a Bakers Cyst will also have osteoarthritis.
In most instances, treatments to diminish the swelling associated with arthritis will help reduce the pain and swelling from the cyst. In the majority of cases, these cysts are not dangerous. An ultrasound can usually tell if you have a simple cyst versus something more complex that warrants further evaluation with an MRI. If the Bakers cysts are huge, then one treatment alternative is to have the fluid drained. While that will result in relief of pain, the fluid might come back again.
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Pain Behind The Knee: Self
Pain in the hollow of the knee and behind the knee, respectively, is mostly caused by tensed muscles and trigger points in areas of the calf, knee and the back of the thigh.
Fortunately, serious injuries are rarely the cause, especially if there is no known trauma or injury.
Even when there is structural wear and tear, such as damaged cartilage etc., knee pain can often be alleviated by getting rid of excessive muscle tension and sometimes even eliminated.
In the next chapter, I will lead you step by step through a self-massage of the muscles often responsible for knee pain. Follow these instructions and chances are good that your knee will feel better.
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Pain Behind Knee: What Should You Do
In general, pain behind the knee is one of the more challenging musculoskeletal problems. There are so many possible causes muscle tear, tendon, nerve damage, and blood clots. Like most other problems, the key to managing it correctly is an early and accurate diagnosis. So, what are the causes of pain behind the knee, and how do sort out what is causing the problem?
Common Causes Of Pain Behind The Knee
Sometimes pain behind the knee is simply due to muscle strains. These injuries usually heal in a matter of days. However, this is only one possibility. There can also be pain behind the knee as a result of systemic diseases or some life-threatening conditions. Below we take a look at just what the different potential causes are.
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If The Back Of Your Knee Hurts While Running Or Walking:
This could be a symptom of hamstring tendonitis. The hamstring tendon connects the hamstring muscle to the outer aspect of the knee. This is caused by overuse in running or jumping or insufficient warm-up exercises. If you are an individual who has just started working out or increased your level of fitness, you are at risk for this injury. Pain can be felt when putting strain on the muscle or tendon.
How To Relieve Popliteus Muscle Pain
Relieving the knee pain in the Popliteus muscle is usually straightforward. The RICE method for injuries should relieve your pain in many cases. Avoid activity for 6 weeks that puts unnecessary stress on the tendon, such as running or exercising. Ice behind the knee regularly to bring the pain and swelling down.
Over the counter medication, such as Advil or Motrin can be taken as prescribed. For more serious injury to the popliteal contact your professional medical practitioner to discuss your pain relief options.
If your pain behind knee isnt caused by popliteus muscle, then see our 5 Pain Behind Knee Causes article for help in diagnosing your exact issues.
What caused your pain behind knee and how did you relieve it? Please let us know below.
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Nagging Knee Pain Is No Fun
The problem is that knee pain is far too common: Research suggests about one in four adults will suffer frequent knee pain. Pay attention to the type of ache you experience since some causes for pain in the back of the knee warrant a trip to the emergency room. Miho Tanaka, MD, the director of the Womens Sports Medicine Program at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, says the things that warrant immediate medical attention are blood clotsthey can cause numbness and weakness in the legand fevers and redness associated with swelling. Although swelling in the knee has many causes, in rare cases, it could be a sign of an infection, so its a good idea to seek immediate care for that as well, says Steven Lyons, MD, an orthopedic surgeon at Florida Orthopaedic Institute in Tampa, Florida. He adds that knee pain experienced after a major trauma like a fall or a car accident means you need an ER visit. If the knee pain lingers longer than a week or two without any prior injury, Dr. Lyons recommends visiting a doctor instead.
Posterolateral Corner Injury Creating Behind Knee Pain
Experiencing stiffness as well as discomfort behind the knee could be due to injury to fragile structures in the knee. These types of injuries are called posterolateral-like corner injuries .
According to the publication Revista Brasileira de Ortopedia, PLC injuries prevail if knee tendons have been harmed by trauma. This can cause severe pain and the failure to put stress or weight on the hurt knee. Sometimes, PLC injuries occur without damaging any of the knee tendons.
PRESSED NERVE. Really feeling continuous pain behind the knee cap can be caused by a compressed nerve in the knee joint.
The nerves in the reduced back and the nerves in the leg can cause differing degrees of discomfort otherwise trapped or trapped.
Dr. Minoo Hadjari Hallis on Medscape claims that some pinched nerves behind the knee can trigger weakness in the knee joint. Additionally, trapped nerves in the leg can be a reason for knee discomfort and/ or a prickling sensation in the legs or feet.
According to the Journal of the Canadian Chiropractic Association, physical treatment can assist launch trapped nerves as well as minimize the discomfort behind the knee that they create.
pain in the back of the knee when strolling discomfort behind the knee when flexing.
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Guide To Knee Joint Anatomy
The knee is the largest joint in the human body and a common source of athletic-related injuries. Classified as a pivotal hinge joint, the knee allows for straightening and bending in one direction, with some twisting .
The knee joint is made up of bones, cartilage, ligaments, tendons, bursae, and meniscus. A injury to any one of these structures can cause knee pain.
Calf Or Hamstring Strain Or Cramp
Sudden activity and overuse are two leading causes of pain behind the knee due to a calf or hamstring strain or cramp, according to Dr. Tanaka. Movements that require pushing off or severe knee bending cause this calf and hamstring pain, respectively. Both can be managed with ice, rest, gentle stretching, and anti-inflammatories however, one should seek care if there is swelling or persistent pain associated with this to rule out blood clots, Dr. Tanaka says. Dr. Lyons adds that although an orthopedist could treat this, if you cant bear weight on the knee or are at risk of falling, then its time to go to the emergency room. Heres what else could be causing pain in your calf.
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The Muscles In The Back Of The Knee
Hamstring Muscle diagram
- Gastrocs: A group of 2 muscles that sit in on the lower leg backside that works in tandem with the hamstrings to cause the knee to bend. The gastroc or calf muscle can be strained and torn during sports like tennis or basketball. The athlete will feel a “pop’ in the calf.
Calf Muscle Diagram
- Tendons attach the knee muscles to the bone. The two patellar tendons can also be prone to overuse and the development of patellar tendonitis. Jumper’s knee is common in the knee with athletics.
All of these muscles also have functions at different joints such as the hip and the ankle. Injuries to these structures, such as a pull or strain, will cause pain when activating the muscle and, if severe enough, will cause significant weakness.
Pain Behind The Knee: Common Causes And Treatments
Have you ever been standing at barbecue or party and felt you needed to sit down due to an aching pain behind your knee?
Have you ever been sitting at a movie theater and felt a sharp shooting pain behind your knee that distracted you from enjoying the movie?
Pain directly behind the knee is very common but can be misdiagnosed due to the amount of muscles, tendons, and tissues that reside there. Likely, you have searched the Google trying to find information on what could possibly be causing the pain behind your knee only to find scary and intimidating causes such as deep vein thrombosis or posterior cruciate ligament tear.
These are potential causes you want to pay attention to if you have had recent surgery, take blood thinners due to previous clotting, or had recent trauma to your knee. In these specific cases the course of action would be to call your doctor for a speedy appointment.
How about the majority of other cases though where the knee pain began without a know cause?
In this article we will explore the most common causes for pain in the back of the knee, but first lets peer into the anatomy of the back of the knee.
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Problems Due To Blood Vessels
The popliteal artery and its accompanying vein are major blood vessels at the back of the knee. The artery branches off from the large femoral artery which runs down from the top of the leg, and divides into several other significant blood vessels around the distal end of the femur and proximal ends of the tibia and fibula. The popliteal vein follows the path of the artery and carries blood back to the heart.
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.
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Treating Back Of Knee Pain
So what’s the best back of knee pain treatment? The best treatment for pain behind the knee will depend on what’s causing the pain. Generally, the first step is to reduce any swelling, then work on knee exercises to improve the strength and stability of the knee to reduce the force that goes through the knee joint.
Just because there is back of knee pain, it doesnt necessarily mean the problem is there. Pain can refer to different places so a problem around the front of the knee can produce a feeling of posterior knee pain. For more help, visit the knee symptoms diagnosis guide.
Remember, the best way to accurately diagnose the cause of your pain behind the knee is to see your doctor.
Page Last Updated: 11/25/21
Posterior Cruciate Ligament Injuries
The posterior cruciate ligament plays a similar role to the ACL, though it is less likely to become injured than the ACL.
PCL injuries may happen during traumatic events, such as falling directly onto the knee from a height or being in a vehicle accident. With enough force, the ligament may tear completely.
PCL injuries cause symptoms such as:
- knee pain
- stiffness in the knee if bending
- difficulty walking
- swelling in the knee
Completely resting the knee may help a PCL strain heal. However, a severe PCL injury may require surgery.
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Pain Behind The Knee: Causes And How To Treat Back Of Knee Pain
Jenny Hills, Nutritionist and Medical Writer Health
Pain behind the knee can have a serious impact on your daily activities. Sharp pain at the back of your knee can affect walking and cause discomfort when standing or walking up stairs. Pain and swelling behind the knee can also cause stiffness in your knee joint, inflammation, and possibly, a lump at the back of your knee.
There are many reasons for mild to severe pain behind the knee. For example, a ligament tear, a pulled muscle, fracture to a bone in your knee, or wear and tear can also cause varying degrees of pain behind the knee. The knee pain can cause you to limp, make it difficult to walk, or you may not be able to bend your knee at all.
Knowing how to treat pain behind the knee requires knowing what is causing it. However, usually, hot and cold treatments can help to restore mobility to your knee joint and ease the pain. In some cases, if the leg pain behind the knee is caused by blood clot or cyst, you need to get it checked out by a doctor.
In this article, you will learn about the various reasons why you could have pain at the back of your knee.
How Long Does It Take For A Strained Knee To Heal
For knee sprains or strains, the healing time is typically 2 to 4 weeks. For major injuries as a result of trauma, it can take from 4 up to 12 months. Of course, this healing time would be dependent on the treatment being administered and the lifestyle of the patient. How can I tell if my knee injury is serious?Jan 31, 2020.
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