Why Does Your Knee Hurt More Than It Should See If This Makes Sense The Sos Of A Sinking Knee
Lets pretend that you are on that ship above. Lets pretend that ship is your knee.
The ship has struck an iceberg. It is now damaged beyond its crews ability to repair it. The ship/knee needs help or it will sink.
Your knee is now sending panicked SOS messages to the brain in an attempt to get the brain to send help to prevent the ship from sinking. What type of help? Inflammation creates swelling to keep the knee stable .
- Allodynia is an over-sensitization to pain. Your nervous system is overriding normal commands to get out pain messages.
- You are taking a walk. Your knee does not hurt at first. As you continue to walk your knee starts hurting. As you keep walking your knee is now hurting much more than it should.
- This can be your knee sending panicked, urgent messages to your brain to STOP WALKING because the knee is afraid that you are going to damage it if you keep going.
Does this scenario present a realistic explanation of one possible means to why you have more pain than you should?
Severe Knee Pain: Common Causes And Treatment Options
If you suffer with bad knee pain, you are not alone. Severe knee pain is a common problem experienced by most people at some point in their lives.
Whether the pain has been developing over time or youre experiencing sudden knee pain, it is not a condition you should ignore or try to endure without at least knowing the cause and your treatment options.
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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When To See A Doctor For Knee Pain
Unfortunately, knee pain is a common problem for many Americans of all ages. While younger people tend to experience knee pain after an injury, knee pain can also be caused by a number of medical conditions, obesity and arthritis.
If youre experiencing acute or chronic knee pain, you may need to see a knee specialist for treatment.
Best Exercises For Knee Pain
The quadriceps are the main muscles that support the knees. Weak quads can lead to knee instability, which increases wear and tear. So strong quads play an important role in knee function and pain rehabilitation. A 2019 study showed that weak quadriceps are universal in people with knee osteoarthritis and may be a modifiable risk factor.
Hamstrings are another important muscle group supporting the knee and should be emphasized. Each person’s pain level, fitness level, and underlying medical condition are different, so there is no one-size-fits-all list of best exercises for knee pain.
Low-impact exercises that help stretch and strengthen the knee and supporting muscles are generally best for people with knee pain.
Exercises to consider include
Yoga and Pilates have been shown to be beneficial in increasing overall knee strength without overextending the joints.
Finally, you should start exercising slowly and gradually build up to increasing weight, duration, or reps.
Don’t ignore pain. Pain is a sign you should stop the exercise you’re doing. And don’t overdo it. Overdoing exercise can cause a setback to recovery.
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How Patients With A Terrible Mri Had Less Pain And Patients With Better Mris Had More Pain
Lets go further into the complex MRI discussion.
Doctors from the Benha University School of Medicine in Egypt wrote in the European Journal of Rheumatology of how depression may make knee pain significantly worse than it should be, at least significantly worse than an MRI suggests.
In the research we cited above, the MRI suggested that the patients pain should be worse, in this research the MRI is suggesting that the patients pain should be less. The patients in the above study had worse MRIs and less pain, the patients as we will see in this study, had better MRIs and more pain. This is, of course, the inherent problem of MRIs: they do not always tell the true story.
These are the learning points from the Egyptian research:
- Knee osteoarthritis can lead to psychosocial deterioration in addition to physical inability, which makes it difficult to interpret the source of the patients complaints. It is becoming increasingly evident that structural changes alone do not account for all musculoskeletal pain.
- In other words, depression makes the knee diagnosis much more challenging.
Are Doctors Asking Patients The Right Questions To Get The Best Determination Of The Patients Depression Challenges
Writing in the medical journal Disability and Rehabilitation, researchers in the United Kingdom are suggesting that people with chronic knee pain and hip osteoarthritis may benefit from Acceptance commitment therapy, a form of psychotherapy and behavioral modification. They hope this treatment would be especially hopeful in people who have significant pain. Such as those in the above study whose MRIs suggested that they should not have the severe pain they are suffering from.
As a side note, the researchers also questioned whether accepted depression and physiological scoring systems, such as the Rasch-transformed and standard scales were accurate in assessing these patients. In other words, were doctors asking patients the right questions to get the best determination of the patients depressive challenges?
In another study, the same group of researchers writing in the medical journal Disability and Rehabilitation examined the type of questionnaires that should be offered to patients with knee osteoarthritis to determine levels of hopelessness and depression.
Here is what they wrote:
- These findings indicate that questionnaires need to be checked for their ability to measure psychological constructs in the clinical groups to which they will be applied.
- For people with osteoarthritis, the state-trait anxiety inventory is an acceptable measure of anxiety
- The state-trait anxiety inventory measures acute worry .
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Researchers Suggest Understanding The Pain Issue Is Better Than Being Dismissive
Is it any wonder why people with knee pain are depressed? They feel pain that clinicians say should not be there. Remember what the researchers above said?
- Correlation between mechanical hypersensitivity and psychosocial factors seems to be small, despite its significance. People in this study did not seem to suffer for the most part from psychosocial factors. IT IS NOT ALL IN YOUR HEAD.
Causes Of Knee Pain While Hiking
Your knees go through stress carrying you through your daily life. According to Med-Health.net, just walking up the stairs puts pressure on your knees equal to four times your body weight. Add a fully loaded hiking backpack and mountain elevation, and thats even more stress on your knee joints!
Knee pain can result from many things: tendonitis, sprains, muscle strains, bursitis, cartilage tears, arthritis its a long list. Some causes of knee pain, like muscle strains, are temporary and will heal with time. Other injuries can lead to chronic pain that may become a hindrance to your active lifestyle. Old, improperly treated knee injuries can also flare up to cause pain when you least expect it.
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Prevent Knee Pain After The Hike
Stretching helped prepare your knees to hike. It can also help reduce pain after you finish hiking. After intense exercise, your muscles shorten and become tight and sore. This tightness might be even more so in your knees.
Stretching will help prevent your soreness from transforming into pain and stiffness. It will also aid you in maintaining flexibility in the days following the hike.
As part of your healing process, you may experience inflammation in your knees. Taking a nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug like Advil, Motrin, or Aleve can reduce pain and inflammation in your joints. NSAIDs should not be taken on an empty stomach.
Dvt: Deep Vein Thrombosis Can Cause Pain In The Back Of Your Knee And Calf
Deep vein thrombosis or DVT can cause pain in the back of your knee but the pain is not often isolated to the back of the knee. There is usually calf pain, calf swelling and perhaps thigh pain too. A DVT is not a common cause of pain and swelling, but I list it first because it can be a worrisome cause of pain.
Usually, the pain from a DVT will also occur in the back of your calf or your inner thigh. While not impossible, the pain can be isolated to just the back of your knee. Most people with a DVT will also have swelling in their calf or leg. In people who are obese, swelling of the leg is not uncommon so swelling alone does not mean you have a DVT.
People who are at risk for a DVT include people who are obese, have cancer, chronic diseases, and those of you who recently traveled and sat still for hours/days while recovering from illness, injury, or surgery. We do not know the exact incidence of people walking around with a DVT. People who recently had surgery are at an increased risk for a DVT. If your calf is tender and swollen and the back of your knee hurts, you need to see your doctor urgently or go to an emergency room.
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How To Exercise With Bad Knees To Lose Weight
Knee pain can make it tough to exercise especially if you are overweight. However, it’s important to keep moving because exercise is key to restoring knee function, decreasing pain, and losing extra pounds. Excess weight puts more pressure on the joint which makes pain worse. Be sure you know which exercises are safe for painful knees versus those you should avoid.
Severe Pain With Obvious Deformity
If severe knee pain is accompanied by an obvious deformity there is most likely a fracture or dislocation on one of the knee bones. If this is the case, you will usually be able to pinpoint the time it happened there will have been a fairly major trauma such as a fall, hard tackle or RTA, and you will have excruciating knee pain. Bones dont just break or dislocate without you knowing it.
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Reduce Weight Of Your Backpack
You should decrease the weight youre carrying. The more you carry, the more weight youre placing on your knees. Check whats in your hiking backpack and make sure to remove anything thats not necessary.
Its also important that you know how to pack your backpack so that you distribute the weight evenly.
What To Do If Your Knees Hurt When It Rains
Live by the mantra, motion is lotion, says Grahlman. That means you should move the joint as much as possible. If you stop moving because of pain, its going to hurt even more when you do move. The body doesnt just respond to stimulus, it responds to a lack of stimulus as well.
Beyond just doing low-impact exercises like yoga, swimming, or easy cycling, find someone to help you develop an appropriate strength training program as well. That can help you maintain strength and a good range of motion that will keep pain down over the long run, Grahlman explains.
A true strength training program one that includes ample fundamental movement skills and drills, and takes athletes bodies to end ranges of motion under appropriate loads, says Bryant. Consistency in such a program helps the athlete maintain a body with more than enough joint mobility and stability to handle Mother Natures ups and downs.
To cut down on the episodic pain, Dr. Fredericson says, Consider an anti-inflammatory diet to decrease systemic inflammation, which is associated with increased inflammatory markers in the joints. A taste-friendly anti-inflammatory diet: the Mediterranean diet.
When the weathers bad and your joints are hurting, also try to stay warm with additional layers of clothing, take frequent warm showers, baths, or saunas, and consider pain medications like non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, curcumin, or CBD, Dr. Fredericson says.
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When To See Your Doctor
Any incidence of severe knee pain should be checked out by your doctor particularly if:
1) Your knee looks deformed2) You cant put any weight through the leg3) Your knee movements are limited cant fully bend or straighten the knee4) You have severe knee pain, especially at night or when resting5) Your knee keeps giving way6) You feel unwell or have a fever7) There is redness or the knee feels hot8) There is major swelling around the knee9) Your symptoms persist or get worse10) You have pain, swelling, redness, tingling or numbness in the calf
What To Do If You Overuse Your Knees
Youve taken all the appropriate precautions, but youre still hit with knee pain following your hike. The good news is that there are things you can do to help alleviate the pain.
The experts at WebMD recommend RICE to heal your knees. Supplement the RICE method with NSAIDs to decrease pain and swelling. Once the pain is gone, you can gradually start stretching and strengthening exercises.
As long as you take care and listen to your body, you should be able to get back on the trail.
What if nothing seems to be working for your hiking knee pain? Does this mean youre out of options? Talk to your doctor or visit a physical therapist. They may be able to create a tailored strategy to help reduce your pain so you can hit the trails.
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What Is A Knee Specialist Called
First and foremost, you need to know what type of doctor to see for you knee pain. If you were to go to your general practitioner about your knee pain, he or she would most likely refer you to an orthopedic doctor.
The University of Utah explains in general terms that, Orthopedic doctors are doctors who focus on caring for your bones, joints, ligament, nerves, and tendons . As such, a knee pain specialist is called an orthopedic knee specialist.
Keep in mind that many orthopedic doctors specialize in just one or two parts of the musculoskeletal system, so it is important to verify with any new doctor that he or she specializes in knees before making an appointment.
Extra Weight Means Extra Stress
When it comes to exercising and knee pain, being overweight is another risk factor. The concept is simple: More weight on your joints means more stress for that impact load.
Your body weight is increased through the knee during flexion, Dr. McLaughlin says. If youre 10 pounds overweight, that can add up to 50 pounds more weight through the knee with each step.
Conversely, though, studies have shown that every pound lost can result in up to a 4-fold reduction of stress on each knee with each impact. In other words, if you lose 10 pounds, that equals 40 pounds less in load through your knee.
Again, consider exercises like swimming, elliptical training, or even cycling for solid workouts that can help you lose a few pounds while protecting your knees from added pain.
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The Researchers Identified The 5 Key Factors That Would Influence Successful Or Non
Surprisingly they found that levels of depression at baseline were not associated with treatment response. So if a patient had less severe depression or more severe depression, their test outcome would be the same.
- Patients with interpersonal problems associated with pain coping did not benefit much from the treatment.
- Although most patients projected positive expectations for the treatment prior to randomization, only those with moderate to high expectations benefited.
- Patients with moderate to high osteoarthritis disease severity showed stronger treatment effects. .
- Finally, the oldest and most educated patients showed strong treatment effects, while younger and less educated did not.
What Is A Meniscus Tear
A meniscus tear is a common knee injury. The meniscus is a rubbery, C-shaped disc that cushions your knee. Each knee has two menisci one at the outer edge of the knee and one at the inner edge. They keep your knee steady by balancing your weight across the knee. A torn meniscus can prevent your knee from working right.
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