What To Expect At Your Office Visit
Your provider will perform a physical exam, and look at your knees, hips, legs, and other joints.
Your provider may do the following tests:
- MRI of the knee if a ligament or meniscus tear could be the cause
- CT scan of the knee
- Joint fluid culture
Your provider may inject a steroid into your knee to reduce pain and inflammation.
You may need to learn stretching and strengthening exercises. You also may need to see a podiatrist to be fitted for orthotics.
In some cases, you may need surgery.
When Should I Get My Teens Knee Pain Evaluated By A Healthcare Provider
Make an appointment to see your healthcare provider if:
- Your teens pain has lasted longer than two weeks or anytime theres an increase in pain level.
- Your teens knee is red, swollen or warm to the touch.
- Your teen cant put weight on their leg they limp.
- Your teens knee locks and cant move.
- Your teens kneecap feels like it slides out of place or the knee looks twisted.
- Your teen has knee pain during or after activity.
- Theres painful popping or clicking sound in your teens knee.
- Your teens knee doesnt have strength or full range of motion.
- Your teens pain wakes them up at night.
Last reviewed by a Cleveland Clinic medical professional on 04/30/2021.
References
Versatile Meniscus Tear Brace
There are a number of reasons this is a good product for treating meniscus tears, including the following:
- Aluminum uprights and polycentric hinge allow full flexion and extension control with settings at 0°, 15°, 30°, 60° and 90°.
- Hinge is covered with a contoured rounded shell thats covered in soft suede
- Constructed of neoprene for warmth and to reduce swelling and inflammation.
- Knee brace for non-contact sports and daily activity
- Wrap-around design above the knee makes this brace easy to put on an to adjust
- The lower half of this heavy-duty knee brace has a pull-on sleeve design
- Tabs to help with brace application
- Open patella for support to the cartilage around the kneecap
- Open popliteal cutout behind the knee prevents bunching or pinching when bending and walking
- Two fastener straps allow additional fit adjustment – one above the knee and the other below
- Straps help keep the sports meniscus tear brace suspended
- Treats pain and prevents further injury for those with meniscus tears, cartilage degeneration, strains, sprains, knee instability, muscle weakness/injury, ligament injury/weakness, moderate ACL/PCL instability, osteoarthritis, etc.
- Simple black design
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There Are Several Conditions That Can Cause Your Knee To Hurt Only When Lying Down And Especially Overnight After Youve Been In Bed For Several Hours
It seems odd that a knee would hurt mostly or even only when a person lies down.
After all, the human knee is subject to loads of pressure just from walking. We take that for granted.
The knee is actually the most unstable joint in the body. This is why self-defense classes teach students to go for the knee with any number of foot strikes.
A good strike by a 100 pound person to this inherently unstable joint can bring down a 300 pound brute.
If your knee hurts only when you lie down, or, chronic day pain gets notably worse overnight, there can be several reasons.
Depending on the position of the knee, some inflammatory conditions such as tendinitis or bursitis may be worse when lying down, says John-Paul H. Rue, MD, orthopedic sports medicine surgeon with Orthopedics and Joint Replacement at Mercy Medical Center in Baltimore, MD.
Pain from osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis may also worsen at night lying down as the muscles around the knee relax, continues Dr. Rue.
Other less common conditions such as ankylosing spondylitis may cause knee pain at night.
Ankylosing spondylitis is a form of arthritis that primarily affects the spine, but can also affect other joints.
If you have this you probably already have back pain and stiffness.
In general, placing the knee in a position with the support of additional pillows may lessen the pain associated with these conditions, says Dr. Rue.
Experiment which positioning and pillow configuration works best for you.
Exercise Program For Pain In The Front Of Your Knee :
Many of you are afraid to exercise. Yes, some of you may have pain with a few of these exercises. You can start with quadriceps isometric exercises, or simply dont go too low with the squat, lunge or wall sit until your strength improves. Most of you will find that after doing these exercises 3 days/week for two weeks that your pain will start to improve. As I mentioned previously, this is a program that can take 6-12 months to fully correct the weakness pattern that led to pain in the front of your knee. So stick with it.
Squat: I like the variations that this group throws in. You do not and should not start with 100 if you are just starting out.
Chair Squats are the place to start if you dont have the strength or confidence.
Wall Sits: A great quadriceps exercise. This video is a little mechanical, but it contains the dos and donts of how to perform a wall sit.
Reverse Lunges: Easier than forward lunges. Dont lunge back further than you can handle. That distance will get further over time. Focus on your front knee so it doesnt wobble back and forth.
Planks: This video includes a good description of the proper technique, and it gives you 10 different variations to try.
Hamstring bridge exercise. If this is too easy you can rest a barbell across your pelvis, or a kettlebell on your lower abdomen.
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Diagnosing Inside Knee Pain
In order to treat pain on the inside of knee, it is very important to get an accurate diagnosis from your physician. If you had trauma or other injury to the knee, it is important to let your doctor know. Your age and activities may also play a factor in helping determine the cause of inside knee pain, so be sure to let your doctor know about your occupation or hobbies that may be affecting your knee.
Your physician will likely have an imaging test such as an MRI or X-ray to be able to see the structures in the knee and determine if there has been damage to the cartilage or ligaments which may be causing pain inside the knee. He or she can then determine if the MCL or meniscus has been stretched or torn.
Will Surgery Treat And Cure Knee Pain
Surgery
Knee operations range from arthroscopic knee surgery to total knee replacement. Arthroscopic knee surgery is a very common surgical procedure that allows the physician look inside your knee through a few small holes and a fiberoptic camera. The surgeon can repair many of the injuries and remove small pieces of loose bones or cartilage. This is a common outpatient procedure.
Partial knee replacement: The surgeon replaces the damaged portions of the knee with plastic and metal parts. Because only part of the knee joint is replaced, this procedure has a shorter recovery then a total knee replacement.
Total knee replacement: In this procedure, the knee is replaced with an artificial joint.
Other therapies
Acupuncture has shown some relieve of knee pain, especially in patients with osteoarthritis. Glucosamine and chondroitin supplements have shown mixed results in research studies.
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How To Figure Out If You Have Meniscus Mcl And Arthritis Damage
Certain problems are easily diagnosed by most doctors.
Trauma is a simple indicator that you need an MRI and have probably meniscus or medial collateral ligament damage. Other data points that contribute to these diagnoses include:
- Pain going up or down stairs.
- Pinching inside of the knee or behind it with restricted flexibility when you bring your heel to your butt. It feels like someone put a wallet in the door-hinge of your knee.
During the heel-to-butt test, a healthy, pain-free knee would let your heel touch your butt the way it does for Amanda above.
If youre over age 50, you could have meniscus or MCL damage. Its more likely that you have arthritis. Arthritis is a garbage can term for bone growth or cartilage shrinking or tearing. Other data points that contribute to this diagnosis includes:
- Pain during inactivity that gets better with some activity .
- The presence of pain/no pain or with/without restricted flexibility are not super relevant when you bring your heel to your butt.
The diagnosis of arthritis in the cartilage under the patella goes at the top of your diagnostic list when you feel pain under the patella at the bottom of a lunge forward with your other leg. If youre not comfortable lunging, you can do the Lunge Stretch Test and have someone pick up your foot when your hip is at the end range of being pushed forward. If theres no pain, you dont likely have articular cartilage damage under the patella.
What Medical Conditions Cause Knee Pain
Medical conditions
Rheumatoid arthritis is an autoimmune condition that can affect any joint in the body. It can cause severe pain and disability, as well as swelling.
Gout is a form of arthritis that is most commonly found in the big toe, though it can also affect the knee. Gout tends to flare up and is extremely painful during the acute episodes. When there is no flare-up, the knee can be pain free.
With , the knee joint can become infected this leads to pain, swelling, and fever. This condition requires antibiotics and drainage treatments as soon as possible.
Chronic use/overuse conditions
Patellar tendinitis is an inflammation of the tendons connecting the kneecap to the shinbone . Patellar tendinitis is a chronic condition often found in individuals repeating the same motion during exercise .
Patellofemoral pain syndrome is caused by degeneration or stress under the kneecap where it meets the thighbone . Patellofemoral pain syndrome occurs in runners and cyclists.
Osteoarthritis: a wearing down of cartilage of the joint due to use and age
Prepatellar bursitis: Inflammation to the bursa in front of the kneecap may cause anterior knee pain.
Other causes
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What Painkiller Is Best For Knee Pain
Seeking interventional orthopedics treatments to address the source of your knee pain and injury should be the specific goal. If a painkiller is needed in the meantime, ditch the nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs for pain and swelling and all of their dangerous side effects and opt for supplements that have been shown to be effective for knee pain and swelling in the joint, including curcumin,glucosamine, and chondroitin .
What about steroid injections for knee pain and swelling? Just dont do it! There is a long list of toxic side effects associated with these drugs, including spinal fracture risk, vaginal bleeding, adrenal problems, joint cartilage loss , diminishing relief with each injection, and so much more .
The upshot? You can likely diagnose your own cause of side of knee pain. Just realize that almost everything Ive discussed above doesnt require a big surgery to fix. Instead, highly precise injections of our own platelets or stem cells can usually heal these problems with minimal downtime.
However, be cautious out there as youll find lots of clinics that know very little about treating these issues and that want to charge big bucks to inject magic amniotic or umbilical cord stem cells in this area and then often IV. This is not legit treatment as these are dead tissues being hawked as live stem cells. So buyer beware!
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References
Ann Intern MedChris Centeno, MD
The Problem No One Is Talking About
When youve had your pain more than 2 months and youve seen 3-5 other doctors without more than 50% relief, you and I can probably both agree that theres something else going on.
The pain on the inside of your knee can be caused by failed ankle or hip tests.
You would fail any of the following:
- Knee to Wall Test with your toes 6 away from the wall, can your knee touch it with your heel down?
- Thigh to Chest Test lying on your back, can your thigh touch your ribs?
- Lunge Stretch Test kneeling, can the front of your hip move 12 in front of your knee?
If you failed any of those tests, your knee would start as inflamed and get better with rest. As time went on and you didnt fix the failed test, youd be risking the meniscus, MCL, or arthritic damage you currently dont have.
In order to get the failed test fixed and passing so that your knee operates at 100%, you need to find a adhesion specialist to find out if you have adhesion for any muscles that are responsible for stopping the joint in the correlated test.
If all of those tests are passing, the adhesion specialist would look at the knee joint itself.
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Investigation Of Pain Inside The Knee
Your doctor will ask you about the type of pain you are feeling, and also note the size of your affected knee compared to your unaffected knee. Any discolouration and warmth will be noted as will the range of movement you are able to effect. The doctor may need further investigation in the form of medical imaging to detect fluid or a possible fracture, and perhaps a blood test to identify any rheumatoid factor or antinuclear antibodies. Fluid may also be drawn from the knee to test for uric acid or bacteria if an infection or inflammation is suspected.
When Should You Go To The Doctor
Knee injuries are prevalent, and you do not need to see a doctor immediately after an accident. Try not to bend your leg, don’t put pressure on it, and use an ice pack to reduce swelling. Rest for three days and do the following:
- Cover area with an elastic compression bandage
- Try walking with crutches for three days
- Ice the affected area three or four times a day for twenty minutes
- Do not bend your legs while sitting, and do not climb stairs
- Keep your knee slightly higher than your body when you sleep
- Take anti-inflammatory medications, such as Ibuprofen or Naproxen
However, if your pain does not decrease after three days and you have one or more of the following conditions, see your doctor.
- Severe pain and numbness in the legs even when there is no weight on it
- Swelling, redness, and deformity of the affected area
- Fever and bluish discoloration in your calf
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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.
Causes Of Medial Knee Pain
Various factors cause Medial knee pain that varies from person to person. But sports injuries, falls, and sudden increase in knee activity are common causes of pain. In children, the causes of medial knee pain may be different from those in adults. For example, patellar tendonitis, patellar subluxation, and Osgood-Schlatter disease are the most common causes of this pain in children. Besides, the leading causes of medial inside knee pain are related to anatomical damage to the inside of the knee, some of which are described below.
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Practice Good Sleep Hygiene
While pain can disrupt your sleep, you can promote a more restful night when you include these sleep hygiene strategies into your daily routine:
- Avoid taking long naps during the day.
- Make your bedroom cool and dark.
- Avoid eating heavy foods or exercising right before you sleep.
- Talk to your healthcare provider about taking melatonin supplements or other sleep aids.
- Dont use phones or computers before bed since the blue light from the screen can disrupt sleep.
- Use a pillow and supportive mattress to avoid straining your back or your knees.
What Are Risk Factors For Knee Pain
Biomechanics: The knee joint is complicated in its operation and is used frequently throughout the day. Any change in the movement of the joint can cause subtle changes and cause pain and injuries.
Excess weight: The stress on the knee joint is increased with excess weight. Obesity also increases the risk of knee osteoarthritis as the cartilage breaks down more rapidly.
Overuse during repetitive motions as are found during certain exercises or work conditions can cause breakdown of cartilage and lead to pain.
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Where Is Your Pain
The hunt for the cause of knee pain is like the search for a home:Location matters.
For example, pain below your kneecap might be a sign of patellar tendinitis, or inflammation in the tendon that connects the kneecap to the shinbone, says rheumatologist Scott Burg, DO. Pain above the kneecap often means quadriceps tendinitis.
Pain on the inside or outside of your knee could be a sign of a torn ligament , Dr. Burg says. But it also could indicate a torn or degenerative meniscus, which is the cartilage that lines and cushions your knee joint.
Those are just a couple of causes, not including various types of arthritis. Location is important, but we also ask other questions, Dr. Burg explains.