What are the symptoms of pain in different parts of the knee?

Clinically, there are many causes of knee joint pain. It is necessary to comprehensively judge the location of pain, duration, accompanying symptoms, age of the patient and other factors to clarify the cause and obtain the correct treatment.

Knee pain, look at the location to identify the cause

The knee joint is the largest and most complex joint in the human body. It is composed of a layer of synovial membrane, two menisci, three bones, and four ligaments.

• The synovial membrane is located on the inner wall of the closed knee joint cavity and is responsible for secreting lubricants and nutrients;
• The meniscus is located between the thigh bone and calf bone, and plays the role of elastic shock absorption, assisting bending, and protecting articular cartilage;
• Three bones are located above the knee joint (femur), below (tibia) and in front (patella), providing support and transmitting power to the knee joint;
• Four ligaments mainly play a role in stabilizing the knee joint. The medial and lateral collateral ligaments located on both sides of the knee ensure the lateral stability of the knee joint, while the anterior and posterior cruciate ligaments located in the middle of the knee ensure the stability of the front and rear of the knee joint.

Different knee diseases or injuries often have specific areas of pain

Front of knee

General symptoms: Pain in the front of the knee when the knee joint is bent, affecting going up and down stairs. The symptoms are especially obvious when going down stairs and squatting.

Above knee

General manifestations: Pain when flexing and extending the knee joint, often accompanied by Below knee

General manifestations: Pain usually worsens during strenuous exercise or squatting and is relieved by restenderness above the patella

Both sides of the knee

General manifestations: Generally, there is no pain when walking on a flat road, but pain when going up and down stairs, with or without tenderness. In this case, timely medical treatment is required.

back of knee

General symptoms: pain, soreness and swelling

Knee pain has three stages

As you age, your knees are prone to problems. If an elderly friend squats 2 to 3 times in a row and finds that his legs are weak, his knees even feel a little painful, or his legs feel weak when he goes up and down stairs, he should be alert. In fact, knee pain is also divided into stages:

In the early stage, the joints are rusty and it no longer hurts when moving.

Early symptoms of knee osteoarthritis are often triggered by minor sprains, colds and exertion. Generally, the time does not exceed 5 minutes, and the pain and stiffness can disappear with a little movement; it is related to weather changes and is sensitive when the air humidity increases.

Joint swelling, pain and functional limitation are episodic, occurring once in 1 to 2 years, and are asymptomatic when not occurring; there is no obvious change in X-ray, or there is only mild subchondral bone sclerosis.

For early-stage osteoarthritis, it is first recommended to carry out regular and moderate physical exercise, such as swimming, riding a slow bike, etc., and reduce activities that may wear out the joints, such as climbing mountains, climbing stairs, and squatting. Obese patients should actively lose weight.

In the mid-term, the pain becomes worse the more you walk, and it becomes more and more serious.

Joint pain attacks during this period often have no obvious triggers; they cannot freely go up and down stairs or walk long distances; they begin to have rest pain at night, and their joints become stiff for 10 to 15 minutes after waking up in the morning.

The pain is obviously related to weather changes; the number of attacks increases, and the symptoms progressively worsen, with more than 2 attacks per year; hyperplastic osteophytes and joint space narrowing can be seen on X-ray films.

For patients in the mid-term, oral non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs should first be considered, along with cartilage-protecting drugs. During the acute swelling phase, glucocorticoids can be injected into the joint cavity to control symptoms, but the number of injections should not exceed 3 times per year.

In addition, traditional Chinese medicine hot compress, intra-articular injection of sodium hyaluronate, knee arthroscopic surgery, uneven knee joint subsidence surgery, etc. can also be performed.

In the late stage, it hurts when standing, sitting, whatever happens.

During this period, the joints are severely deformed, with "O"-shaped legs and "X"-shaped legs appearing. The pain is severe and it is difficult to walk. When conservative treatment fails in such patients, surgical treatment should be actively considered.

Knee pain can be relieved by exercising the muscle groups around the knee

Clip towel

Lie on your back, bend your knees slightly, and clamp a towel on your inner thighs close to your knees; clamp your legs hard and then relax them, and exhale slowly at the same time; do 3 sets of 10 times in total. This action can exercise the inner thigh muscles and relieve knee pain.

Press towel

Sit on the floor and place a rolled towel under one knee; push your knee down hard while exhaling slowly and hold for 5 seconds. Then switch to the other knee and do one set of 5 times on each side, for a total of three sets.