Almost everybody experiences knee pain at some point in time. Whether by trauma during running or even by gradual development through chronic inflammatory disorders such as rheumatoid arthritis, it is one of those things you hardly can escape. Knee pain can be a nuisance, it can limit your ability to move around. To address the pain and manage it, we’ll need to first understand the underlying cause. There are many causes of knee pain and this article sets to outline a few.

Inflammatory Arthritis

Inflammatory Arthritis to a group of inflammatory joint disorders that include Rheumatoid arthritis, psoriatic arthritis, and lupus arthritis. Rheumatoid arthritis is an autoimmune progressive inflammatory disorder that is characterized by swollen and painful joints. In absence of appropriate and adequate treatment, it can lead to the destruction of the joint involved in this case the knee joint. Individuals suffering from this condition often experience frequent fatigue and low-grade fevers.

Like Rheumatoid arthritis, Psoriatic arthritis is a chronic inflammatory disorder that can result in joint destruction. It is characterized by joint swelling, pain, and warmth. It occurs in people suffering from psoriasis which is a skin condition. Lupus arthritis also has similar characteristics but also affects other tissues as well.

Tendinitis

Tendinitis basically refers to the inflammation of a tendon, a fibrous tissue that connects muscles to bones. It is usually as a result of repetitive impact on a joint or sudden trauma on a joint in this case the knee joint. Knee tendinitis is also known as jumper’s knee and is common in the elderly population especially among those who run or dance a lot.

Osteoarthritis

Osteoarthritis is the most common form of arthritis that is associated with risk of mobility disability. Although it can affect people of all ages, it is more common in people age 65 and over. There are multiple factors that can cause osteoarthritis, the main one being the wearing out of the joint cartilage causing the bones in the joint to grind as one moves. There are other systemic factors that also predispose to this condition such as age, sex, nutritional deficiencies, obesity, and previous knee injury. Osteoarthritis can be managed both therapeutically using anti-inflammatory medications and surgery and non-therapeutically by losing weight, regular exercising, physiotherapy and even using knee braces and orthodontics.

Meniscal Tears

A meniscal tear is a common soft tissue injury that mostly affects the joints of the lower limbs especially the knee joint. Menisci are soft tissues in the knee joint that act as shock absorbers. They can easily tear due to trauma or degenerative disorders that make them wear off. When they are torn, one can experience so much pain and inflammation around the knee joint. Fortunately, they can be repaired surgically.

Gouty Arthritis

Gout is a metabolic disorder characterized by high levels of uric acid in the body. This usually crystallized to form calcium urate crystals which are then deposited in joints. This leads to inflammation of the joint hence pain.