What causes knee pain?

Knee pain is a condition that affects people of all ages and genders. You may experience degeneration of cartilage or bone as you age or as the result of trauma or injury.

Various factors can trigger knee pain, including:

• Muscle strains
• Ligament damage
• Torn cartilage
• Arthritis
• Gout
• Infections
• Injury or trauma

You may initially experience occasional discomfort in your knee that gradually transforms into chronic pain. Your doctor checks for visible signs of a knee injury and reviews your medical history and any past injuries to determine the cause of your knee pain.

What are the symptoms of knee pain?

Depending on the cause of your knee pain, your symptoms may include:

• Stiffness and pain
• Redness
• Swelling
• Limited mobility
• Weakness
• Audible popping or grinding sounds

If you have difficulty walking due to knee pain or weakness, it’s important to seek medical attention immediately.

What treatments are available for knee pain?

Your doctor may recommend initial treatment with medications and physical therapy to alleviate knee pain. Physical therapy can increase your flexibility by stretching your muscles and reducing pressure on your nerves. You may also receive steroid injections to eliminate inflammation in the tissues surrounding your knee.

If these treatments aren’t relieving your pain, your doctor may try stem cell therapy or platelet-rich plasma treatments using your blood cells to regenerate damaged tissue and nerves. During an in-office procedure, your doctor collects your blood and spins out the platelets or stem cells using a centrifuge. Then, they inject the plasma or cells into your knee.

If arthritis causes your pain, you may also receive viscosupplementation treatment. Your doctor injects concentrated hyaluronic acid into your knee joint. The acid naturally resides in your joints and the treatment supplements the existing acid in your knee. Hyaluronic acid improves lubrication of your knee joint and increases its shock absorption abilities, reducing pain.

If minimally invasive treatments don’t relieve your chronic knee pain, your doctor may recommend total joint replacement surgery as a permanent solution.

Schedule a consultation online to learn more about available treatments for relieving the pain of arthritis.