Knee pain is the worst in the world, especially its deeply connected with the quality of life. Any health issue related to the knee has a severe impact on the overall productivity of a person’s mental health activities. Since I am an affected person in this case as my knee hurts when I bend it and straighten it, so, I’m going to focus on its causes and fixes for everyone suffering the same.
My Knee Hurts When I Bend It and Straighten It: Causes & Fixes
For the last few months, I have been experiencing severe pain in my left knee joint. As soon as the morning starts and I put my weight on it, the agony starts making my pain worse.
I had booked an appointment with my local orthopaedic surgeon and met him. After an extensive examination like x-ray, CT scan, and blood investigations, I was told that my knee cartilage has deteriorated a bit. So, the accurate diagnosis has come out as “Knee Arthritis”. That’s why my knee hurts when I bend it and straighten it.
Cause of Knee Pain
The primary cause of knee pain is the degeneration of knee cartilage. It’s a soft cushion like jelly surrounding the bone ends. Cartilage acts as a shock absorber when we put weight on our knees. Thus, they provide protection and prevention of bones rubbing against each other.
Furthermore thinning of these covering, the joint starts rubbing against the opposite linked bone and causes an increase in friction. The result of this physical change is stiffness, swelling, and pain in the affected joint of the knee.
Fixes of Knee Pain
There are many solutions for knee cartilage pain and swelling. As the first line of treatment NSAIDs (non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs) are used for pain relief. These medicines are often OTC (over the counter) and do not need a prescription.
In severe cases or in chronic osteoarthritis prescription for opioids is given. These medications include Fentanyl, Oxycodone, Hydrocodone, Codeine, Morphine, etc.
Other than pain killers, calcium supplements and tablets are used. The use of these medications results in the promotion of healthy calcium build-up in bones, thus reducing the damage levels.
A subtle approach is using splints or braces for making the joint move less. The results might not be satisfactory but putting on orthotics on knee joints and reducing the burden is one-way pain is reduced naturally. One of the common apprehensions among medical practitioners is that braces and splints work only in mild cases. So surgical options should be utilized as soon as the test results state degeneration of the joint.
Complete knee replacement is a surgical procedure. It involves dissection of the affected knee and cutting off all the cartilage. After the removal of old cartilage, synthetic cartilage either made of the plastic ceramic mix, ceramic on metal, or metal on metal is used.
Surgery is the permanent fix for knee arthritis. It completely eliminates the use of medication afterward. Although this option is expensive due to the cost of the artificial knee joint. It also includes three to four weeks of daily physiotherapy and rehabilitation.
PRP (platelet-rich plasma) is a non-surgical procedure. It involves a patient’s own blood for recovery. Blood is taken from the suffering individual and collected into serum tubes.
These tubes are then inserted into a centrifuge machine. For a soft spin and after a few minutes, the plasma concentrations are collected. This yellowish liquid is then collected in the injection syringe. First of all, cleaning the knee skin with an alcohol swab is required. Collected platelets are inserted into the joint. It is done by using ultrasound for pinpoint delivery to the affected site.
Stem cell therapy is one more example of non-invasive regeneration of the damaged knee. It’s one of the most popular treatments in the field of medical science.
Conclusion
So, we have shared with you loads of fixes that can be utilized when you are having knee pain. Understanding the causes also lets you determine what action you need to take. For example, immediate intervention by the primary physician or just simple care, rest, and pain killers are enough.
Author’s Bio:
Emily Johnson is best known for her publication of modern perfectessaywriting.com. Her writing has been featured in famous newspapers, magazines, and websites. The tone and vocabulary level of this author is easy to understand by all graduates.