Knee Pain

What causes knee pain?

Your knees are one of your most complex joints and they are under a lot of stress every day, so injuries and wear and tear conditions like arthritis are common.

Getting plenty of exercise and playing sports are great for your overall health, but some activities can put a considerable strain on your knees. Running, jumping, and turning at speed, or twisting your knees repeatedly can cause damage to the tendons and ligaments in your knee, and running on hard ground can lead to stress fractures in your bones.

When you get older, your knees begin to get stiffer and cause pain as the constant wear over the years starts to have an effect. You can also develop knee pain if you incur an acute injury and don’t receive the right treatment. This can become a chronic pain problem unless you see an expert like Dr. Goldstein.

What injuries cause knee pain?

Your knee joint contains several bones, as well as cartilage, ligaments, tendons, muscles, and a network of nerve endings. These areas are all vulnerable to accidental damage. The injuries Dr. Goldstein sees most often include:

• Fractured bones
• Dislocated knee joint
• Strained tendons
• Sprained ligaments
• ACL (anterior cruciate ligament) tear
• MCL (medial cruciate ligament) tear
• Meniscus tear 
• Patellar tendinitis (runner’s knee)
• Articular cartilage injuries 

You don’t have to be an active participant in sports to sustain these types of injuries. Slips and falls also frequently cause knee injuries.

What treatments are there for knee pain?

The treatment Dr. Goldstein recommends for your knee pain depends on the cause, so first, he needs to examine your knee. He might also want to see results from diagnostic imaging scans or X-rays to get a better view of the inside of your knee.

The initial treatments for knee pain are likely to include therapies such as:

• Using a knee brace
• Anti-inflammatory medication
• Pain relief medicine
• Massage therapy
• Physical therapy
• Stretching exercises
• Acupuncture
• Ultrasound therapy
• Electrical stimulation
• Cortisone injections
• Hyaluronic acid injections
• Regenerative medicine

Regenerative medicine techniques Dr. Goldstein uses include PRP (platelet-rich plasma), hyaluronic acid (HA), and stem cell therapies. These natural products work by boosting your body’s healing and regenerative abilities.

In most cases, patients recover from their knee pain using these conservative approaches. There are times when surgery might be necessary though, for instance, some types of meniscal tears can’t heal by themselves and need surgical repair.

If your knees are causing you pain, don’t leave it to get any worse. Call Orthopedic Surgery and Sports Medicine, PC, today, or book an appointment online.