1. Pain Is Not All the Same
Knee pain may be debilitating or just annoying. But whether it hurts a little or a lot, diagnosing knee pain is important for keeping those knees working. Muscles and ligaments are the only things that keep your knees in place and working right. A simple sprain is one thing; torn cartilage and ligaments are something else altogether. Just carrying around too much weight on your body may cause knee pain.
2. Strain and Sprain
Knee strain (or "muscle pull") may be caused by overuse, overstretching or excessive stress on your knee joints. Muscle strain or pull is the mildest form of knee injury. It's an incomplete muscle tear with some bleeding into the tissues surrounding your knee. The symptoms are knee soreness, sudden pain in the knee and local tenderness surrounding the knee. A knee sprain is an injury to the ligaments surrounding a knee joint. Sudden wrenching or twisting motions may cause knee sprain, and symptoms include swelling, tenderness and pain when moving your knee.
3. Give Your Knee the RICE Treatment
Use the simple acronym RICE while waiting to see how serious your knee pain may be: Rest, Ice, Compression and Elevation. Stay off of your feet and rest your knee when pain attacks. Apply an ice pack for 15 minutes on and 15 minutes off until pain subsides. Prop your leg up and wrap an elastic bandage around your knee. Finally, elevate your knee above your heart. If you use RICE treatment and your knee pain doesn't improve, it may be more serious than a strain or sprain.
4. Serious ACL Injuries
An anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury causes extreme knee pain. This type of injury occurs when your foot is firmly planted on the ground and your knee is hyperextended. When you twist your torso and upper leg while in this position and feel a pop or a tearing sensation, you may have torn your ACL. If so, your knee joint will be unstable and walking on that leg will be extremely difficult if not impossible.
5. Meniscus Tears
Excessive and repetitive squatting or twisting the knee may cause tears in the meniscus, which is the fibrous cartilage in the knee. Sometimes full leg extension is hindered, or you may feel like your knee is "giving away" and fall or be unable to stand. When the tear happens, you may hear a click or feel a click and your knee may lock. Meniscus tears cause pain and instability in your knee.
