Knee pain can usually be treated at home with rest and over-the-counter medications. Visit a health care provider if you have an injury or have knee pain. Knee pain is an extremely common symptom. A lot of problems can cause it. This may be a temporary injury or a chronic condition, such as arthritis.
Visit a health care provider if you have an injury or have knee pain for more than a few days in a row. When you feel knee pain, you can ignore it as a normal part of aging. But pain isn't necessarily normal, says Dr. But if you feel acute pain in your knee joint while exercising, you should stop immediately and change or modify that exercise. If your knee hurts, stop what you're doing and rest.
Apply ice to reduce swelling, consider wearing a compressive bandage, and raise your knee when you rest. Pain in the front of the knee may be due to bursitis, arthritis, or a softening of the patellar cartilage, as occurs in chondromalacia patellar. Take acetaminophen with breakfast, lunch, dinner, and just before bed to get the most benefit during an outbreak of knee pain. If you find that acetaminophen, either alone or in combination with an NSAID, doesn't relieve knee pain and you're still experiencing pain and discomfort, talk to your family doctor or specialist.
Certain knee conditions, such as a cartilage tear, can cause knee pain if the leg is fully extended. Let your knee rest a little, apply ice to reduce swelling, put on a compressive bandage and keep your knee elevated. Knee pain has the power to prevent you from enjoying the activities you like and can significantly affect your quality of life. However, there are things you may be doing in your daily life that could be making your knee or knee pain worse. If you have arthritis or a mild knee injury, you should be careful to treat flare-ups of pain.
The Coastal Empire Orthopedics team, led by Dr. Jonathan Shults, has a compassionate staff and the best technology to diagnose and treat knee pain. A healthcare provider will suggest treatments to treat knee pain depending on its cause and how much it hurts. Simple over-the-counter pain relievers, such as common paracetamol, may be helpful for knee pain.
Show some examples of conditions and injuries that cause knee pain and where you're most likely to feel it. Whether you're a high school athlete, a long-time runner, or an older adult, anyone can develop knee pain. Lifestyle changes to protect your knee joints could help you manage pain without surgery and even delay total or partial knee replacement in the future. However, it is rare for a patient who can walk to have muscles around the knee so weak that this weakness is a major contributor to knee pain.
