Knee Arthritis
What is it?
Knee arthritis is a common issue faced by many individuals across the country, especially patients above the age of 50. At Saqsham Ortho, we provide patients with holistic knee arthritis treatment to help them lead healthy and happy lives.
What Is Knee Arthritis?
Knee arthritis is a health condition that involves deterioration and inflammation of the knee joint cartilage. Cartilage refers to the slippery coating present at the end of the bones that serves as a cushion and enables smooth movement of joints. Your knee cartilage coats the end of your femur (thighbone), the top of your tibia (shinbone), and the back of your patella (kneecap). When this cartilage wears away, it leads to the narrowing of the space between your bones. If a patient does not receive adequate knee arthritis treatment, it may lead to advanced knee arthritis. Here, a bone rubs on another bone, resulting in the formation of bone spurs. Along with knee arthritis, prolonged damage in the knee cartilage can develop or worsen deformities in the knee such as bowleg and knock knees.
Type of Knee Arthritis
Here are the different types of knee arthritis for which you may need to seek medical help:
- Osteoarthritis
- Post-traumatic Knee Arthritis
- Rheumatoid Arthritis
- Psoriatic Arthritis
- Gout
- Pseudogout: Calcium Pyrophosphate Deposition (PCPD)
Post-traumatic knee arthritis is a type of knee arthritis that occurs after the patient experiences trauma to their knees (a serious injury causing fractures, dislocation, etc.). The symptoms of post-traumatic knee arthritis are similar to those experienced in osteoarthritis, i.e., pain, lack of movement, and stiffness. Here, the symptoms are not experienced until the patient suffers from trauma.
This is an autoimmune issue that causes inflammation, making your knee feel swollen, painful, warm, and stiff. If adequate knee arthritis treatment is not offered, rheumatoid arthritis may lead to permanent damage to your knee joint.
Rheumatoid arthritis usually affects the joints symmetrically. This implies that if one of your knees is affected, your other knee is likely to show the symptoms as well. The symptoms of rheumatoid arthritis can be experienced in the hands and wrists as well.
Psoriatic arthritis is another autoimmune disease that affects your knee joints. Patients diagnosed with the issue feel severe pain, stiffness, and lack of movement in their knees. Also, it makes your knees swollen and tender. Some other symptoms that should prompt you for knee arthritis treatment include eye pain and fatigue.
Psoriasis is a common skin condition. Around 20% of patients suffering from psoriasis may get diagnosed with psoriatic arthritis at some point in their lives. However, many people experience psoriatic arthritis years after having psoriasis.
Gout is a type of inflammatory arthritis that results in a build-up of uric acid crystals in your knee joint. These microscopic needle-like crystals gather in the knee tissue and cause severe pain along with redness, warmth, and swelling.
Similar to gout, PCPD is caused by the build-up of microscopic crystals in the knee joint that may cause sudden and severe knee pain along with warmth, swelling, and redness. Although PCPD is less common than gout, it is more likely to affect your knee joint.
Osteoarthritis is the most common type of knee arthritis. It results due to the wearing away of cartilage that acts as a cushion between the three bones in your knee joint. People seeking osteoarthritis knee treatment suffer from severe pain, stiffness, and a lack of smooth movement of their knees due to the bones rubbing against each other.
Osteoarthritis may also lead to the development of bone spurs. If not treated during the early stages, the issue would worsen over time and increase health complications. It is therefore advisable to seek osteoarthritis knee treatment when a patient starts experiencing early symptoms, which include feeling pain while performing specific activities such as jogging or exercising. As the issue worsens, the patient would start experiencing pain while performing day-to-day activities.
Risk Factors For Knee Arthritis
Here are some of the most risk common factors that cause knee arthritis:
- Age – Especially in the case of osteoarthritis, older adults are more susceptible to the issue as compared to the younger population.
- Crooked Bones (naturally) – If your bones are naturally crooked, you are at a greater risk of suffering from arthritis.
- Gout – Inflammatory arthritis may lead to osteoarthritis if it is not treated at an early stage.
- Knee Injuries – Seemingly normal knee injuries may result in arthritis if they go unnoticed and unattended.
- Stress – Excessive stress on your knees due to jogging, working out, or playing a sport may hamper your cartilage, increasing the risk of knee arthritis.
- Weight – Being overweight puts additional pressure on your knees, increasing the risk of knee arthritis.
Major Symptoms Of Knee Arthritis
Here are some of the major symptoms that should make you seek knee arthritis treatment if gotten worse:
- Difficulty in walking due to stiff knees
- Grinding, clicking, snapping, or creaking noises from knees
- Joint pain that changes with the weather
- Knee buckling
- Swelling of knees
- Warm skin
- Locking or sticking of knees while trying to move them
- Skin redness
- Slowly progressing knee joint pain
Knee Arthritis Diagnoses And Treatment
Before knee arthritis treatment, the diagnosis of the issue begins with the doctor physically examining the affected areas. Your doctor would also take into consideration your medical history and make note of the symptoms you have been experiencing. What makes your pain worse or better would allow the doctor to determine if you need further knee arthritis treatment or if the issue is something else.
Depending on the severity of the issue, knee arthritis can be treated with the help of surgeries, medications, weight loss, therapies, and other relevant solutions. Your doctor would recommend you the best ways of tackling the issue, helping you restore your knee’s functionality soon.
At Saqsham, we care for your well-being and strive to bring you the best orthopaedic care and solutions. If you are experiencing any knee-related issues and would like to get a medical opinion,
we’d suggest you book an appointment.
