Every day the human body is exposed to heavy loads, including on the feet. The appearance of painful sensations, swelling or the appearance of swelling - the first bells to call for specialized care. Often suffer knee joints, which due to their anatomy are prone to traumatization in the first place. What kind of doctor should I use for pain in the knee? Let's see below.
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The knee hurts when flexing and flexing: causes and treatment of the disease
Anatomical features of the knee joint
Anatomy of the knee joint is a combination of the tibia and the femur. In front is a rounded formation, which is called the patella or knee cap. The endings of the bones that enter the joint are covered with a cartilaginous tissue. This allows the joint to move freely when walking and moving, without causing friction.
Inside it there are "meniscuses" - interlayers, which are represented by connective tissue and serve to mitigate pressure and damping. Menisci are located between the bones and allow the load to be evenly divided into the entire joint, performing the functions of the pads.
In addition to bones, the "joint conglomerate" also includes muscles, ligaments, nerves and blood vessels. Muscles are divided into two groups - flexors and extensors. Their work consists in that, cutting, there is an extension or flexion of the leg in the joint.
Synovial bags play an important role - they are cavities with a liquid inside, which are located between the ends of bones, hard protrusions, muscles. With the help of the formed cavities the body adapts to the loads that are imposed on it. The following types of bags are distinguished by their localization:
- subcutaneous;
- axillary;
- subconscious;
- subfascial.
The knee nerve apparatus, represented by the popliteal nerve and its small branches, allows for adequate innervation of this area. Blood vessels are located behind the knee joint. They are represented by two vessels of large caliber - popliteal vein and popliteal artery - and vessels of small caliber.
Important! Perhaps you are interested to know about the causes of pain in the knees laterally from the inside, read about this in our article.
Etiology of pain in the knee
Pain syndrome in the knee joint can have various causes of its appearance and a different nature of pain.
The most common reasons:
- excessive physical activity;
- knee joint injury due to fall;
- inflammatory processes;
- meniscus or ligament injury;
- dislocations and fractures;
- deformation of different genesis.
Painful sensations can be acute, the pain "shoots through" the joint, or it may be aching or dull, preventing sleep at night.
Important! The doctor should be consulted when the first clinical signs appear. If there was pain in the knee when walking on the stairs, then this is an occasion to visit a doctor.
Clinical picture of
There is a list of symptoms, the appearance of which makes us think about seeking help from a specialist. A visit to the doctor is mandatory with the following symptomatology:
- painful sensations intensify late in the evening;
- discomfort and pain in any movement in the joint;
- appeared limitation of mobility;
- the knee joint became hot, the skin over it is hyperemic;
- there was swelling or visual deformity;
- a subfebrile condition in combination with one of the above described symptoms.
Soreness can manifest itself both during movement and at complete rest. Many do not pay attention to the pain in the knee from behind( in detail we have already written about the causes and treatment of this phenomenon).But these are the first signs of the disease.
Pathological sensations can be accompanied by numbness, a feeling of tingling, the appearance of convulsive attacks or pulsations. The skin above the knee joint can become red or cyanotic, with the appearance of bruising.
Know! Self-medication can lead to complications. Therefore, when starting to treat pain in the knee at home, you need a specialist consultation.
Which doctor treats knee pain
When symptoms appear, many patients ask the same question: "I am worried about knee pain. To what doctor to address? ยป
Let's begin with that it is necessary to address to the local therapist. Gathering an anamnesis of life and disease, the therapist will appoint the necessary diagnostic measures and direct them to a narrow specialist. Knee joints are treated by several specialists, the treatment of which depends on the cause of the disease.
Osteopath is a narrow specialty doctor who is engaged in the diagnosis and treatment of diseases associated with complex disorders in the body. If the cause of problems with knee joints is based on the appearance of muscle spasm, then it is necessary to consult a specialist for this.
In addition to examining the zone of pathology, the osteopathic physician conducts a comprehensive examination of the body as a whole and helps organs that have a pathological disorder to acquire their physiological status and restore lost functions.
An orthopedic doctor will examine the knee joint as a component of the musculoskeletal system. Orthopedics - a narrow specialty, which deals with various changes in the musculoskeletal system due to injuries. These changes also concern the muscular, vascular and nervous apparatus. The orthopedist deals not only with acquired, but also with congenital joint problems in the form of their dysplasia.
If the patient is concerned about pain under the knee, who should he contact? Such painful sensations most often occur with problems with innervation of the knee or inflammatory diseases of the popliteal nerve. In these cases, a consultation of a neurologist or neuropathologist is necessary.
Address to a neurologist is necessary for problems with the nervous apparatus of the knee joint. This doctor is treated with complaints of a shooting pain, which is aggravated by sharp bending or extension of the joint.
A traumatologist will study the problem associated with traumatizing the knee joint, resulting from a fracture, bruise or dislocation.
If there is redness of the skin above the joint, pain during movement and swelling in the knee area, it is necessary to get a consultation from a rheumatologist. This specialist deals with the treatment of inflammatory processes in the joints, such as osteoarthritis, gout, pseudogout, septic arthritis, Bechterov's disease, arthritis against intestinal diseases, juvenile arthritis, etc.
To the infectious disease doctor will need to consult in case of inflammation of the knee in the backgroundgeneral disease of infectious genesis. In such a case, the treatment is carried out in a hospital environment, because it is accompanied by a severe condition of the patient.
Surgeon is another specialist dealing with problems with the knee joint. However, its specificity of actions is based on the need for operative intervention to solve problems. Most often, surgical interventions are associated with ligament rupture, the need to replace the meniscus or its suturing.
Important! Do not be afraid to make an erroneous choice of a specialist. Any of the above-mentioned doctors will conduct consultation and examination.
Forecast of
From all of the above, we can conclude that the appearance of even minor symptoms of the disease can not be ignored. If the pain was short-lived and disappeared during the normalization of the functional state of the joint, then you can do without a doctor. In a bright clinical picture, an address to a specialist is mandatory for the proper diagnosis and prevention of complications in the form of gait disturbance or mobility restriction.