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According to the Cleveland Clinic, three bones come together to form your knee joint. These include the thighbone or femur, shinbone or tibia, and kneecap or patella. In addition to that, there is a smooth substance known as cartilage which covers the ends of each bone, thus acting as a cushion between the bones and keeping them from rubbing together. This, however, is not the case when arthritis of the knee is present.
Photo credit: Pinterest.
Arthritis is a disease that causes pain, swelling and stiffness in your joints. According to the Cleveland Clinic, it can affect the largest and strongest joints in your body and is particularly common in the knees. Arthritis of the knee joint is considered a serious, painful disease that gets worse with age. There are several forms of arthritis of the knee but osteoarthritis is the most common type and it can affect one or both of your knees.
However, two other common types of arthritis of the knee joint are post-traumatic arthritis and rheumatoid arthritis. With post-traumatic arthritis, your cartilage starts thinning after trauma to your knee, causing your bones to rub together, and causing a lot of pain. Rheumatoid arthritis, on the other hand, is considered an autoimmune disease, which triggers inflammation in your joints even though there is no foreign invader. This inflammation causes pain, stiffness and swelling of the synovial membrane.
Causes
According to the Cleveland Clinic, arthritis of the knee joints is very common, affecting 50 million adults and 300,000 children. Researchers have found that some genes can lead to arthritis, thus if you have genes that are linked to the condition without knowing, you may be at a higher risk of triggering the condition. In addition, arthritis of the knee is particularly common among people who are in their 50s, which signifies that age is one of the most common risk factors for knee arthritis.
But apart from age, what then are some of its other risk factors? They are presented below:
1. Bone anomalies: It is believed that you are at a higher risk for osteoarthritis if your bones or joints are naturally crooked.
2. Gout: Gout refers to a type of inflammatory arthritis, and in many cases, can lead to osteoarthritis.
3. Injuries: Certain injuries, especially knee injuries can also trigger inflammation and lead to arthritis of the knee.
4. Stress: Putting a lot of stress on your knees from activities such as jogging, playing sports or working an active job can lead to osteoarthritis of the knee.
5. Weight: Being obese or overweight can affect your health in many ways, and unfortunately, your knees might have to bear the brunt of the pressure that extra weight puts on your knees.
Warning symptoms
According to the Cleveland Clinic, arthritis of the knee is often characterised by certain signs that may help indicate that it is indeed present. A few of the warning signs of knee arthritis you should watch out for include creaking, clicking, grinding or snapping noises (crepitus), difficulty walking, joint pain that changes (gets better or worse) depending on the weather, joint stiffness, and knee buckling.
Other possible warning signs include knee joint pain that progresses slowly or pain that happens suddenly, skin redness, swelling, your knee locks or sticks when it is trying to move, and warm skin. It is highly recommended that you visit your doctor if you notice any of the symptoms mentioned above as doing so on time can help reduce the severity of your symptoms or even stall the progression.
Tips for Preventing/Managing Symptoms
There is no known cure for arthritis of the knee, but following some tips can help reduce the severity of your symptoms and potentially stop your knee arthritis from getting worse. These tips include the following:
1. Maintain a healthy weight: Extra weight can put more pressure on your weight, thus you must watch your weight.
2. Exercise using low-impact activities: Regular low-impact physical activities such as swimming and cycling can be very helpful compared to high-impact activities such as jogging and tennis. You should aim for about 150 minutes of exercise per week.
3. Wear shock-absorbing inserts in your shoes as this can help serve as an extra cushion against the impact of your bones rubbing together.
4. Apply heat or ice to the area of your knee where the pain is being felt.
5. Wear a knee sleeve or brace.
6. You can also engage in physical therapy exercises as they can help with flexibility, strength and motion.
7. You can also use a walking cane.
8. Acupuncture.
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