Occasional knee pain is common, as are knee injuries. There’s a difference, though, between sore, aching knees and episodes where you have serious, debilitating pain. Aches can be trouble enough to work around, while severe pain can stop you in your tracks.
The causes of severe knee pain can vary widely, including serious knee injuries, joint deterioration, or even side effects of other health conditions.
When pain interferes with your ability to function, it’s time to visit Westside Pain Specialists. Their mandate is to solve your pain issues so it doesn’t rule your life. Dr. James Nassiri and his team can help you with severe knee pain stemming from these common causes.
Regardless of how active your lifestyle is, the complexity of the knee joint and the extreme loads it can bear can result in injury whether you’re playing contact football or doing modest yardwork.
Ligaments are tough connective tissues that stabilize the knee joint in several directions. Damage to these is often a result of sports activity, and car accidents too can create the forces that sprain or tear knee ligaments.
Anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injuries result from collisions, landing awkwardly after a jump, and during sudden starts, stops, or changes of direction. ACL injuries are common among athletes, and you’ll frequently hear of professional sports stars with this issue.
Less often, the medial collateral ligament (MCL) or the posterior cruciate ligament (PCL) can suffer injury, creating severe pain.
Cartilage in the knee is also prone to damage, the most common being a meniscus tear, typically caused by a twisting or turning motion involving the knee. While some tears may start out with discomfort rather than pain, it can become stiffer and more painful in the days after the initial injury.
An umbrella term for over 100 degenerative joint conditions, arthritis in the knee creates a wide range of discomfort, from aches to serious pain. Osteoarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis, and post-traumatic arthritis are the three most common forms of the condition, and each is capable of creating severe knee pain.
In each case, cartilage is usually the victim, whether through wear and tear, autoimmune disorders, or trauma. When the cartilage coverings over the ends of the bones of the knees break down, bone-on-bone contact can occur, a potentially very painful condition.
Though gout is technically an arthritic condition, and though it usually affects the feet, it can be extremely painful when it affects the knee. Needle-like urate crystals collect in joints, causing inflammation and intense pain.
Unlike other forms of arthritis, you can often take medication to reduce uric acid levels in your body, the source of urate crystals.
There are other, less common, reasons for severe knee pain, but no matter the issue, you need relief quickly to function, even through the diagnostic process that may lead to treatment of an underlying condition.
Contact Westside Pain Specialists by calling either their Hollywood or Rancho Cucamonga office. Give your knees the break they deserve and schedule a consultation now.
