Your knees play a significant role in making sure that you can perform your day-to-day activities. They support your body weight and bear the impact of jumping, running, or walking. It’s important to keep them healthy so they can continue functioning pain-free. Knee pain experts near you would provide top signs and symptoms of a knee injury.
Most Common Knee Injury Signs and Symptoms
The signs and symptoms associated with knee injury may be mild or severe. This will depend on the extent and seriousness of your injury.
1. Instability of the knee joints
Losing stability may be a sign of dislocation or damaged ligament. Check if you feel any knee buckling or folding while walking or doing weight-bearing activities. This may be due to hypermobility or any condition affecting the ligaments and tendons supporting the knee joint. Have a doctor evaluate and identify the cause of the instability.
2. A crack or popping sound
Popping sounds may indicate dislocation or a torn ligament. This is a normal occurrence when the joint capsule is stretched. However, this may be a severe issue especially after a knee injury.
It’s also important to note that not all popping sounds are caused by a serious medical issue. Sometimes, these sounds are harmless and don’t need medical intervention. Search for knee pain experts near me to make sure that your condition is nothing to worry about.
3. Intense pain
Intense pain in your knee joints may signify an injury that needs medical attention. Assess the pain on a scale of 1 to 10, with 10 being the highest pain.
Intense or severe pain is normally described as having a score of 8 or higher. Listen to what your body is telling you. You may Google knee pain experts near me if the pain is already affecting your daily activities.
4. Swelling
Often, the swelling is quite evident and comes with bruising or pain. In other cases, the pain is subtle. Compare the affected knee with the healthy one to confirm the presence of swelling. The difference in size or if it’s painful to touch indicates injury.
You must also check how fast the swelling on your knee is forming. If the swelling is significant such as the size of a softball, seek medical attention immediately.
5. Locked knee
A locked knee occurs when you can’t extend or straighten your leg. This may be due to a torn meniscus, or a small fragment of the bone becoming loose. In other cases, inflammation and swelling prevent a patient from fully straightening their knees.
Several athletes suffering with locked knees will also struggle to bend their knees. A sharp knee pain is felt when they try to bend the knee.
6. Significant weakness while straightening the knee
Feeling significant weakness as you straighten your knee could indicate a serious tendon injury. The usual causes of weakness are tears in the patella tendon, quadriceps tendon, and patella dislocation.
7. Having problems with walking
Several knee injuries lead to great pain and challenges in walking. Those with serious knee injuries will have great difficulty, if not impossible, walking. You may need to use crutches. Anyone who needs crutches is deemed to have a serious knee injury until an orthopedic surgeon evaluates them.
What Increases the Risk of Getting Knee Injury?
Any stress put on the joints from any direction may result in a knee injury. This includes a fall, a direct blow to the knee, or a sudden twisting movement of the joint. Several factors increase the risk of getting knee injury. Some examples are:
- Obesity
- Muscle weakness or imbalance
- Participating in sports that involve putting stress on the joints, such as skiing or running
- Previous knee injury
When Should You Seek Immediate Medical Treatment?
Knowing when to consult a professional for your injury is crucial for determining the correct treatment and recovery. It’s highly recommended to talk to a doctor right away if you have severe knee injuries. Delaying treatment can lead to severe pain, deformity, or problems in bearing weight on the affected knee.
Don’t waste time to see if the symptoms will resolve on their own. Immediate medical treatment will make a big difference in your road to recovery.
Protect Your Knees. Find Top Knee Pain Experts Near Me.
People of all ages experience knee problems. Understanding the extent of your injuries will help your health provider make an effective treatment plan.
Our team at the Pain Treatment Institute has one main goal: for our patients to be able to live their lives in full motion. If you feel your knee injury is already affecting your life, seek professional help. We’ll review your case and determine an appropriate treatment plan so you can fully enjoy life again. Book an appointment with us today!
