Associated symptoms

Various accompanying symptoms are possible in the case of bone edema in the knee, but in some cases there are no symptoms at all. The most common symptom is pain, which occurs particularly under stress such as when walking. In addition, swelling or redness may occur in the affected bone.

The pain may also radiate and be felt in the upper or lower leg, for example. Furthermore, a bone edema at the knee can lead to a restriction of the mobility of the joint, so that it can no longer be fully stretched or bent. In combination with the pain, this can severely impair the gait pattern.

Pain is the main symptom through which bone edema at the knee can manifest itself. Pain is typically dependent on the load. This means that the pain occurs particularly when the affected knee joint is subjected to a force, such as when walking.

In contrast, there is often little or no pain at rest, such as when lying down. This means that diseases that cause pain independently of the load can be ruled out. However, the bone edema in the knee can manifest itself very differently in each person.While the pain is described by some people as unbearable, others feel almost no discomfort at all. In general, stress-related pain in the knee is a common symptom, but only in very rare cases is it caused by bone edema. Much more common, for example, are muscular causes or joint degeneration disorders such as osteoarthritis.

Water in the knee joint

Water in the knee joint is also called knee joint effusion. This is mainly due to an inflammation of the knee. This in turn can have various causes, such as a bacterial infection or a rheumatic disease (see; Rheumatism).

Bone edema in the knee is usually not the cause of water in the knee joint. Although bone edema refers to water retention, it is usually within hollow spaces in the bone and not as free water in the knee joint. Nevertheless, bone damage, for example due to disease, can result in both bone edema and knee joint effusion. In contrast to bone edema, water in the knee can be detected by an ultrasound examination.