Diagnosis
In order to correctly assess the reason for the knee pain, the knee must be examined by a doctor. The specialists in this field are in most cases orthopedic specialists or general practitioners. First the medical history is taken, whereby it is especially important to mention whether a certain movement or an accident preceded the pain.
This is followed by a physical inspection and examination. Here, attention is paid to swelling, redness, pain, and warming of the affected area. Certain tests can also be used to check for movement restrictions, if any.
Here it is important to find out during which movements the knee pain occurs. Based on this information, the treating physician may be able to determine or make a guess as to the cause of the knee pain. To ensure the diagnosis, further examinations are usually ordered.
These examinations consist of imaging procedures (X-ray, CT, MRI, sonography), which can provide information about the exact cause and location of the cause of pain. If all these examinations were unsuccessful, it may be necessary to perform a knee arthroscopy (knee endoscopy) to confirm the diagnosis. The diagnosis for individual knee pain depends on many factors and can vary greatly.
Due to demographic change, which is occurring with a proportionally large older population group, the symptom knee pain has become a widespread disease. In older patients, degenerative diseases play a major role. This is understood to mean that, due to the strain on the joints, wear and tear increases in equal measure, and is particularly noticeable in this age group through pain.The consequences are joint diseases like knee joint arthrosis.
Risk factors are increased age, but also many other things that are associated with increased wear and tear of the joints. These include the presence of legs of different lengths, “X” or “O” legs and excessive competitive sports. Other illnesses, such as rheumatism or varicose veins, should also be taken into consideration in the case of knee joint complaints of older patients.
Diseases that are independent of age are often caused by an injury, or are a sign of infection. These include torn muscles and ligaments, which often occur during sport, and bursitis, which is also manifested by knee pain. It happens again and again that there is pain in the knee joint, but no definitive cause can be found. Often the problem is that although the pain occurs in the knee, the cause may be found elsewhere. For example, knee pain can occur if hip joint arthrosis, a pseudo-radicular pain syndrome (facet syndrome), or simply the wrong shoes were used during sports.
