Knee pain on the outside
Pain in the knee, which mainly appears on the outside, can have various causes. In such a painful condition, the knee joint and its ligaments, as well as the cartilage or tendons, can be affected. Knee pain, which is mainly felt externally, is often caused by overloading.
Especially the so-called “runner’s knee” (tractus syndrome) plays a decisive role in this context. In affected patients, the area of the fascia strip, which pulls down from the ilium on the outside of the thigh, is clearly overstressed. The development of the runner’s knee, which causes pain on the outside of the knee, is favored by a malposition of the leg axis (bow legs).
In addition, a weakness of the pelvic stabilizers can promote the development of the runner’s knee. Patients typically experience stabbing pain, which is mainly felt on the outside of the knee. The complaints caused by the runner’s knee are often so severe that running becomes almost impossible.
In many cases, this pain occurs primarily in stressful situations. Since the fascial plate affected by this disease extends to the outside of the tibial plateau, the pain on the outside of the knee usually radiates to the tibial plateau. The treatment of the runner’s knee is carried out by so-called “cryotherapy” (cooling) and anti-inflammatory ointments.
In addition, affected patients should stop any kind of sports activity until the complaints have subsided completely. Furthermore, damage to the tendons or osteoarthritis can lead to pain in the outer part of the knee. The technical term for arthrosis of the knee is “gonarthrosis“.
This term refers to a slowly progressive, non-inflammatory change in the knee joint that leads to increasing destruction of the cartilage structures. Knee joint arthrosis is one of the most common causes of external knee pain and affects approximately 30 to 60 percent of people over the age of 60. In most cases, the reason for the development of knee joint arthrosis is overloading or incorrect loading that persists for years.
In addition, inflammatory processes in the knee joint area and overweight (obesity) are among the most important risk factors. Patients affected even with less pronounced forms of knee joint arthrosis feel pain in the knee, which occurs mainly externally. In addition, knee joint arthrosis often manifests itself by a significant restriction of the range of motion of the affected knee.The pain occurs mainly when descending or descending stairs.
In addition, the structural changes within the knee joint lead to pronounced instability. In the further course of the disease, the strain on the individual parts of the joint often leads to knee joint effusions. The diagnosis of pain on the outside of the knee is performed in several steps.
Already during the doctor-patient consultation (anamnesis), the patient should describe the symptoms he/she feels as precisely as possible. Following this doctor-patient consultation, the knee joint is examined in a side comparison. During this examination, an indication of the underlying disease can usually already be obtained.
The further diagnosis of pain on the outside of the knee is carried out using various imaging techniques. Both the preparation of X-rays and magnetic resonance imaging can help to confirm the suspected diagnosis. The treatment of a patient with pain on the outside of the knee depends primarily on the causative disease. In this context, it is particularly important to eliminate possible risk factors (e.g. overweight).
