Knee pain – pain that affects the whole knee

Knee pain, knee joint pain, meniscus damage, cruciate ligament rupture, knee arthrosis

Introduction

Knee joint pain can have a variety of causes. They are important in the search for the right diagnosis:

  • Age
  • Gender
  • Accident event
  • Type and quality of pain (sharp, dull etc. )
  • Pain development (slow, sudden, etc.

    )

  • Pain occurrence (at rest, after/with stress)
  • Place of pain (inside, outside etc. )
  • External aspects (swelling, redness etc. )
  • And much more.

In the following descriptions of diseases we will try to address as many characteristics as possible that make up a particular clinical picture.

Unfortunately, there are many deviations from the norm, so that the presumed self-diagnosis need not be correct. We hope, however, that our self-diagnostic will be able to help patients who search the Internet for an organ- or symptom-related disease. Ultimately, however, only a specialist examination and, if necessary, additional imaging procedures (X-ray, knee MRI, etc.) can lead to a correct diagnosis.

Causes for popliteal pain

Pain in the hollow of the knee can have various causes. The definition of this pain describes the place where the pain is felt, but not necessarily the place where the pain originates. The pain is usually felt on the back of the knee, but it can also radiate to the upper and lower leg.

Pain in the hollow of the knee caused by a vascular disease

Deep vein thrombosis, also called phlebothrombosis, can cause severe pain in the area of the hollow of the knee. In combination with the pain in the hollow of the knee, there is also pain and a feeling of tension or pulling in the groin area or the sole of the foot. Externally, dilated skin veins, so-called varices, may be visible.

In most cases, the left leg is affected. Such thromboses often proceed silently and without symptoms for a long time until the person affected really feels pain in the hollow of the knee. The popliteal vein is located in the depth of the knee.

It carries venous blood from the lower leg and the hollow of the knee into the femoral vein, a large vein in the thigh. Thromboses in the area of the popliteal vein or its supplying vessels can therefore cause severe pain in the hollow of the knee. Therapeutically, so-called thrombolytics such as streptokinase and urokinase are used to loosen the thrombus.

This treatment takes about 5-7 days. Afterwards, thrombosis prophylaxis is carried out with heparin or acetylsalicylic acid. There is also the possibility of a thrombectomy.

This is the surgical removal of a thrombus from a blood vessel. This is done by means of a catheter. Pain in the hollow of the knee caused by a vascular disease Deep vein thrombosis, also called phlebothrombosis, can cause severe pain in the hollow of the knee.

In combination with the pain in the popliteal fossa, there is also pain and a feeling of tension or pulling in the groin or sole of the foot. Externally, dilated skin veins, so-called varices, may be visible. In most cases, the left leg is affected.

Such thromboses often proceed silently and without symptoms for a long time until the person affected really feels pain in the hollow of the knee. The popliteal vein is located in the depth of the knee. It carries venous blood from the lower leg and the hollow of the knee into the femoral vein, a large vein in the thigh.

Thromboses in the area of the popliteal vein or its supplying vessels can therefore cause severe pain in the hollow of the knee. Therapeutically, so-called thrombolytics such as streptokinase and urokinase are used to loosen the thrombus. This treatment takes about 5-7 days.

Afterwards, thrombosis prophylaxis is carried out with heparin or acetylsalicylic acid. There is also the possibility of a thrombectomy. This is the surgical removal of a thrombus from a blood vessel.

This is done by means of a catheter. Pain in the hollow of the knee caused by the calf/calf attachment Calf pain often feels like a drilling pain coming from the depths. However, these pains, especially chronic ones, are often rather superficial in nature.

They usually result from tension in the muscles, their fasciae or the connective tissue. These tensions can be felt from the outside as hardenings. The calves then feel hard.The pain increases with certain movements, such as kneeling down or jogging.

Almost always, restrictions in movement are also observed. Stretching the knee is difficult, but also rolling of the feet, bending and stretching of the toes, bending and stretching of the ankle and pro- as well as supination of the foot. The pain in the hollow of the knee can be explained by the course of the calf muscles.

Important here is the large muscle triceps surae, which forms the curvature of the calf. It consists of a superficial gastrocnemius muscle and a deep soleus muscle. The gastrocnemius muscle is a two-headed muscle that originates at the lower edge of the thigh bone, at the so-called epicondyles of the femur, and is located in the Achilles tendon.

With its two heads, it limits the hollow of the knee to the right and left. Pain in this muscle or even at its origins therefore radiates quickly into the hollow of the knee or even arises in this hollow. Pain in the popliteal fossa in tendon disease Pain in the popliteal fossa can also have its origin in an overload of the biceps femoris muscle.

This muscle is located on the dorsal side (back) of the thigh and belongs to the so-called ischiocrural musculature. It has two heads and its long head originates from a bony prominence of the pelvic bone, the ischiadic tuberosity. The short head originates from the thigh bone itself.

After the two heads are joined, the muscle attaches to the fibula head of the fibula, thus limiting the knee to the outer edge. Between the muscle tendon and the knee joint there is still a bursa. A stress-related disease of this tendon, which is called biceps tendon tendinosis, can be extremely painful.

The pain is located in the hollow of the knee and is felt as stinging and pulling and develops slowly. Affected persons are mainly very active in sports. There are other synonyms for this tendon disease.

These are: Insertion tendopathy and myotendinosis. The term insertion tendopathy describes the localization of the disease very well. This is the transition from tendon to bone, the insertion.

The cause is almost always incorrect loading in people who are not sufficiently trained or overloading without sufficient recovery breaks in athletes. The tendon attachment is then swollen and fat degenerated. This can also be seen from the outside.

The pain then occurs mainly under stress. However, there is also pain under pressure and stretching. To relieve the pain, it is recommended to avoid incorrect and excessive strain.

Conservatively one works then still with heat therapy, tape dressings, shock wave and electrotherapy, as well as the injection of glucocorticoids. If no conservative therapy works, surgery can be performed. In this operation, the diseased tendon is severed.

Since this always results in functional limitations, surgery should only be considered after any conservative method. In addition to any kind of therapy, physiotherapy is recommended. Pain in the hollow of the knee in children Children can complain about pain in the legs, especially at kindergarten or elementary school age.

The pain is then usually located in the hollow of the knee, calves or hips. In many cases this is growth pain. But how do you differentiate between growth pain and serious illness?

A clear distinction is not possible without a doctor. However, there are some symptoms that clearly indicate a cause other than growth. If the child has very strong, long-lasting pain (longer than 15 minutes) in combination with fever, without a cold, this is more likely to be an infection or other illness than growth pain.

In addition, redness and swelling in the joints speak against growth pain. What can be done about this pain? You can put a hot water bottle on the affected areas.

Specific massages or the administration of a light painkiller such as ibuprofen can also help. However, it is recommended to simply discuss the procedure with a doctor. Growth pains are usually something quite normal and physiological and do not require any therapy.

However, it should always be clarified whether there is something else behind the pain. Other conceivable causes of pain in the hollow of the knee are joint malpositions in children’s legs, which can be congenital or acquired.The pain can of course be located elsewhere on the leg (e.g. in the ankle joint), depending on the malposition. Pain in the popliteal fossa caused by the thigh The muscles of the thigh are involved in the limitation of the popliteal fossa (see “Biceps tendon endinosis”).

Therefore, diseases, strains and tears of the thigh musculature, especially of the biceps femoris muscle, can cause pain in the popliteal fossa. This pain can radiate into the thigh. Pain in the popliteal fossa during stretching Here, too, the cause lies in the lower approaches of the ischiocural musculature. When these are inflamed, the hollow of the knee hurts, especially when trying to stretch the knee. In extreme cases this results in a gait with slightly bent knees.