There are many different conditions that could potentially be affecting your knee in some way. The two most common are osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis.

Osteoarthritis is a form of arthritis that most often causes painful knee conditions. Osteoarthritis results from either a worn out knee cartilage, a joint injury or being overweight.

It occurs with aging and typically begins around 50 or older. Osteoarthritis developing in someone younger is usually a result of a previous knee injury or an inherited form of the disease.

The general symptoms of arthritis is a painful and stiff knee. Treatment options include use of aspirin or acetaminophen for pain management. Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs such as ibuprofen, or in some cases corticosteroid injections directly into the knee joint, for inflammation management.

Another treatment option some report knee pain relief caused by osteoarthritis is use of the nutritional supplements glucosamine and chondroitin sulphate.

Rheumatoid Arthritis generally affects people at a younger age than osteoarthritis, and this form of arthritis is an autoimmune disease. Essentially your immune system attacks itself.

The main site of rheumatoid arthritis immune system’s attack on your knee is its membrane that lines the knee joint (synovium). The result of this attack is inflammation, which can lead to destruction of the cartilage, bone, muscles, tendons, and ligaments.

Gout and lupus are two other rheumatic diseases that may be causing your pain in the knee.

The symptoms for rheumatoid arthritis, gout, or other inflammatory conditions is swelling, red, and hot to the touch around your knee joint. If rheumatoid arthritis is the cause of your knee pain, proper diagnosis and treatment need to be pursued, so visit your health care provider right away.

Infectious Arthritis is a form of arthritis that is caused by infectious agents, such as bacteria or viruses. Immediate medical attention is vital to treat your infection in an effort to minimize damage to your joints, particularly if fever is present.

With osteo or rhuematoid types of arthritis, you may benefit from exercises to strengthen the muscles that support the knee and weight loss, if needed, to relieve excess stress on the joints.

If arthritis causes serious damage to your knee or your pain and loss of use of the knee from arthritis is disabling, joint surgery is an option to be considered. Newer surgical procedures include resurfacing or replacing only what’s damaged and leaves the rest of the joint intact.

Go get your cause for knee pain diagnosed in order to be fully informed as to all your treatment options. Take the painful guess work out of one of your primary joint movers.

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