Knee Injuries - Things You Should be Aware of

Knee injury can occur from the direct blow as well as through stretching and twisting injuries. At times the ligament that holds the knee in place gets stressed and results in sprains. Depending on the extent of the ligament and fibre damage, the sprains are graded. Then there are knee injuries that are caused by overuse of it. These injuries cause harm to the tendons and the muscles. Since the knee is interconnected to a lot of other structures, any damage to the knee can have serious repercussion to other connected bones and ligaments.

What are the Risk Factors?

1. Muscle imbalance leading to hamstring spasm.

2. Imbalance of the thigh muscle leading to injury of the knee.

3. Pregnant women and people who are overweight are at increased risk of knee injury

Signs and Symptoms of a Knee Injury:

Knee injuries that are serious in nature can result in instant swelling along with difficulty in bending it. People may find it difficult to bear any sort of weight whatsoever. Joint pain, swelling, inflammation of the muscles are some of the other symptoms of injury to the knee. Pain, instability, locking of the knee can be felt while walking fast or climbing stairs.

When to Contact a Doctor?

Any knee injury should be instantly reported to a doctor. Signs such as deformity, loss of sensation, cold ankle, swelling of knee etc. are signs of a knee injury. A doctor should be consulted, if home remedies such as rest, elevation, compression and ice treatment fail to fetch any fruitful results. If the swollen area has become warm and red and accompanies fever, it is a sign to visit the doctor.

How is a Knee Injury Diagnosed by a Doctor?

A doctor starts the diagnosis with medical history along with physical exam of the patient. Doctor first does a thorough inspection of the nerve and blood supply of the area.The next step of the diagnosis includes palpation. This is a step where the doctor tries to find out the exact location of the pain and tries to correlate the same with the injury location. The doctor might also stress the ligament in order to find out if they are fine. Other imagery tests such as X-ray and MRI are performed to find out the exact location of the injury.

Treatment Available-

The nature of the injury decides the treatment plan. In many cases, the injured area is suggested to be kept at rest or moved in the specific direction as per the direction of a physiotherapist. For serious injuries with a tendon or ligament injury, a reconstructive surgery is necessary to get the knee to the original condition. The type of surgical procedure depends on the kind of Injury one have faced.