Feeling like your knees are on fire when you bend down can be very frustrating. Unfortunately, this often happens when you get older due to many reasons. Below are two of these reasons as well as what you can do to feel better.
Arthritis
Arthritis in the knee is known as osteoarthritis (OA). Once you have this you cannot get rid of it. You feel pain with OA because this disease causes your joint cartilage to slowly wear away. The pain generally develops slowly over time, but, in some cases, it will develop suddenly. In the beginning stages of OA, you will feel pain in your knees when you kneel, stand up from a sitting position, or climb stairs.
When the OA progresses, you may feel your knees lock up when you are walking and you may hear cracking and popping sounds when you move your knee.
Over time, the pain will become much worse which often results in a visit to a doctor.
The doctor can provide many forms of treatment to help you feel better. He or she may suggest taking an over the counter pain medication to help with the pain. The doctor may also prescribe analgesics to help and cortisone shots may also be an option.
If your knees become so painful that you can hardly walk, an orthopedic surgeon will likely suggest that you have surgery. Types of surgery they may offer include:
Tendinitis
The pain you are feeling may be due to tendinitis. This pain will not go away until you stop moving and rest your knee. Tendinitis is an inflammation of the knee tendon, which is a tissue that connects the knee muscles to the bone. It can be caused by repetitive motion. Even though tendinitis can happen to anyone, the joints become weaker with age, which increases the chances of someone older of developing it.
To treat tendinitis, the doctor will ask you to limit your movement in the beginning and apply ice to the affected area. The doctor may also give you a knee brace to wear until the pain subsides. Once the pain gets better, you may be told to see a physical therapist to help strengthen your knee muscles.
If you continue to feel pain, you'll likely require surgery to feel better. The doctor will try every conservative treatment before they suggest surgery, however.
Your doctor can go over these treatment options with you and answer any questions you may have.
Share10 November 2016
I am a mother of four wonderful children, and like other parents, I have been to my fair share of health care clinics. It seems like my children are always getting scrapes and coming down with colds. When I was a new parent, I never knew whether I should take my injured or ill child to the emergency room or local urgent care facility. I received some simple advice from a seasoned parent that made my decisions easier that I want to pass onto all new parents, along with other health tips I've learned. he told me that she tended to take her children to the ER when they were bleeding or had very high temperatures and took them to the local urgent care for any other problem. I have followed her advice ever since, and my children remain healthy and happy!
