Pain In Back Of Leg Behind Knee Causes And Tips For Quick Relief
Bothering knee pain is no pleasure to you. The knee joint is the most frequently injured area of your body. It considers a lot of force from even effortless daily activities. Strong knees allow you to perform several activities easily. Back knee pain can be a pretty common complaint of clients getting medical attention for muscles & joint pain. This type of pain can have severely adverse effects on the standards of your living. Constantly in a few clients knee pain may be primarily detected over the back of the knee. Back knee pain is unpleasant or aching behind your knee joint. It can happen with or without moving & may be serious decent to reduce movements. You can explain back knee pain as pain, irritation, inflammation, increase heat or burning, soreness, or stiffness.
Chondromalacia Patella Runner S Knee What Is It And How
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How Is Knee Pain In Teens Diagnosed
Your healthcare provider will ask about your teens knee pain:
- Is there a known cause for the knee pain does it happen with certain movements or is there no specific known event?
- How long has the pain been present?
- Where on or around your knee do you feel pain?
- Does the pain wake you up at night?
Your provider will perform a physical exam, checking:
- Kneecap and knee stability.
- Alignment of lower leg, kneecap and thigh.
- Range of motion of hips and knees.
- Thigh muscle strength, flexibility, firmness.
Your provider may order imaging tests including X-rays or a CT scan or MRI .
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Anterior Cruciate Ligament Injury
The anterior cruciate ligament is a band of tissue that runs through the front of your knee joint. It connects your thighbone to your shinbone and helps stabilize and provide movement to your knee.
Most ACL injuries happen when you slow down, stop, or change direction suddenly while running. You can also strain or tear this ligament if you land a jump wrong, or you get hit in a contact sport like football.
You might feel a pop when the injury happens. Afterward, your knee will hurt and swell up. You might have trouble fully moving your knee and feel pain when you walk.
Rest and physical therapy can help an ACL strain heal. If the ligament is torn, youll often need surgery to fix it. Heres what to expect during ACL reconstruction.
Tennis Leg Causing Muscle Pain And Swelling Behind The Knee
A condition called tennis leg can also cause pain in the back of your leg behind the knee.
Tennis leg is associated with damage to the gastrocnemius where damage to the muscle and the soleus muscle in the calf causes a buildup of fluid.
According to the journal Radiology Case Reports, tennis leg is often a result of sports injuries. Damage to the calf muscles can cause swelling and pain in the posterior knee.10
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Can Knee Pain Come From Your Spine
Most people assume if they have knee pain, it is due to a problem with the knee joint. This is not always the case. While the discomfort can be due to a knee condition, it can also be the result of a disc protrusion or a pinched nerve in your lower back. Working with your healthcare provider and a physical therapist can help determine if that is the case.
If It Hurts When You Try To Straighten Your Knee:
You may have a popliteal cyst . This is a bulge in the back pit of your knee, called the popliteal fossa, that is filled with fluid and causes tightness behind your knee. The pain may increase when you while participating in physical activity. You may also feel swelling, pain and stiffness or tightness behind your knee.
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Diagnosing A Fluid In The Knee
Visually, a knee with fluid will usually look swollen and puffy. If your physician suspects that fluid in the knee may be an issue, he or she may extract some fluid from the knee using a sterile syringe to assess what type of fluid is present. A lab test may be requested to test for the presence of infection or other types of issues. Your doctor may also suggest an imaging test, such as X-ray , MRI or ultrasound which will help him or her evaluate the situation.
Pain Behind The Knee Faqs
Why do I have pain in the back of my knee when straightening my leg?
There are many different causes for pain behind the knee when straightening the leg, including jumpers knee , a Bakers cyst and chondromalacia.
Why do I have pain behind my knee when bending my leg?
You may have damaged a ligament, tendon or cartilage, which prevents full range of motion in your knee without pain.
Why do I have pain behind my knee when walking and after/during running?
There are many different causes for pain behind the knee on activity, such as arthritis or a Bakers cyst, as well as injuries, such as a meniscus tear, anterior or posterior cruciate ligament injury or hamstring injury.
Why do I have pain in the back of my knee after sitting?
There are several conditions that can cause pain in the back of your knee after sitting for a long time, including arthritis and chondromalacia.
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Pain Behind The Knee And Calf What Causes It And How Do I Get Help
Deep vein thrombosis, tendonitis, muscle spasm, and a Baker’s cyst are some of the reasons of discomfort below or behind the knee and calf. Although these are frequent illnesses that might cause discomfort, other medical disorders can also cause discomfort in certain areas of the legs.
When a blood clot develops in a vein in the calf, it is known as deep vein thrombosis . According to Mayo Clinic, this might result in symptoms such as discomfort and inflammation in this area. A pulmonary embolism, a consequence of DVT, occurs when a blood clot in the lower extremities travels to the lungs.
Baker’s cysts are pockets or collections of synovial fluid that occur behind the knee. Some people suffer pain, while others do not. If the cyst ruptures, though, it can cause pain and bruising at the back of the knee and leg.
Knee sprains, infections, tendinitis, and muscular spasms are among disorders that can produce discomfort at the back of the calf or knee. Tendinitis, an inflammation of the tendons, can affect the calf muscles, for example.
Although there are a multitude of reasons that a person can have leg pain behind the knee or calf, many of them are indicative of a vascular problem and getting checked out by a Vascular Provider is the next step to alleviate the discomfort.
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When To Seek Medical Help For Knee Pain
Seek medical help if you have:
- Pain that hasnt resolved in 6 weeks
- Cant straighten or bend your knee fully
- Knee noises that werent there before
- Cant bear weight on the leg
- Swelling and/or redness in the area
- Knee arthritis
- Pain right after a knee injury
- History of DVT or cardiovascular problems
- Fever
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Damage To The Ligaments Of The Knee
Ligaments are strong, flexible, fibrous and elastic connective tissue which connect one bone to another, provide stability and support joints. They do not connect muscles to joints, that is done by the tendons.
The ligaments of the knee comprise the medial and lateral collateral ligaments, on the inside and outside of the knee respectively, which give sideways stability to the knee joint, and the anterior and posterior cruciate ligament at the front and back of the knee. There is also a patellar tendon, which is really a ligament, which attaches the bottom of the patella to the top of the tibia.
What Are Knee Injury Treatments
Almost all knee injuries will need more than one visit to the doctor. If no operation is indicated, then RICE with some strengthening exercises and perhaps physical therapy will be needed. Sometimes the decision for surgery is delayed to see if the RICE and physical therapy will be effective. Each injury is unique, and treatment decisions depend on what the expectation for function will be. As an example, a torn ACL would usually require surgery in a young athlete or a construction worker, but the ACL may be treated nonoperatively with physical therapy in an 80-year-old who is not very active.
With the technology available, many knee injuries that require surgery can be treated surgically with an arthroscope, in which a camera is used to visualize the damage and small punctures are made in the knee to insert instruments to make repairs. Patients usually begin their post-op rehabilitation within days of the surgery.
If there is no rush to operate, then opportunity exists to pre-hab or strengthen the quadriceps and hamstring muscles beforehand. When a joint like the knee is injured, the muscles around it start to weaken almost immediately. This is also true after the surgery, which can also be considered a further injury. Strong muscles in the preoperative state allow the potential for easier postoperative therapy.
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Treatment Of Pain Behind The Knee
Rest, applying ice packs, taking painkillers and physiotherapy can all be used to treat posterior knee pain. Depending on the severity and underlying cause of your knee pain, your doctor may also prescribe medication and/or recommend surgery.
Treatment for Bakers cysts
Bakers cysts can go away on their own or with treatment of the underlying condition causing your cyst . However, if you have a large or painful cyst, your doctor may recommend steroid injections, physiotherapy or drainage of the cyst.
Treatment for gastrocnemius tendonitis
Your knee pain should subside with rest, elevation of your leg and applying ice packs. How long this takes will depend on the size of the tear.
Treatment for meniscus tear
Rest, elevation of your leg and applying ice packs may be enough to treat your tear. However, if your tear doesnt improve on its own, your doctor may recommend surgery.
Treatment for ACL injury
Rest and physiotherapy can treat an ACL injury. However, if your ACL is torn, you may need surgery.
Treatment for PCL injury
Your knee pain should subside with rest, elevation of your leg and applying ice packs. However, your doctor may recommend surgery if you have injured more than one ligament, are unsteady on your feet or have also damaged cartilage in your knee.
Treatment for chondromalacia
Applying ice packs, taking over-the-counter painkillers and physiotherapy can treat chondromalacia. However, if the cartilage in your knee is damaged, you will need surgery.
If The Back Of Your Knee Hurts While Running Or Walking:
This could be a symptom of hamstring tendonitis. The hamstring tendon connects the hamstring muscle to the outer aspect of the knee. This is caused by overuse in running or jumping or insufficient warm-up exercises. If you are an individual who has just started working out or increased your level of fitness, you are at risk for this injury. Pain can be felt when putting strain on the muscle or tendon.
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What Can I Do At Home
There are a bunch of things you can do at home, including:
- Modifying your activities. Temporarily changing certain movements that hurt your knee will help it heal.
- Practicing low-impact activities that arent painful. Examples would be walking, swimming, or biking.
- Wearing a knee sleeve. It provides compression and warmth that can help reduce the pain. Although, the type of knee sleeve you need will depend on whats causing your knee pain.
- Using anti-inflammatories or icing only if necessary. They help make the pain more manageable but they might also impair tissue healing.
If your pain and/or swelling worsens over time, or if it limits you in your daily activities, please go to your doctor or physical therapist.
Pain Behind The Knee: Symptoms
Each case of pain behind the knee is different. However, there are some typical signs and symptoms doctors have identified, including the ones listed below.
- Inability to put weight on knee
- Reduced range of motion in knee joint
- Stiffness
- Swelling
- Pain when trying to stretch the leg
There are some symptoms that can be an indication of a life-threatening health problem. For example, bruising on the back of the knee or calf, difficulty breathing, redness behind the knee of one leg, warmth behind the knee of one leg, and painful swelling can be signs of something serious.
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What Does It Mean When The Back Of Your Leg Hurts Behind The Knee
Pain at the back of your knee when bending depends on several factors. These include how the pain started, your age, medical history, and so on.
If you are an athlete and/or play contact sports often, you could have:
- A hamstring or gastrocnemius tendinitis
- Pes anserine bursitis
If youre over 60 years old, you could have:
- A leg cramp
- Bakers cyst
- Knee arthritis
- DVT.
If youre not sure or if youve had pain for more than 6 weeks, go to the doctor to find out whats going on.
I Am Training For A Marathon And Have Started To Get A Pain Behind My Knee Every Time I Run Do I Need To Rest It Or Do I Need Treatment
The nagging pain or tenderness at the back of your knee which is causing you some discomfort could be hamstring tendonitis or an injury to the popliteus muscle. Both of these conditions are caused by overuse and repetitive actions. You should take a rest from training for a while and use the RICE treatment. If the problem does not clear up I would be happy to see you and assess things further.
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Knee Pain Caused By Larger Muscle Groups
As we travel further down the kinetic chain, we now have to address some of the larger anatomical systems in place. That is, the muscle groups that are directly linked to the knee itself in this case, the calves and hamstrings.
Your calf muscles make up the back portion of your lower leg, while the hamstrings are the large muscles in the back of your thighs. Because both of these muscle groups sort of sandwich your knee joint, theres a high likelihood that injury or deficiencies within these tissues can lead to subsequent pain behind your knee.
Lets dig into some of the most common diagnoses!
Causes Of Pain Behind The Knee
There are a number of causes of pain behind the knee, which include:
- your knee joint wearing down as you get older for example, you may have osteoarthritis or rheumatoid arthritis
- a knee injury
- a benign or cancerous growth
- an infection
You can access a range of treatments on a pay as you go basis, including physiotherapy. Find out more about physiotherapy >
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When To See A Healthcare Provider
If you are unsure of the cause of your symptoms, or if you do not know how to treat your condition, you should contact your healthcare provider. Your treatment will depend on the specific cause of your calf pain.
Some signs that you should be seen by a healthcare provider include:
- Inability to walk comfortably on the affected side
- Injury that causes deformity of the lower leg
- Calf pain that occurs at night or while resting
- Calf pain that persists beyond a few days
- Swelling of the calf or ankle joint area
- Signs of an infection, including fever, redness, warmth
- Any other unusual symptoms
Risk Factors For A Meniscus Tear Or Strain
- Age the meniscus gets worn as you age, so people over the age of 30 are at a higher risk for suffering from a meniscus tear.
- Athletes athletes who play sports such as football, basketball, soccer and tennis are at a higher risk for suffering from a meniscus tear because of the sudden stops and turns involved in playing the game.
- Osteoarthritis people who suffer from osteoarthritis are at a higher risk for suffering from a meniscus tear or strain.
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Is Anything Strange Happening
Or really, Is anything strange happening beyond your knee pain?
For example, can you still flex your knee all the way? Most people get frightened when their knee locks and cant straighten anymore. Often the culprit is called Bakers cyst, a fluid-filled sac behind the knee caused by inflammation.
A also triggers concern for many people. Nobody wants to hear a click with every step. Sometimes, its harmless, but if that clicking comes with pain, you might have a mechanical problem such as a torn meniscus, Dr. Burg says.
These are just a few examples among many. The knee is a complicated andcritical part of your everyday life. So when you have pain that comes withserious symptoms or lasts for more than a week or two, seek the right diagnosisby getting a physical exam and any necessary imaging that comes with it.
