Bear in mind that at some point in your life, you might experience pain behind the knee. Here are 4 everyday causes of knee pain and things you need to do relieve you of suffering.

1. Potential or Possibly Arthritis

This is probably the most common reason for knee distress. As a matter of fact, anyone over the age of 65 has a one in two chance of having knee arthritis.

The pain associated with arthritis is usually a dull twinge that from time to time becomes sharp through brusque or abrupt movements. The pain is prevalently detected over your joint line where the tibia meets the femur and at the anterior of the knee. Mild and occasionally severe swelling is also associated with this type of pain. The pain turns worse when you get out of a car or get up from a sitting position. It is also gets worse with any sustained standing or hiking.

Patients often complain of knee grinding, and occasional popping when the knee may catch on the rough uneven surfaces of the cartilage.

The pain usually gets better with some applied heat (or ice), rest, pain medication or knee wraps.

2. Minor Tearing of the Cartilage Surface

A torn meniscus is normally a torn knee cartilage. These small, C-shaped fragments of cartilage act as buffers between the thighbone and the shinbone. There is one on the outer part of the knee (lateral meniscus) and one on the inside of the knee (medial meniscus). Meniscus tears are often the outcome of twisting, pivoting, decelerating, or a sudden, rapid impact. It can be identified through various manual tests by a physician.

Read through the end of this article for some solutions to knee injuries. If the tears are minor, they will not require any surgical procedure. They usually heal individually depending on the amount of time given for healing and if the activities that exacerbate it are avoided.

3. The Baker Cyst

A tear of your meniscus or some other problems of the knee, such as arthritis, may cause a Bakers cyst to occur. The swelling is caused by fluids forming under your kneecap. The liquid from the cyst pushes out the weakest point of your joint capsule surrounding your knee. The pain associated with this injury is usually felt towards the back portion of your kneecaps.

The kneecap has a valve connected to your joint capsule tissue. Occasionally, this valve can become plugged and the fluid becomes trapped in the cyst. Therefore, even when the knee injury has healed, there could still be a swelling in the back of the knee. The pain is typically described as dull and aching. This sensation worsens with prolonged standing or walking.

Elevation, rest, and taking some painkillers may lessen some discomfort. Many individuals agree that when it comes to pain behind the knee, the best action plan is to reduce any discomfort, avoid the risks involved, and rehabilitate the injury.

4. Chondromalacia

The softening and weakening of the underside of the kneecap is called chondromalacia. In many young athletes, this is usually an injury caused by trauma, overuse and faulty knee joint alignment, or muscle imbalance. Thus, resulting in friction and abrasion beneath the kneecap. The outcome is damage to the surface of the cartilage. Any agitation causes a dull pain around or below the kneecap and worsens when walking uphill, climbing stairs or performing any weight bearing activity.

Reducing Pain:

Cryotheraphy, or putting ice on the affected area for 5 minutes at a time helps alleviated discomfort. Do not continue application if a burning sensation is experienced. Apply heat from a heating pad for 10-20 minutes on a low setting may also ease the pain. Try other methods such as Icy-Hot or AST BioFreeze gel, which create a heating or cooling sensation.

Some needed relief and stability to the region may be obtained with support from a comfortable knee brace. There are innumerable knee braces available that could be worn during mild physical activity or at any time when the area becomes troublesome.

Avoid:

Simply withdraw from any movement that worsens the pain and rely on actions that appear to support it. Make a schedule of things to do and not to do that determine which movements make the discomfort worse. Refrain from any activities that continue to make the pain worse. Pain is an admonition that something is not right.

Rehabilitation:

Talk to a doctor before planning a course of action to rehabilitate the knee. Your physician may also refer you to a physical therapist who can design an exercise program for you to follow. The therapist should have the needed equipment to keep the prescribed exercises under control.

Pain behind the knee is very common in a many sports from snowboarding to racquetball. By taking precautions and understanding what might cause your knees to hurt, will allow you to enjoy several sports and physical activities.