The reason you are feeling pain in your joints might be as a result of many health conditions. Joint pain is a very common health problem with many possible causes, especially in older women which the pain can be due to menopausal symptoms.
Symptoms associated with Joint pain
Joint pain can be caused by ordinary injury to a particular joint, infection or a symptom of a serious disease. Some of the symptoms associated with most joints pain that occur due to inflammation or infection include:
- joint swelling
- joint redness
- joint warmth
- joint tenderness
- stiffness or loss of range of motion of the joint
- locking of the joint
- weakness
Joint pain due to injury may have the following symptoms:
- deformity
- limping
- joint swelling
- sharp pain
Possible causes
There are many possible causes of Joint pain, the possible causes of joint pain may also depend on the affected joint, the number of affected joint and the physical condition of the affected joint.
Knee pain
Knees are particularly the most vulnerable among other joints, as it carries the full weight of the body. The knee joint pain is not always a minor joint problem, it may be due to many possible causes including Pseudogout which is a condition is similar to gout, it mostly affects the knee joint but may affect other joint if left untreated.
Some of the most common cause of pain in a single joint and the knee includes:
Arthritis
If the joint pain comes in repeated attacks and the skin in the joint area is red and hot, the cause might be a type of arthritis like Gout or pseudogout.
Damage to the Knee cartilage
If the knee joint pain feels worse when going down or up the stairs, it might be a sign of damage cartilage at the back of the knee cap_ a condition called chondromalacia patellae. The damage is often linked to knee over stressed. Resting the leg can relief the joint pain.
Internal bleeding in the joint
This can be caused by injury to the knee joint such as knee fracture or a torn ligament, this may cause bleeding into the joint spaces_ a condition known as haemarthrosis. Signs include swelling of the knee, warmth, stiffness, and bruising.
Also, psoriatic arthritis, reactive arthritis, rheumatoid arthritis, haemophilia, Osgood-Schlatter’s disease and hip fracture may cause joint pain. It is recommended to see your doctor for proper diagnosis. Also in a very rear occasion, joint pain might by a sign of cancer or hypertrophic pulmonary osteoarthropathy.
Treatments
Treatment of Joint pain strongly depend on the cause, if the joint pain is minor and there is not visible skin reaction around the joint, an anti-inflammatory can help, or place an ice pack on the affected joint but if the pain persists, see your doctor for proper evolution.
Fracture to the joint can be operated and other conditions can be treated with a proper drug prescribed by your doctor. Swelling of joint, fracture and bleeding in; needs immediate medical attention.Self-diagnose of joint pain is not advisable.