Knee Pain

As one gets older, the condition of osteoarthritis worsens. Middle aged people begin to critically worry and explore ways on how they could diminish it. As the gap between two joints decreases, there is an amount of friction caused between them. As the friction increases, the pain also increases. As the gap closes in osteoarthritis, we get to observe three principle symptoms:

• New bones begin to grow in the corners of the joints. This condition is also known as “loose body”.
• The bottom part of the joint known as the “Articular Cartilage”, whose primary function is to cushion the and joint smoothen the movement, begins to wear out.
• The ligament and tissue surround the joint begin to swell

Incidence of arthritis of the joints is more prominent amongst women. The condition, usually, begins to set in after the age of 40. The pain progresses in intensity with age. The victim usually experiences difficulties in tasks such as getting up, walking and climbing stairs. This disrupts the daily routine of the patient.  People find it hard to believe that a gap can fall in the knee joint. But this is the truth. There is, in fact, a gap between the two bones that meet at the knee joint. And when osteoarthritis sets in, the gap between the two bones begins to rescind. Many people mistake the good knee joint for the problematic knee joint, and vice versa, while examining their x-ray for osteoarthritis. Hence, it is important to understand the fact that the two bones at the knee joint, known as tibia and femur, indeed have a gap between them.  This gap contains some parts of the joint known as medial meniscus, lateral meniscus, ACL and PCL ligaments and MCAL and LCL ligaments which hold the joint together on the sides. So when osteoarthritis begins to set in, the gap between the bones begins to close in and eventually closes in. This closing gap pressurizes the ligaments and the medial meniscus which results in a swelling. Over time, the swelling keeps getting bigger.

The ligaments, then, begin to loosen up as a result of the pain, causing the meniscus to tear eventually. What is important to understand is that when looking at an X-ray for osteoarthritis, the joint with the gap is the good one and the one with the lesser gap is the affected one. Such are the misconceptions with regard to good and bad knee joints.