Is Knee Pain Misleading Your Injury?

A knee injury is the most common cause of knee problems. Traumatic injuries caused by a direct blow to the knee or from abnormal twisting, bending the knee, or falling on the knee, are quite common. Overuse injuries occur with repetitive activities, repeated exercises or motions such as consistent climbing, kneeling, or lifting, or prolonged pressure on the knee. These activities add additional stress to the joints and other tissues and can lead to irritation and inflammation which result in potential pressure placed on nerves. But when neither overuse or traumatic injuries occur, most of the time the true injury is resulting in misleading Knee pain.

What hurts is not necessarily the problem, but a symptom of the problem. Pain felt in a part of the body other than its actual source, also known as referred pain, can be misleading. As an example, if you experience knee pain that isn’t the result of a traumatic injury, it could be resulting from issues in your back. Why? Because “Your Knees are connected to your backbone” … Nerve Damage.

Your spine houses the nerves that drive the muscles around your knees. A problem with a nerve in your back can impact how those muscles around your knee joint work. The nerves in the lower extremities branch off from your Lumbar (lower section) spine. If those nerves are damaged, pinched, or disturbed from a back injury, it can refer pain to any area in your lower extremities resulting in mixed signals and referred pain.

Mixed Signals to look for beyond knee pain

Orthopedic specialists look for these three signs, other than knee pain, that could indicate referred pain or nerve damage.

Referred Pain - pain felt in a part of the body other than its actual source. Pain in the back or even in the foot as a secondary issue may indicate related nerve issues.
Tightness in muscle groups usually indicate that a bundle of nerves may be affecting the pain in surrounding areas such as the
Resulting injury development can arise due to overcompensating for knee pain and favoring one leg over the other. One example of this is the formation of bunions.

Seek An Orthopedic Expert For An Evaluation

If you experience any of the previously mentioned issues accompanying your knee pain, you may want to Request An Appointment for an evaluation with our orthopedic experts. Lemak Health offers exceptional medical services and specialties including sports medicine as well as regenerative medicine treatments for osteoarthritis, total joint replacements and trauma-related orthopedic surgery. We believe that the whole body cannot be healthy unless each part is healthy. The is evident considering everything within our musculoskeletal system is connected.