What are the symptoms of knee pain?
By itself, knee pain is a symptom that is often included in the diagnosis of various diseases. However, each particular case might be accompanied by other symptoms that may be important to lead the diagnosis.
Therefore, it is essential to understand knee pain as a symptom as well as many others that you may experience in the process. The most important symptoms are as follows:
► Knee pain: As mentioned, knee pain is variable depending on each disease. It varies in intensity and location, and all of these factors are important for the diagnosis.
► Stiffness: The majority of patients with knee pain would also describe an inability to move the affected joint. Stiffness of the joint is often related to arthritis and osteoarthritis, but each case should be evaluated individually.
► Swelling of the knee: Swelling of the articulation is common in various diseases, including rheumatoid arthritis, gout, bursitis, and traumatic knee pain. Accumulation of fluid in the knee is often associated with inflammation of the joint, but other causes of swelling should be evaluated, including hepatic problems and kidney disease.
► Reddened and hot skin: Inflammation is the leading cause in cases of knee pain associated with swelling and reddened hot skin. Among inflammatory causes we have rheumatoid arthritis, gout, infectious diseases, and much more.
► Skin rash: Certain cases of knee pain are associated with skin rash and other skin manifestations. When this happens, it is probably an autoimmune disease that is causing both symptoms at the same time, as in psoriatic arthritis. However, a skin rash may be due to a different cause, and only a doctor would be able to tell the difference.
► Enlarged lymph nodes: Infectious causes of knee pain are often associated with enlargement of lymph nodes. Enlarged lymph nodes are commonly found in the inguinal area, and it happens in cases of septic arthritis or arthritis associated with cellulitis or bursitis.
► Joint tumors: In some cases of arthritis, a series of tumors may start appearing in the skin of the affected joint. For example, this is common in patients with gout, and the tumors are no more than accumulations of uric acid crystals in the skin.
► Deformation of the articulation: Rheumatoid arthritis is associated with deformation of the articulations, which is particularly noticeable in the hands. The most common types of deformities in the hand include the ulnar drift, in which the fingers become inclined towards the pinky, and the Swan-neck deformity, where the top and base joint of the fingers start bending downward as the middle joint remains straight.
► Skin itch (tick bites): In some cases, we can associate knee pain with other events such as tick bites and exposure to certain contaminants. Lyme disease is an important cause of joint pain associated with tick bites.
