knee cap pain | Arthritis Information
Now why the heck would my knee caps feel like someone hit them with a hammer? They are not joints.nope they aren't joints but the knee joint is directly underneath them so they are indirectly affected. Their job is to protect the knee joint . When the knee is swollen the joint pushes up against the knee cap wearing away the back of the cap. This happens even more if you allow your quad muscles to weaken because the quads keep the cap in the correct position
WTBF, this is one of the reason for my knee replacement. The rubbing from inflammation and swelling destroyed my knees. My quads were in good shape but it still wore. You probably need to have your doctor examine them and they may refer you for xrays or to an orthopod. Lindy
My quads are probably to blame. I was just noticing the old gray mare ain't what she used to be when I saw my legs in shorts this season. I always had a muscular build but now I am flab.
Honestly I don't know if my age is catching up with me or if this RA has caused me to be so inactive I am just getting atrophy.
Lin- I sure hope my problem doesn't escalate to what you went through. If that's not a motivation to exercise I don't know what is!
wanttobeRAfree2008-07-05 08:32:04WTBF, I hesitated to write this but then thought you probably should realize the seriousness. I didn't go to the doctor until my knee was hurting, really no need to before. Why go for every little ache and pain? By the time I saw the orthopod I had no cartledge left in one knee and little left in the other. Exactly one year later I had my first knee replacement. Synvisc kept me going that year. I'm not saying that our problems are the same but you should have it checked out. Yes, exercise is great for the quads but there are specific exercises for the quads that should be done. Take care. Lindy
There is a condition called Chondromalacia where the cartiledge in behind the knee cap begins to wear away and cause the knee cap to rub on the top of the femur. This causes pain behind the knee cap and at the top of the femur. It can be diagnosed by MRI, you might want to see your orthopod and get it seen about. It can be quiet painful, as I just recently found out.
wanttobe.. don't wait on this..
when I had JRA (JIA now) that is what was destroyed.. my knee cap!! I had to have it rebuilt!
wishing the best for you!!
I've only had RA since Nov. 07- could this really be that serious? I've only had it for a couple of days and I hoping it goes away....only a couple of days? I'd wait on it then.. you could have strained something.. but when you see the RD next.. I'd mention it..
I had JRA for two years (well DX'd for two years) when I ahd to have surgery...
Yeah- it just started yesterday. Still hurts today. Didn't really do anything streneous to cause it so I will definately pay attention to it and tell the doctor if it continues.as long as you have no obvious injury I would simply discuss the new pain area with your rheumatologistI just added it to my RA log so I can keep track of when it started and see if it continues to be a problem.Lindy~Was your knee problems mainly OA? Or RA? I have both now and have a hard time determining which is which.
WTBF~I'm sorry you're having a hard time. Hope things are better soon.
lovie..usally there is more swelling with the RA but its virtually impossible to to differentiate between RA and OA pain in the knees. Lovie an Buckeye, How do you tell the difference in OA and RA in the hands? I would appreciate any thing you can tell me. Patandpaula
RA affects the knuckles closest to the hand and the middle knuckles whereas OA affects the top set. The exception is the base joint of the thumb which both affect
I didn't know I had OA in my knee until I was dx'ed with it after an MRI. We figured it was just RA before we did the MRI. I've only had it done on one knee due some other problems I was having with the particular leg but I can almost bet I have it in the other knee as well.
Have to refer to Buck on the hands. I've only had xrays on my hands and they consider that damage due to RA.
Lovie, it was very difficult to understand the differences in pain because I have RA/OA/PsA. On MRI I had no cartledge left on one knee and very little on the other. PsA flares caused by collateral ligaments to be inflammed, RA caused inflammation around the kneecap. It's very hard to explain. Some pain was localized and I think that was OA, the pain around the knee was RA, and the long pain was in the ligament area where it attached to muscle and bone. Then PsA caused Achilles tendon pain and inflammation, so at one point in time I hurt from my hip bursa to my toes. RA and PsA can cause the tendons and ligaments to become floppy and that in turn causes instability. Thankfully, all of that is behind me except for the PsA and I still have some flares of that. I can deal with one at a time. Lindy
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