Knee Pain

Acute knee pain often happens during a fall, motor vehicle accident, or sports activity. Chronic knee pain can be caused by arthritis or an overuse condition. If you struggle with knee pain, visit the Union Anesthesia Associates team at one of their convenient offices in Union, Scotch Plains, Bloomfield, South Bound Brook, New Brunswick, Old Bridge, and Woodbridge, New Jersey. The highly skilled pain management experts offer minimally invasive treatments to relieve pain and disability. Call your nearest Union Anesthesia Associates office today or schedule a consultation online to benefit from first-class knee pain care.

What conditions cause knee pain?

Knees support most of your body weight and take the strain when you run, jump, twist, and kneel. Unsurprisingly, they’re prone to acute (sudden) injuries, wear-and-tear damage, and chronic (long-term) joint deterioration.

Common acute injuries include:

• Bone fractures
• Meniscus cartilage tears
• Patellar (kneecap) injuries
• Dislocations (joint separations)
• Iliotibial (IT) band injuries
• Anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) tears

The ACL is one of four major ligaments that connect the bones in your knee and enable you to move the joint. ACL injuries are common, but the medial collateral (MCL), posterior cruciate (PCL), and lateral collateral (MCL) ligaments are also prone to injury. Poorly healed acute injuries can cause long-lasting knee pain.

Chronic knee pain can result from repetitive strain or overuse. Making specific movements repeatedly over long periods causes friction and inflammation, resulting in conditions like bursitis (bursae inflammation), patellofemoral pain syndrome (runner’s knee), and patellar tendinitis (jumper’s knee).

The primary cause of chronic knee pain is arthritis.

How does arthritis cause knee pain?

Around 100 conditions are classified as arthritis. Many of them affect the knees. The most common is osteoarthritis, a wear-and-tear disease that develops after years of joint use.

The articular cartilage (a protective coating on the bone ends in your joints) wears away, and the exposed bones become rough and pitted. They rub against one another, triggering inflammation that leads to chronic pain, stiffness, weakness, and loss of function.

Other kinds of arthritis that frequently affect the knees include gout (a uric acid crystal buildup in the joints) and autoimmune disorders like psoriatic and rheumatoid arthritis.

Which treatments will ease my knee pain?

A severe acute injury like a bad fracture or connective tissue rupture can require surgery. But conservative treatments are effective for most knee disorders. Physical therapy keeps the joint flexible, encourages healing, and builds strength. Medication reduces the pain so that you can keep the joint mobile.

The Union Anesthesia Associates team might recommend joint injections if your knee pain doesn’t improve. Steroids like cortisone have potent anti-inflammatory effects that ease knee pain long-term. Genicular nerve blocks contain a local anesthetic that numbs the knee’s main nerve, offering significant but short-lived relief.

Radiofrequency neurotomy might help if other treatments don’t. It’s a minimally invasive procedure that uses sonic energy to destroy the knee’s nerves.

Call Union Anesthesia Associates today or book an appointment online for expert knee pain diagnosis and treatment.