What Causes Knee Pain?

The knee is a strong joint that carries loads and has many ligaments around it. In young people, meniscus and cruciate ligament damage in the joint, and in older people, degeneration in the joint cartilage and soft tissue problems around the joint are the main causes of pain. Due to the mechanical structure, knee arthritis is more common in women than in men. The leg muscles that move the knee are connected to many neighboring joints and internal organs through both nerve connections and fascia connections. Problems in the structures they are connected to cause the leg muscles to be tighter than normal, blood flow to be disrupted and knee problems to occur. Therefore, it is not enough to evaluate only the knee of a person with knee pain.

What Are the Problems That Predispose to Knee Diseases?

Problems experienced in the intestines, urinary and reproductive organs, which are connected neurally, or in the foot, hip, sacroiliac joint and waist joints, which are connected through muscle chains, and past diseases and surgeries are important predisposing factors. Mechanical posture problems and curvatures in the leg are also important predisposing factors. The problems that affect the knee the most with the interference field effect are past or ongoing dental problems and surgeries in the abdominal region.

What are the Pathologies that Cause Knee Pain?

According to examination and radiological imaging results, the most common knee problems are as follows.

• Knee Arthritis: Joint cartilage degenerations that cause pain in the knee, especially in women, and movement restriction over time. It is a disease of advanced age, especially seen after the age of 50.
• Meniscus and ACL Ruptures: It is mostly seen in young people and those who are active. It can be seen due to degeneration in advanced age.
• Soft Tissue Problems Around the Knee: Tendinitis in the leg muscles where they attach to the knee, inflammations in the sacs that facilitate muscle movement (bursitis) and trigger points in the thigh muscles.
• Secondary to Inflammatory Rheumatic Diseases: Knee involvement can occur especially in rheumatoid arthritis.
• Rare: Infections and tumors of the knee

How is it Treated?

First of all, it is necessary to understand what the pathology is. Afterwards, it should be determined whether there is a predisposing factor.

The general approach in the treatment of arthritis is to first give a painkiller, and if it does not improve, to include in a physical therapy and exercise program. In cases that do not help, injections such as PRP, ozone, and prolotherapy are applied, and if it does not improve with these, surgery is performed.

In partial and minor damages in meniscus and cruciate ligament injuries, approaches such as PRP, ozone, and prolotherapy are recommended, and in advanced damages, surgical repair is recommended.

In recent years, good results have been obtained with stem cell applications made from abdominal fat or bone marrow in initial and moderate arthritis and meniscus-ligament injuries. However, it should not be forgotten that the good results of stem cells depend on the good blood supply of the area where they will be planted. For this reason, it is very beneficial to combine it with neural therapy. In advanced-stage arthritis, hydrogel applications, also called liquid knee prosthesis, are recommended for patients who cannot undergo surgery.

In all of these applications, the damaged knee is dealt with, but there is no approach to why it is damaged. As explained above, the knee is a region that communicates with many parts of the body. In particular, past diseases and surgeries in the intestines, urinary and reproductive organs, neighboring joint problems, and past dental infections pave the way for knee problems. For a permanent cure, both the knee and these triggering problems need to be identified from a neural therapy perspective and treated with neural therapy injections. In this way, since the blood supply to the damaged structures in the knee area will be restored, there will be recovery, and since the triggering factors are treated, it will not recur.

In advanced calcifications where there is pain in the knee and limited movement, manual therapy and mobilization should be performed together with neural therapy. If the patient’s quality of life cannot be improved with these treatments and the walking distance has decreased significantly, surgical treatment and prosthesis are required.