Osteoarthritis is a common disease in middle-aged and elderly people, while factors such as trauma, excessive exercise, overweight or inappropriate living posture can cause joint damage to appear earlier.
Silent pain after walking and exercising. This is one of the early signs to pay attention to. People with early-stage knee osteoarthritis may experience mild or silent pain at times, usually more noticeable after walking, exercising or heavy work and reduced when resting. As the disease progresses, the level and frequency of pain may increase.
For people over 35 years old, if knee pain is repeated many times after daily activities, do not just assume that it is a normal sign of fatigue.
Another sign is a feeling of stiff knee joints, difficulty moving in the morning or after a long time in the same position. Morning stiffness in osteoarthritis usually lasts from a few minutes to several tens of minutes and tends to improve after the joint is gently exercised.
If you often experience this condition after waking up, getting up from a chair, or after a long trip, patients should monitor and see a doctor if symptoms persist or recur.
Going up and down stairs, squatting and then standing up can make the knee joint bear a greater load. Especially, if these activities were not uncomfortable before but recently pain began to appear, people over 35 years old should not be subjective.
When the disease progresses, the knee joint may be swollen, painful and restricted from moving. When there is synovitis, the joint may be clearly swollen and mobility is limited; in more severe cases, joint deformities may appear.
This is a sign that needs to be medically assessed, especially if the swelling and pain persist or affects walking.
A condition that is also easy to encounter in young people is knee creaking sounds, whirring sounds or friction sounds when standing up, sitting down or moving, friction sensation in the joints and abnormal sounds when moving may appear in people with osteoarthritis.
However, it is not that just because the joint makes a sound, it is degenerated. If the sound does not accompany pain, swelling or limited movement, it may just be a physiological phenomenon. Conversely, when the sound appears with pain or difficulty moving, it should be assessed by a doctor.
Osteoarthritis of the knee is a gradual progression and early intervention that can help slow down the disease process. People at high risk, especially overweight people, who have had joint injuries or have chronic diseases, should pay attention to weight control, avoid exercises that overload the knee, and maintain forms of exercise that have little impact such as walking on flat surfaces, swimming, or cycling appropriately.
If knee pain recurs, swelling, stiff joints, or limited movement, patients should see a doctor instead of prolonged self-treatment. Depending on the condition, the doctor may prescribe X-ray or MRI to assess the injury.
