Who ‘knee’ds a little help?

VIJAYAWADA: Do you have difficulty climbing stairs? A sudden stiffness or pain on sitting for a long duration? Don’t ignore it. These days, it’s not uncommon to see women in their thirties and forties complaining of knee pain. For some, it’s a chronic problem and for others it’s temporary.

Though aching knees is a common issue, the reasons for the pain vary. With advancing years comes the problem of bad knees and the condition is steadily increasing, especially among women living in urban areas, say eminent orthopedicians in the city.  

Some studies have found that more than half of all middle-aged women suffer from knee pain due to high body mass index (BMI), previous knee injury and osteoarthritis. It also affects their mobility and productivity when they are in the prime of their lives.
Once women hit their forties, there is a tendency to jump to the conclusion that any pain felt near the knee points to arthritis or rheumatoid arthritis. But it is important to systematically identify the cause of the pain and eliminate it.

“First, check for injuries in the area, or deformities such as bowing of the legs. If the deformity is arrested, painful arthritis can be averted or postponed. Knee joint cartilage can wear out because of a deformity. Also, remember, the knee joint has to bear the weight evenly; if only one side of the joint gets to bear the brunt of the body weight, it can lead to pain,” says U Venkata Ramana, consultant orthopaedic surgeon, Trust Hospitals at Polyclinic Road.

Rheumatoid arthritis like diabetes, cannot be cured, but managed to reduce pain, said orthopaedic surgeon PJ Brahmanandam, The Orthopaedic Nursing Home. Nearly 10 million people in India suffer from rheumatoid arthritis which initially affects  small joints. The lack of awareness, even among the medical fraternity, has led to a situation where the patients are being treated as  osteoarthritic patients.
Wrong diagnosis can be easily prevented as rheumatoid arthritis shows certain unique symptoms. For one, it mostly affects the wrists and the joints of the fingers and feet first and then spreads to other joints unlike osteoarthritis that affects the big joints such as the knees and hip.

Females are more affected than males. “The ratio is 3:1. And one very important observation has been that the number of females affected prior to menarche and after menopause are less and almost the same as males,” said Dr Brahmanandam. Also, pregnant women suffer less pain. Osteoporosis, the other major cause of painful knees in women, is the fallout of menopause-related hormonal changes in the body, leading to loss of bone mass and diminished weight-bearing capacity.

“The best way to identify this is through bone density studies. Sometimes, it turns out, that women have insufficient vitamin D4 levels, despite all the sunlight that our country gets. In that case, it’s advisable to go in for supplements,” says Dr A S Rao, Sowjanya Hospitals.
In fact, it has been observed that women who have had substantial nutrition and participated in sporting activities during their childhood tend not to suffer very much from bone loss or experience such problems at a later age than many others. Of course, there are also some thin women who experience knee pain.

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