More than one-third of people aged 50+ experience knee and leg pain. This may come as a surprise, but it shouldn’t. The knee’s complex hinge joint and the lower leg bears your weight with each step. As you run, jump, or climb steps, the pressure on your knee and leg increases significantly. No matter your age, the increased pressure can impact the health of the bones, cartilages, ligaments, and tendons in your knees and legs. When arthritis, inflammation. or an overuse injury causes knee and leg pain, daily movements become difficult. Knee and leg pain is one of the most common reasons people seek care at Bone & Joint.

See an orthopedic specialist if:

  • Knee pain keeps you awake at night
  • Pain makes you limp when you walk
  • It hurts when you go up and down the stairs
  • It hurts when you bend your knee
  • Your knee feels stiff and hard to bend
  • You cannot find a position that relieves pain
  • You injured your knee
  • Your knee looks deformed

Knee and Leg Conditions

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The anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) and posterior cruciate ligament (PCL) are two major ligaments in the knee that work together to provide stability. They are also common sites of serious tears, particularly in athletes.

Common Causes:

Both ACL tears and PCL tears, are commonly caused by sports injuries. They are most likely to be injured during a sudden stop or rapid change in direction, landing awkwardly, when wearing ill-fitting footwear, or when playing on slippery artificial turf.

Osteoarthritis is the wearing away of the cartilage that acts as a protective tissue on the ends of your bones. In a healthy knee, the bones glide smoothly against each other. But in a knee with osteoarthritis bones can begin to rub against other bones, causing bony bumps we call “bone spurs” to form.

Common Causes:

Why does knee cartilage break down? For many, it’s a part of the wear and tear of aging. For others, it’s linked to an injury. Your risk for osteoarthritis of the knee is higher if you have a job that puts a lot of stress on your knees. Being obese raises your risk, too. Ask your doctor about other risk factors.

This is a common injury of the knee. Your knee joint is cushioned by two c-shaped wedges of cartilage called the “menisci.” Each individual cushion is called a “meniscus.” This injury is a tear of one of these cushions.

Common Causes:

Meniscus tears are often caused by physical activity. Twisting or rotating your knee suddenly can cause a meniscus to tear. Kneeling, squatting and heavy lifting can as well. And as you age, your menisci gradually become thin and brittle, which can increase your risk for a tear.

Knee bursitis is inflammation of a small fluid-filled sac (bursa) situated near your knee joint. Bursae cushion pressure points between your bones and the tendons, muscles and skin near your joints.

Common Causes:

Knee bursitis can be caused by frequent and consistent pressure, (such as kneeling), overuse or strenuous activity, a direct blow to your knee, bacterial infection of the bursa, complications from osteoarthritis, or rheumatoid arthritis.

This is a pain you feel in the front of your knee, involving the patella (kneecap). The patella slides up and down in a groove on your femur as you bend and extend your knee. If you have this syndrome, you may have injured the soft tissues that support and cushion your kneecap. Or, you may have some damage to the cartilage on the underside of the kneecap.

Common Causes:

You can develop this syndrome if you repeatedly stress your knees. That can happen if you do a lot of physical activity that involves running, squatting, or climbing stairs. You can develop it if you change your exercise routine, change your shoes or change the surface you play on. This condition can also result from problems with your anatomy.

Iliotibial band syndrome (ITBS or IT band syndrome) is an overuse injury of the connective tissues that are located on the lateral or outer part of the thigh and knee. It causes pain and tenderness above the knee joint.

Common Causes:

Iliotibial band inflammation occurs most often in long-distance athletes such as runners, bicyclists, and weightlifters. The iliotibial band syndrome may be the result of a combination of issues, including poor training habits, poor flexibility, and other mechanical imbalances in the body, especially involving the low back, pelvis, hips, and knees.

This bulge/bursa, also called a “popliteal cyst,” forms behind the knee. A bursa is a fluid-filled sac that helps reduce friction between soft tissues and bones. There are several of these sacs in the knee and in other joints. A swollen bursa can be uncomfortable, or even painful.

Common Causes:

This type of cyst is caused by a buildup of synovial fluid. That’s a fluid that helps your joints move smoothly. If you have a knee injury, or if you have arthritis or inflammation in the joint, your knee may make too much synovial fluid. It can collect in a bursa behind the knee. The bursa swells and bulges, forming a Baker’s cyst.

Knee and Leg Services

Nonsurgical Arthritis Treatment
Arthroscopic Surgery
Corticosteroid Injections
Partial Knee Replacement

Total Joint Replacement
Physical and Rehabilitative Therapy
Minimally Invasive Surgery
Knee Revision Surgery

Providers

Jessica L. Juntunen, MD

Sports Medicine Specialist – Non-Operative Orthopedics

Douglas J. Keele, DO

Orthopedic & Sports Medicine Surgeon

Casey L. Lagan, MD

Orthopedic & Sports Medicine Surgeon

Eric J. Thiel, MD

Orthopedic & Sports Medicine Surgeon