Everything that you need to know about knee buckling

Dhwani Vora | Jun 24, 2019, 12:57 IST
There are a lot of people who suffer from knee pain. If your knees have ached once or twice, you might have just stumbled or injured your knee some)how. But if you have a constant instability in your knees, then it might be something called as knee buckling. This is where one or both of your knees give our, it's also called as weak knees or knee instability. Frequent knee buckling can result in risk of falling or could also give you serious injuries. Hence, it is very important to figure out the causes of the same and keep yourself informed about it so you'd know how to treat it.

- Injury: Major cases of knee buckling are due to injuries both high-impact such as running or an accident or the usual knee injury.
The common knee injuries are - ACL tears, meniscus tears, loose bodies. And in addition to instability, the injuries on the knees give you pain and swelling. Knee buckling which is related to injuries go away once you give it some kind of treatment. Depending on the type of injury, going for a surgery or physical therapy is needed. You should try to avoid putting stress on your knee whenever possible.

- Nerve damage: One of the two major nerves in your lower leg is the femoral nerve. Femoral neuropathy refers to the dysfunction of your femoral nerve which can cause weakness in your knees that makes them even more prone to buckling. Some more symptoms of femoral nerve neuropathy include - pain, tingling, burning, numbness in thighs or lower leg. The cause could be - arthritis, diabetes, heavy alcohol consumption, injuries, etc. Hence, it is very important to treat femoral neuropathy but usually it involves surgery or lifestyle change or pain medication. In most cases, neuropathy isn't curable, but a treatment can help reduce the symptoms or prevent them from getting worse.

- Arthritis: The inflammation that you feel in your joints affects your knees. Out of the many types of arthritis, knee buckling is a common symptom of both osteoarthritis and theumatoid arthritis which is an autoimmune disease. Rheumatoid arthritis can affect both knees whereas osteoarthritis can only affect one knee.

These two types of arthritis can cause - pain, stiffness, locking or sticking sensation, grinding or clicking noise. There is no cure for arthritis, but there are a few things that can help manage these symptoms which includes - corticosteriod injections, physical therapy, medication or wearing an assistive device like a knee brace.

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