Knee Injury Swelling

It is very easy to injury our knees as they are very delicate and fragile. One of the main symptoms of knee injuries is swelling. In this guide we shall look at knee injury swelling – how it is caused, what it means and how you can treat it.

What Causes Knee Injury Swelling?

When you hurt your knee you will often find that it becomes swollen. This can often occur within the hour of the injury occurring or much longer afterwards – depending on the type of injury that you sustain.

Knee injury swelling can be caused by several factors. There are two main types of knee injury swelling – acute and chronic. Acute swelling occurs at the time the injury happened and was within the past 24 or 48 hours, whereas chronic swelling happens on and off over a longer period of time.

Essentially knee injury swelling is caused by the build of fluid inside the membrane of the knee capsule. The type of fluid that builds up varies depending on the injury and can either be blood or synovial. It occurs as a reaction to some type of inflammation or overuse of the knee and signals an underlying condition.

Acute Knee Injury Swelling

Acute knee injury swelling, as we mentioned before, occurs as an immediate reaction to an injury to the knee. There are two main types of acute knee injury swelling – blood in the knee and non-bloody fluid in the knee.

If the swelling has been caused by an accumulation of blood within the knee then this usually signals that there has been an ACL tear as well as a fracture of the bone and cartilage of the knee. This type of swelling is usually very intense and will occur very quickly after the accident happened. You will find that the swelling will occur within minutes of the injury.

If the swelling within the knee is not blood then this generally signals that the injury is a meniscus tear or a ligament sprain. This type of knee injury swelling is much slower and although it is still acute it will usually occur within hours or days rather than minutes of the injury occurring.

Chronic Knee Injury Swelling

Chronic knee injury swelling differs in acute swelling in that it may only occur very gradually and may fluctuate in its severity over several days and weeks. The swelling may actually completely come and go at times. This is the most common form of knee swelling and is usually a sign of general wear-and-tear or arthritis.

Knee arthritis causes the body to produce extra fluid within the knee joint. The amount of fluid will usually fluctuate over time and one knee can regularly be noticeably larger than the other. Usually the amount of fluid within the knee corresponds with the amount of activity the patient has been subjected to.

Knee Injury Swelling Outside of the Knee Joint

Sometimes the swelling will occur outside of the knee joint, and the fluid can be felt in the soft tissues that surround the knee. The most common cause of this is prepatellar bursitis. This type of swelling can also be caused by an injury such as contusion to the knee.

Treatment for Knee Injury Swelling

The best treatment for knee injury swelling largely depends on what the cause of it is. Usually an icepack will help reduce swelling in the short term as it helps increase blood flow to the affected area. It is also important to keep the knee elevated whenever possible as this will help minimize the swelling.

There are also anti-inflammatory medications that you can take to decrease the swelling and pain in your injured knee. It is best to speak to your doctor about which medication is the best treatment for your condition. Always be careful not to mask over the injury by taking medication as you may be hiding a serious injury if you cannot feel the pain.