Gonalgia

What is gonalgia?

When we talk about gonalgia we refer to the localized pain of the knee that can affect people of all ages indistinctly. The causes can be multiple, and in any case attributable to alterations, injuries or fractures of the meniscus, patella, ligaments and cartilages. In fact, the knee is the joint that undergoes the most stress, therefore more easily subject to traumatic, degenerative and inflammatory diseases.

Symptoms

In most cases, gonalgia is manifested by joint stiffness, redness of the knee, crunching and difficulty in supporting the body in the process of activity.

Pain can affect the anterior area of the patella or back, ligaments due to inflammation or baker’s cyst.

It can also be medial or lateral, frequent in sportsmen. In the first case due to injuries of the meniscus or medial collateral ligament, bruises and sprains, in the second case instead, less frequent, affects the lateral collateral ligament as a result of trauma.

Diagnosis

X-ray, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) or ultrasound can confirm arthrosis, injury, ligament ruptures, necrosis or edema.

Indicated treatments

When the orthopedist accurately diagnoses the causes of gonalgia, a well-targeted therapeutic protocol is carried out that can vary depending on the triggering cause.

You can intervene with muscle strengthening exercises, localized ice packs, focused treatments of regenerative magnetotherapy or in the most severe cases undergoing surgery to repair or replace the joint.