Hip Pain, Swelling Behind Knee And Elbow. Tender To Touch, Fatigue

Posted on Sat, 8 Sep 2012

Question: I am a 41 year old female who had a third child 16 months ago. I have pain in my left hip area as well as swollen and/or mass behind my left knee and inside my left elbow. The pain in my hip began about 3 weeks ago....the masses I discovered maybe 2 months ago but they could have been there longer and I just didn't realize it. I don't seem to have any other symptoms although those areas are somewhat tender to the touch (the hip is the most painful) and I am somewhat fatigued.

Answered by Dr. Dr.Raju.A.T (59 minutes later)

Hi,

Thanks for your query.

There are two possibilities based on your description of the symptoms.

The basic pathology behind is arthritis (inflammation in the joints), subsequent which you have developed the swelling around the joint.The swelling could be due to inflammation of the soft tissues around the joint.

Arthritis after a year and so after delivery most of times could be due to low calcium in the body.Getting the blood levels of calcium checked may help to confirm the diagnosis.Taking calcium supplement for a period of two months will solve the issue.

The other possibility could be autoimmune arthritis which is also one of the common cause for arthritis seen in women post delivery.Such joint pathology is self limiting and will disappear on own.Rarely can become persistent and may need steroids for its cure.

Do discuss about both above diagnosis with your treating doctor and be placed on the calcium supplement as soon as possible.

Hope I answered your query.

Wish you a speedy recovery.

Regards,

Note: For further queries, consult a joint and bone specialist, an Orthopaedic surgeon. Book a Call now.

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar