What Causes Painful Swelling In The Knee While Suffering From Arthritis?

Posted on Mon, 2 Jan 2017

Question: I have a bad knee due to severe arthritis with not much cartilage left. One week ago I was walking and my knee went out. I fell right on my knee. It was swollen, pain with black and blue bruises. Yesterday I noticed I have two like nodules. Should I be concerned and go to the doctor?

Answered by Dr. Aashish Raghu (27 minutes later)

Brief Answer:
Could be ligament injury

Detailed Answer:
Hi there.

Thanks for the query.

There may have been a ligament injury due to the deformity caused by the arthritis.

Wear a long knee brace and keep the limb elevated. Apply ice. Take pain killers. Do consult an Orthopaedic surgeon to get evaluated for torn ligament. An Xray and MRI may be required to look for fractures and ligament or Meniscal cartilage injury respectively.

I hope I have answered your query.

I will be available to answer your follow up queries.

Regards,

Dr. Aashish Raghu

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Nagamani Ng