Knee OA Pain

Gait Can Determine Source of Knee OA

How your knee moves may be a telling point in a knee osteoarthritis diagnosis, a study shows.
rheumatologynetwork.com

 

Pain Linked to Inflammatory Lesions in Knee Osteoarthritis

Inflammation in the knee was found to be associated with development of pain sensitization in recent…
the-rheumatologist.org|By Kathy Holliman

Cartilage is devoid of nerves; so, while OA is pathologically a cartilage deficit issue, it is not a source of pain.
OA knee pain would come from either Bone Marrow Edema (BME) or synovial inflammation. Ultrasound can detect the latter, but MRI is needed for the former.
Detecting such lesions will enable a more targeted approach in alleviating knee pain.

Inflammation May Sensitize Patients with Osteoarthritis to Pain

KneePain_shutterstock_500x270
A recent editorial in Arthritis & Rheumatology explored the role of sensitization, not nociception, as a key mechanism of pain for patients with knee OA, as well as inflammation’s role in pain perception. Recent research of synovitis and joint effusion supports the idea that early prevention or trea…
the-rheumatologist.org|By Lara C. Pullen, PhD

Knee Pain Severity Tied to Widespread Pain

No significant association with structural damage
medpagetoday.com

I’ve got really bad news for those with OA knee: unremitting knee pain can lead to widespread pain in other joints not affected by OA. This in turn is associated with poor physical functioning and psychosocial problems.
This is due to “sensitisation”. This apparently does not happen with pain from BMEs, but can (and often does) with synovitis. And it’s independent of how structurally deranged the knee joint is.
The priority should then be to ameliorate the knee pain as early and as completely as possible, even if we can’t reverse the joint damage.