When a person experiences pain in the back of their knee when straightening their leg, it is called posterior knee pain. Pain in the back of the knee, called the popliteal fossa, is common, but there is a wide range of causes, ranging from ligament injury to arthritis.
Orthopaedic surgeons have traditionally been taught that certain types of knee symptoms indicate damage to specialized structures called the menisci. But these "meniscal" and "mechanical" symptoms do not reflect what surgeons will find at knee arthroscopy, reports a study in The Journal of Bone & Joint Surgery.
Primary total knee arthroplasty (TKA) is one of the most commonly performed orthopaedic procedures in the US. The same cannot be said for partial knee arthroplasty: According 2020 Annual Report from the American Joint Replacement Registry (AJRR), unicompartmental knee arthroplasty (medial and lateral UKA) accounted for just 4.1% of knee replacements in 2019, compared with 8.2% in 2012, and patellofemoral arthroplasty decreased from a high of 1.7% in 2016 to 0.04% in 2019.
Shoulder pain has many different causes and treatments. It isn't easy to know the difference between different types of shoulder pain, like a frozen shoulder, shoulder blade pain, or symptoms of a rotator cuff tear. This is why you need to get medical attention if you have shoulder pain—and the treatment is tailored to the cause, your overall health, and your level of activity.
A randomized controlled trial found that sturdy supportive shoes improve knee pain on walking and knee-related quality of life compared with flat flexible shoes.