What is Joint Effusion?
Some people who exercise may notice that their knee swells up with fluid after their workouts. The fluid build up is known as joint effusion, and is what causes your knee to have that swelling, watery feeling. The most common cause is due to overuse injury or trauma to the area that may have been caused through exercise or some other action, like falling down. In most cases, the fluid is serous fluid (like water) but if there was a traumatic event, it may be blood.
Traumatic injuries that can lead to joint effusion include:
- broken bones
- meniscus or ligament tears
The fluid buildup in the knee may not always limit your mobility and some individuals may have no symptoms whatsoever, but that does not mean their isn’t a serious problem under the hood. In most cases all you need is rest, ice and support of the knee to help the problem resolve.
Sometimes the fluid build up in the knee may also be associated with pain, especially during lifting. Others may develop knee stiffness and may have difficulty extending or flexing the joint. If that occurs then, as always, it is important you go see your doctor or a specialist.
If you enjoyed this post, please consider to leave a comment or subscribe to the feed and get future articles delivered to your feed reader.
Comments
No comments yet.
Leave a comment