Clinically reviewed by What is knee swelling
A swollen knee, ghutne ki sujan, means extra fluid has collected in or around the joint. The lining of the knee produces fluid whenever it is irritated, so swelling is the joint telling you something is wrong inside it.
The most useful question is how fast it came up. Swelling within an hour or two of an injury usually means bleeding inside the joint. Swelling that builds slowly over a day or more is joint fluid.
Swelling also makes the leg feel weak, because a swollen knee switches the thigh muscle off. That is why the knee gives way even when the muscle itself is fine.
Symptoms you might have
- A knee that looks fuller than the other one, with the normal dips beside the kneecap gone
- A tight, full feeling rather than sharp pain
- Difficulty bending the knee fully, and difficulty straightening it completely
- The leg feeling weak or unreliable on stairs
- Swelling within one to two hours of an injury, which suggests blood in the joint
- Swelling that builds over six to twenty four hours, which suggests a cartilage tear or an arthritic flare
- A soft lump at the back of the knee
- Heat and redness over the joint, which is not normal and needs checking
Why it happens
- A twisting injury tearing a ligament inside the knee, such as an ACL injury, which bleeds and swells fast
- A meniscus tear, which usually swells more slowly over the following day
- A fracture or a kneecap that slipped out of place, both of which bleed into the joint
- Knee osteoarthritis flaring up, often after a heavy day of walking or squatting
- Gout, which classically comes on overnight with a hot, very painful joint
- Rheumatoid and other inflammatory arthritis, usually affecting more than one joint
- Infection in the joint, uncommon but serious, and with fever
- A Baker's cyst, which is joint fluid pushed into a pouch behind the knee
When you should see a physiotherapist
Come in once a doctor has ruled out the urgent causes, or straight away if the swelling built up slowly without any injury and the knee is not hot. Physiotherapy settles the swelling, gets the thigh muscle working again and finds out what is irritating the joint.
Go to a hospital the same day if the knee is hot, red and very swollen, especially with a fever. An infected joint can damage the cartilage within days.
Go the same day if the knee swelled a lot within a few hours of an injury, which is usually blood in the joint, or if the knee locked and will not straighten. A hot, swollen, painful calf, with or without breathlessness, needs a hospital immediately.
Al-Shama Physiotherapy Clinic
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اپائنٹمنٹ کے بارے میں پوچھیںAppointment ke liye poochein
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یہ فارم پُر کریں؛ واٹس ایپ پر آپ کی تفصیلات کے ساتھ پیغام تیار ہو جائے گا۔Yeh form bharein, WhatsApp aap ki tafseel ke saath khul jaye ga.
How it is treated
Treatment has two halves: reducing the swelling, and finding out why it is there. Clearing the fluid without treating the cause only buys a few weeks.
- Compression and elevation, taught properly, which do more for a swollen knee than anything else
- Cryotherapy, cold packs used for ten to fifteen minutes with a cloth against the skin
- Exercise therapy to switch the thigh muscle back on, starting with static contractions and ankle pumping to move fluid out
- Range of movement work, because a knee left bent and swollen stiffens quickly
- Manual therapy to the kneecap and surrounding tissue once the acute swelling settles
- TENS and electrotherapy for pain relief, on intact skin, so the exercises can be done
- Load management, working out which daily activities refill the joint and changing them
Draining fluid with a needle, blood tests and medicines are a doctor's decisions. Surgery is not usually needed for swelling itself, only for the problem underneath it, such as a torn ligament in a knee that keeps giving way.
Exercises, and what to avoid
What helps
- Static quadriceps holds, pressing the back of the knee into the bed and holding ten seconds
- Ankle pumping with the leg raised on cushions, which pushes fluid out of the leg
- Heel slides to keep the knee bending, only as far as comfort allows
- Short, frequent walks once weight bearing is comfortable
What to avoid
- Deep squatting, kneeling and stairs while the joint is full
- Hard massage or deep heat over a swollen, hot joint
- Pushing through a session that leaves the knee bigger the next morning
- Sitting all day with the knee bent and the foot down, which keeps the fluid in place
What you can do at home
Raise the leg properly. Lying down with the foot propped higher than the hip clears fluid. Sitting with the foot on a stool does not.
Ice rather than heat while the knee is swollen, ten to fifteen minutes, several times a day, with a cloth against the skin. Heat belongs to a stiff knee, not a swollen one.
A firm elastic support through the day helps, loose enough that the foot does not tingle or go pale. Take it off at night.
Measure around the middle of the kneecap with a tape once a day. It tells you honestly whether you are improving.
Keep the thigh muscle working from day one, even if you cannot walk much.
How long it takes
Blood in the joint after an injury usually takes three to six weeks to clear, and the knee often feels better before the swelling has gone.
Swelling from an arthritic flare settles in a few days to two weeks with relative rest, ice and gentle exercise.
Swelling from a cartilage tear tends to come and go with activity for a few months while the knee is being strengthened, and settles as the leg gets stronger.
Swelling that keeps returning every time you walk normally is a sign something structural is going on, and that needs an orthopaedic opinion rather than more weeks of the same treatment.
Urdu / Roman Urdu
Choose your reading script / اپنی پسند کا رسم الخط منتخب کریں
اردوUrdu script
گھٹنے کی سوجن میں سب سے اہم سوال یہ ہے کہ کتنی جلدی آئی۔ چوٹ کے ایک دو گھنٹے کے اندر سوجن کا مطلب اکثر جوڑ کے اندر خون ہونا ہوتا ہے، اور یہ فوراً دکھانے والی بات ہے۔
اگر گھٹنا گرم، لال اور بہت سوجا ہوا ہو، یا بخار ہو، تو اسی دن ہسپتال جائیں۔ جوڑ کا انفیکشن جلدی نقصان کرتا ہے۔
گھر پر: ٹانگ لٹا کر کولہے سے اونچا رکھیں، ٹھنڈی پٹی دس سے پندرہ منٹ لگائیں، اور ران کے پٹھوں کو بار بار سخت کریں۔ سوجے گھٹنے پر گرم پٹی نہیں۔
پانی نکلنا اور دوا ڈاکٹر کا کام ہے۔ فزیوتھراپی سوجن کم کرنے اور ٹانگ کی طاقت واپس لانے کے لیے ہے۔
Roman Urdu
Ghutne ki sujan mein sab se ahem sawal ye hai ke kitni jaldi aayi. Chot ke ek do ghante ke andar sujan ka matlab aksar jor ke andar khoon hona hota hai, aur ye foran dikhane wali baat hai.
Agar ghutna garam, laal aur bohat soojha hua ho, ya bukhar ho, to usi din hospital jayen. Jor ka infection jaldi nuqsan karta hai.
Ghar par: taang lita kar kolhe se ooncha rakhen, thandi patti das se pandrah minute lagayen, aur raan ke pathon ko bar bar sakht karen. Soojhe ghutne par garam patti nahi.
Pani nikalna aur dawa doctor ka kaam hai. Physiotherapy sujan kam karne aur taang ki taqat wapis lane ke liye hai.
Treatment at the clinic, and online
INFORMATION → INDIVIDUAL CARE
A plan built around you.
Talk with Dr. Zahra Fatima, DPT. Understand your next steps, with guidance for your own symptoms and daily routine.
Talk it through
Discuss your symptoms, what you find difficult and what you want to get back to.
Understand your next steps
Use the consultation to discuss which care and exercises fit your situation.
Take your plan with you
Your online consultation includes a written plan you can refer to afterwards.
Questions people ask
My knee swelled up within an hour of twisting it, what does that mean?
Can I get the fluid out of my knee at home?
Why does my knee keep swelling after I walk?
Is a lump behind my knee dangerous?
Why does my leg feel weak when the knee is swollen?
Related conditions
- Plantar fasciitis and heel pain treatment
- Knee osteoarthritis and knee joint pain
- Ankle sprain treatment
- Ankle pain treatment
- Arthritis treatment