What are diseases and conditions that can cause knee pain, and how are they treated?
Pain can occur in the knee from diseases or conditions that involve the knee joint, the soft tissues and bones surrounding the knee, or the nerves that supply sensation to the knee area. In fact, the knee joint is the most commonly involved joint in rheumatic diseases, immune diseases that affect various tissues of the body including the joints to cause arthritis. Arthritis is inflammation within a joint. The causes of knee joint inflammation range from noninflammatory types of arthritis such as osteoarthritis, which is a degeneration of the cartilage of the knee, to inflammatory types of arthritis (such as rheumatoid arthritis or gout). Treatment of the arthritis is directed according to the nature of the specific type of arthritis. For more information on arthritis, please read the following articles: Rheumatoid Arthritis, Osteoarthritis, Psoriatic Arthritis, Gout, and Reactive Arthritis Infections of the bone or joint can rarely be a serious cause of knee pain and have associated si
