Why does knee pain happen at night?
This question was sent to me yesterday by a reader suffering with knee pain at night: “Jennifer, I’ve suffered with on-off type knee pain now for more than a year. What I can’t put my finger on is when it started or why, and more confusing is that my pain gets worse as the day goes on. But whenever I wake up the pain is gone – or is considerably less. Yet, by the end of another day, my knee aches, sometimes feels hot and swollen and I’m often in considerable pain – especially if I’ve been out for a long walk with the dog. Any ideas?” – Beverly, 57, Lacey. What’s happening here is likely to be a simple case of the muscles around Beverly’s knee joint being “weak”. As in, the muscles just aren’t strong enough to last through the day or cope with what she wants her body to do and where she wants to go. Think of it like this: When you go to bed at night and are ready to sleep – your body is obviously tired from all of the energy you’ve used through the day. And your muscles, well, they’ve been working too. So what happens is that they get a rest when you sleep, you wake up and they ache less because they’re less tired and feel “energized” and ready for a new day. But if a muscle, any muscle, is weak or damaged in some way, it’s not going to be able… Read More