Chelsea Outpatients
272 & 280 King's Road SW3 5AW London
Joint inflammation caused by sport
Sport can take its toll on your joints and cause inflammation and muscle pain. Receive an accurage diagnosis and rapid pain relief.
About joint inflammation
Many sports put sustained pressure on joints, leading to overuse injuries and pain. Sometimes injuries in sport lead to traumatic damage to joints, causing joint swelling and synovitis.
Need to know
The main symptoms of inflamed joints are pain and swelling. Symptoms can also come from inflamed structures around the joints such as the muscle, soft tissue (bursa) and tendons. Tennis elbow and golfer's elbow are common examples. A damaged joint may have episodes of 'flaring up' — when the joint swells because of excessive fluid being produced by the lining of the joint (known as synovitis). This condition commonly affects the knees, but can also develop in the joints, hips, wrists, shoulders and ankles.
Your consultant will discuss your symptoms with you and they may order an MRI or ultrasound scan to examine your joint and the surrounding soft tissue. The scan will help your consultant confirm the diagnosis and choose the best treatment options for you.
If your joint has been injured through trauma or is very inflamed, in the first instance, your consultant may recommend you rest the joint, pack it with ice and elevate it to reduce swelling. Once you have been assessed by your consultant, you may be sent for diagnostic imaging e.g. an MRI scan. If your joint remains persistently inflamed and swollen, they may suggest an ultrasound-guided steroid injection to aid rehabilitation. Here, anti-inflammatory corticosteroid and local anaesthetic is injected carefully into the joint, guided by ultrasound.
Joint inflammation in children
When children complain of joint or leg pain, how do you know if this is growing pains that go away, an injury from sports activity or something more serious? Growing pains are common in children, typically in preadolescent years and often disappear in early teenager years. Your child may find leg pain occurring at the end of the day. Whilst painful, this musculoskeletal pain is very common in children who play sports regularly. If your child has flexible joints they may also suffer pain in their muscles and joints.
Knowing when to contact a specialist is when your child suffers continuous pain, for example, it is frequent (lasts more than a couple of days), leg pain is present in only one leg, your child has trouble walking and may begin limping or presents a rash. At the Portland Hospital, we have specialists that are able to help diagnose your child to identify if they are suffering joint inflammation from sports or something that is more chronic.
Our sport injury locations
Golders Green Outpatients
Roman House, 296 Golders Green Road Golders Green NW11 9PY London
The Harborne Hospital
Mindelsohn Way B15 2FQ Birmingham
Institute of Sport Exercise and Health (ISEH)
170 Tottenham Court Road W1T 7HA London
The Lister Hospital
Chelsea Bridge Road SW1W 8RH London
London Bridge Hospital
27 Tooley Street SE1 2PR London
The Princess Grace Hospital
42-52 Nottingham Place W1U 5NY London
The Princess Grace Hospital Outpatients
30 Devonshire Street W1G 6PU London
The Shard Outpatients
The Shard 32 St Thomas Street SE1 9BS London
The Wellington Hospital
Wellington Place St John's Wood NW8 9LE London
The Wellington Hospital Outpatients
15 - 17 Lodge Road NW8 7JA London
The Wilmslow Hospital
52-54 Alderley Road Wilmslow SK9 1NY Cheshire
This content is intended for general information only and does not replace the need for personal advice from a qualified health professional.