Should you Go To The ER For My Knee?

When should you go to the ER for knee pain from running? The answer varies according to several factors. The answer to those factors is in this quick post.

Included in this post:

1. Jump to the Video

2. Should I Go to the Emergency Room?

3. What Problems Need the Emergency Room?

4. Should I Go to Urgent Care or the ER?

5. Example of When to Go to the ER

6. Example of When to Go to Urgent Care

7. Knee Problems That Need To Go to ER Runners

8. Does My Knee Problem Need A Doctor Runners

9. Knee Pain Comes and Goes in Runners

10. Knee Injuries I Can Treat At Home Runners

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The emergency room (also known as the emergency department) is a place to go for life or limb threatening problems. 

These types of problems when not resolved immediately could mean that you could lose your life or limb.

Questions for the ER:

Section 1

Some questions to consider when thinking about going to the emergency room:

• Am I bleeding so much that I have soaked through a towel in the matter of minutes or seconds?

• Am I turning blue? (Lips, finger/hands, toes/feet)

• Am I having the worst pain I have ever experienced and would rate it a 10/10?

• Can I see my bone popping through my skin?

• Am I laying on the floor and don’t know what just happened or how I got on the floor?

• Is my head bleeding and I don’t know how it happened?

• Did I just get the worst headache of my life?

• Do I have difficulty breathing and feeling light headed, dizzy, lips turning blue, etc?

• Do I have a significant fever?

• Did I recently have surgery and now my calf is point tender, and red, hot and swollen?

Questions for Urgent Care:

Section 2

Some other questions to consider:

• Is the pain bothersome but I can find another position that’s pretty comfortable?

• Do I have a bump that came out of nowhere and I have no pain at all?

• Have I felt this pain before and now it’s returned?

• Could my regular physician treat this in their office with the tools and medicines they have there?

• Does this problem require medication that I can get at CVS?

• Have I experienced this problem before and now it’s less bothersome and I know exactly how to make it go away?

These questions aren’t an end-all-be-all… use your best judgment when determining to go to the emergency room.

But, if you answered yes to any of the questions in Section 1 the emergency department is an appropriate place to go. Answering yes to those questions related to your current situation means you could have a problem that requires immediate attention.

If you answered yes to any of the questions in Section 2 consider going to urgent care or your regular primary care physician.

Should I Go To The ER For My Knee Pain?

When it comes to knee problems from running there are few things that would require a visit to the emergency department.

Some of those problems could be: you fell and you’re bleeding so much and you can’t control it, you got hit by a car, you fell and hit your head, you fell and slid down a hill bumping rocks and trees the whole way down, you fell and your bone is sticking out of your skin. Most of the things that would require you to go to the emergency room related to your knee and running typically happen from getting hit by something or having a big fall.

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When Should I Stay Home For My Knee Pain Instead of the ER?

Bumps and bruises that are ugly but not painful may require medical attention, but not in the emergency department. Go to urgent care or schedule an appointment with your primary care physician.

Knee pain that comes and goes, or it’s painful when you do certain things and you can make the pain better with certain things like rest, ice, heat, medication, would not warrant a trip to the emergency department.

If the pain comes and goes and lasts longer than a few days consider going to urgent care or making an appointment with your physician.

Examples of Knee Injuries That I Can Treat At Home

These injuries are things you can manage pain at home instead of going to the emergency department, do not take this list as things that do not need medical attention. They may or may not need medical attention, but they would not be medical emergencies that require the skills immediately of the team at the emergency department. 

Injuries that have pain that can be managed at home until you can get to urgent care or your physician

• Pulled muscle

• Knee sprain

• Tendinitis

• A twisted knee

• A bruised knee

• IT Band pain

• A skinned knee that isn’t really bleeding

• A swollen knee that you can still walk on

• Knee arthritis

• Others that I missed (let me know in the comments)

There you have it, examples of when the emergency department, urgent care or your regular physician are appropriate. What things would you add? Let me know in the comments.

Please remember to use your best judgment when determining the medical necessity of your problem. This is a general blog post and should not be used in lieu of specific medical advice from your physician. If you or your doctor have determined you need to go to the emergency department because you have a special case with other medical conditions, listen to your intuition or your own physician for your specific case.

Links to control knee pain at home:

Ice pack - 

Heat (Moist Heat  or Electric Heating Pad )

Epsom Salt Bath 

Foam Rolling 

Massage Gun 

Links to facilitate healing:

Protein Powder  

Collagen Powder 

Who to talk to about running with knee arthritis

Have a question about running with arthritis?

Ask it here.

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