What could this excruciating pain in both knees be? Totally bewildered:-(

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I'm 33 (is that relevant) and just had a baby (probably not relevant) and have developed excruciating pain in both knees.

It's so bad I feel like I need a crutch, I find it hard to get up from a seated position or to walk up and down stairs.

It's in the front of the knee and is almost burning. I can move my knees all around and stretch them both fully but it is really painful.

I didn't slip, fall or injure myself in any way and am totally bewildered as to what is causing this.

Can you go to the doctor with a sore knee?

Any advice?

I went to the doctor with a clicky knee. Turned out he was more worried about the fact that both my kneecaps moved. I'd been running at home on a treadmill, but never changing the gradient or resistance or terrain and so had been running in the same position and misaligned my own kneecaps.

A few exercises from the physio put it right. The main thing was that they weren't painful. My doctor is lovely and said I was absolutely right to go and see him even if they didn't hurt. Pain usually indicates arthritis or something. You need to go and see your doctor if you are actually in pain.

How recently was baby? Did you have an epidural? And did you get put in stirrups/moved around by anyone else?

Just a thought.

May be worth trip to gp.

I have this pain - like being knifed in the knee, right?

I'm hyper mobile and in my case it's because my patella moves and grates against something it shouldn't; it's largely a result of overdeveloped quads and underdeveloped glutes in my case. Physio, not surgery, is the answer for me.

You have my sympathies OP. it's the worst pain I've had to live with, on and off for three years so far. And I have played hockey on a broken ankle and gave birth without painkillers

I had a csection birth and the baby is 10 weeks.

I can't even get up from a seated position without holding on to something. Feel about 90

Yes overdeveloped quads was my problem too. You really need to see a doctor if you're in that much pain!

Go and get it checked out by the GP - of course you can go with a sore knee...
My DP has had an operation on his knee - after years of problems/physio etc etc.
I've had problems with mine for the last 10 years -like kneeling on something sharp, and clicking (in both) and then painful when walking - had them x-rayed and the worse one MRI - basically there is some historic damage and also wear & tear - they can't operate on them and too late to sort the damage out...went to physio - first assessment made one agony for over a week, couldn't do the exercises ...it got better and they have been fine - after this the physio thought my tendons/ligaments were too tight and making my knee caps mis align so needed stretching...
Wondering if it is something to do with your tendons/ligaments softening to give birth ...apparently you get problems in early pregnancy and towards the end...maybe you have a similar problem to mine ...but caused by them being too loose...which might get better with time but probably should be checked out...

Have you got any bruising anywhere?

My knee caps float about, which is why my arthritis wasn't detected straight away, I have Chondromalacia patellae wich is the fancy term.

The good news is if you have this then elevating the knees, applying ice and resting (if you can with a baby) is effective.

At one stage I was also strapping my knees with zinc tape to keep the kneecap where it should be.

Go see your Dr.

It does seen possible that the pregnancy hormone relaxin might have made things worse.

Second the advice for rest, ice, elevation.

I would definitely advise you to go see a physio. Depending on where you live, you may be able to access your local NHS physios directly but it is more likely that you'll need your GP to refer you so they should be your first port of call.

With your history (sudden onset soon after birth) it is unlikely to be arthritis. As already suggested, pregnancy and ongoing breastfeeding causes hormones to be released which soften your ligaments all over. Have you been doing lots of walking or returned to any other types of exercise (with a 10 week old I'm guessing this might be not). If you have, running could be causing this or if you're swimming try to stick to doing front/back crawl rather than breast stroke as the twisting kick can put extra strain on your knee joints.

If they are swollen at all then definitely go with the ice (10 mins at a time), elevation and rest.