In this video, we're going to talk about septic arthritis. Now, it's not coincidentally that I'm starting with this topic, because this is the most dangerous type of pain that we're going to talk about. arthritis is inflammation of a joint. Inflammation very briefly is the body's natural response to some kind of damage or invasion from something foreign that comes into the body. You can see or you can see some type of inflammation by redness, swelling, warmth, all of those signs that's locally one point in the body. So if we're talking about septic arthritis of the knee, you might see the knee being swollen, red weren't the touch and even painful when you touch it.

Septic arthritis is usually caused by a bacteria. We're talking about an infection. septic means infection. So it can be caused either by a bacteria A virus, a fungus or a parasite. But when we're talking about septic arthritis of the knee, it's most commonly caused by some type, some type of bacteria. Now, the people who are most susceptible to get septic arthritis are young children under the age of 15.

And elderly people over the age of 60. Somebody who suffers from septic arthritis will usually have systemic symptoms as well. This is a general fever, not feeling well, maybe chills. This is because that the bacteria often comes from the bloodstream. And so that might be causing a response to the whole body. When we talk about different types of arthritis or different type of knee pain.

One of the ways that we differentiate is to know if it's an acute problem, or a chronic problem. acute pain or acute inflammation is something that's short term, maybe a few days, weeks, but when it gets into the months and longer than that, we're talking about a chronic problem. So arthritis is usually an acute problem, not chronic pain that's been lasting for weeks to months. Another way of differentiating different type of pain and different type of arthritis is the number of joints that it affects. If it affects one joint, we call that mono arthritis. septic arthritis is a model arthritis usually, of course, there are exceptions for every rule, but it will usually be only one joint.

It won't be both knees, it won't be knees, hands and hips, it will usually be only one joint. Now the proper way and the best way to diagnose septic arthritis is to take a sample of fluid from the inflamed joint. This is done with a needle, they usually stick a needle into the knee, take some of the fluid out and then put that into a bacterial culture so that they can see which type of bacteria is in the knee. Again, it's not coincidental that we're starting or that we're starting with septic arthritis because this is the only type of arthritis that's really dangerous. And we're requires immediate treatment. Again, we're talking about arthritis that happens usually only in one joint in small children or the elderly population.

The joint will be inflamed meaning it will be swollen, red and it will hurt to the touch. It will also be a little bit warm. It's an acute injury meaning that it's happening only for a few days, not months of pain, and it requires immediate attention. If you fear that you or somebody you know has septic arthritis, please go seek medical attention right away.