The human knee is a highly complex structure of ligaments and cartilages. A cartilage or a ligament may get damaged on account of various factors such as a physical injury, age or a medical disorder. The most common types of knee pains experienced by most individuals involve swelling, stiffness, locking, giving way suddenly, inflammation etc and so on.


Sometimes the pain is sudden and sharp whereas in other cases it’s it is constant and generalized to one particular point in the knee.

A locked knee basically refers to an individual’s inability to either straighten or bend one’s knee. Locked knees are generally of two types, one wherein the knee is locked on account of a mechanical blow to the knee or simply because the pain is too intense to allow any knee motion.


In case of the knee being locked due to a mechanical block, there is usually something that is stuck within the knee mechanism and acts as a physical obstruction. Such cases are mostly caused by “bucket handle” or meniscus tear wherein a fragment of the torn meniscus gets lodged within the knee hence preventing normal movement. Sometimes severe pain in the knee area may also result in locked knees. Physicians usually determine the exact cause of locking knees by injecting them with a numbing agent. One of the most common causes of locked knees is a loose piece of cartilage or bone getting wedged between the tibia and femur in the knee. If the knee continues to remain locked in spite of non surgical attempts made to wiggle it into place then an orthopedic surgeon must be consulted immediately. In such cases, the surgeon will would recommend a keyhole knee surgery or a knee arthroscopy to permanently address this issue.

Many a times, individual’s with knee problems have complained that they are unable to move their knee or unlock the knee simply on account of severe pain making the knee joint too painful to move. There are a number of medical conditions that result in painful or inflamed knee joints. The most common inflammatory disorders include gout, arthritis and, septic arthritis. etc. In such cases, there is no mechanical block that disrupts the normal movement of the knees. It is just the pain experienced by the individual that is too severe to allow any movement. .This is also commonly known as pseudo locking. This condition can be treated non-surgically by certain amount of physiotherapy or light exercises combined with proper medication and a balanced diet.