I recently have started experiencing pain in both my knees, but as far as I can tell I haven't injured them in any way. Over the past couple of months I've had several bouts where my knees will begin to hurt and feel very stiff, sore, and a little unstable. At first I thought it may have been because I was overdoing it with the stairs at work, or carrying too much weight so I stopped using the stairs and bought a briefcase on wheels to use instead. This didn't help, and I'm still getting painful knees.
Yesterday during the day I was fine, but by the time we got out to run errands after work my knees were really bothering me. It wasn't so bad that I couldn't walk, but walking was not comfortable. I had to go very slowly. The pain feels like it's inside my knee, behind my kneecap. They a little sore to the touch, too. They don't look swollen, but they feel swollen and sore. I spent the evening with an ice pack on my knees but it didn't seem to help.
It seems to come and last for a couple days and then it goes away. I also have problems with upper back and neck pain that I used to see a chiropractor about. He said I had arthritis in my cervical spine. Could this knee problem be arthritis too? For the record, I'm 28 years old and 5' tall, 102 lbs, so I don't think it's age or being overweight. I hate going to the doctor, but my fiance has convinced me I need to get this checked out. Could it be anything else? Should I just go to my general doctor (nurse practitioner, actually) or should I try to go to a specialist?
Thanks,
Bri