Lyme disease definition, symptoms & treatment: 'water on knee' can be a primary symptom

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Not all affected by Lyme disease exhibit a "bull's eye" rash; some of them may suffer from spontaneous knee effusion or "water on the knee" as a main symptom of the infection.

A new article published in The Journal of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons (JAAOS) noted that knee effusions should be considered in checking for primary Lyme disease infection symptom.

"Half of patients do not recall a tick bite or observe a rash, and early symptoms are not always detected when a physician diagnoses a knee effusion," said Dr. Elizabeth Matzkin, lead author of the stidy from the Harvard Medical School, via EurekAlert. "One of the most notable differentiating factors is, while septic or arthritic knees usually come with significant pain, knee effusions caused by Lyme disease are often very large, not activity-related, and mostly pain-free."

Knee effusion or water on the knee is a condition where excess fluid gathers around the knee joint, according to Medical News Today. Other conditions that cause water on the knee include osteoarthritis but are considered to be larger and very painful compared to the ones caused by Lyme disease. Other early symptoms of Lyme disease which are not always detected after contracting the bacteria three to 30 days include fever, headache, fatigue, chills, muscle and joint aches, and swollen lymph nodes.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Lyme disease is caused by Borrelia burgdorferi, a bacterium that is contracted by humans after being bitten by infected blacklegged ticks. Every year, 30,000 cases of Lyme disease is reported to the agency. However, the number may only be a fraction of the illnesses reported in the United States.

If not treated early, Lyme disease can cause life-long disabilities and may permanently damage the brain, nerves and joints months or years after the infection.

"It is important to catch and treat Lyme disease early because the symptoms get progressively worse over time," said Dr. Matzkin, via Medical Xpress. "However, the lab tests used to diagnose Lyme disease can take time to process, and there are certain circumstances in which immediate antibiotic treatment may be recommended before the lab results are complete."

According to PR News Wire, Lyme disease can be diagnosed thru a two-tier blood test. For patients who are exhibiting symptoms of the disease less than two weeks of exposure, the test may be repeated because the test cannot yet detect the infection in the first two weeks. CDC states that those early Lyme infection can be treated with oral antibiotics.