Life has a way of knocking us off our feet. The trick is to keep your balance, take a breath and deal with one thing at a time.
This photo shows a woman sitting on an exam table with a large, red swelling on the front of her knee. The skin over it is tight and shiny, with a small whitish head near the top.
A lump like this on the knee is often an inflamed cyst or an abscess. It can start from a blocked follicle, a small scrape or an ingrown hair that lets bacteria into the skin.
Knees take a lot of pressure and friction from kneeling, tight jeans and sports, and small cuts there are easy to ignore, so a swelling can grow before anyone pays attention.
As it gets bigger the knee feels stiff and sore, the skin becomes warm and red, and bending the leg, walking or climbing stairs can become painful.
