The knee
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How does the knee work? | Muscle Injuries | Knee Joints | Serious Knee Injuries
Osgood Schlatter Disease | Stretches |
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The knee joint allows you to run, walk and play sport. Regular
exercise is important and fun, but you cannot play without
your knee. |
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How does the knee work?
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The knee can do two movements.
It bends to allow you to do things like squatting and
straightens as you move into an upright position.
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In order to keep you upright, your knee must be
stable. It gets most of its stability from the tissues
like muscles and ligaments around it.
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Which muscles move the knee?
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The muscles in front and the back of your thigh moves your
knee joint.
Seven muscles bend and four muscles straighten your knee.
The main muscle that straightens your knee is in front of
the knee joint and is called the quadriceps.
The hamstrings are at the back of the thigh. This
group of muscles mainly bends the knee joint.
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Muscle injuries
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The muscles of the knee must work hard when you are playing
sport or doing activities such as roller-blading.
Sometimes you can overwork or overstretch these muscles
and they will start to hurt while playing sport. You will
feel pain because small parts of the muscle tissue are damaged.
This is called a muscle sprain.
When this happens to you while playing, STOP and do the
R.I.C.E.R.
regime. Don't worry... most of these injuries are not serious.
You will need to rest from vigorous exercise for a few days,
depending on the severity of the injury.
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| Once most of your pain is gone, start doing gentle stretching
exercises for the injured muscle. See stretching
and strengthening for more information.
Returning to sport too early can increase the risk of re-injury.
Before starting again the injured area:
- must be pain-free
- must have full strength
- can be moved without pain.
ALSO, before you start playing sports again, make sure
that you can play the game without pain. For example, if
you play netball, you must be able to run, jump and lunge
without pain.
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Knee joints
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The knee is actually made up of two joints called the patellofemoral
and tibiofemoral joints.
The patellofemoral
joint is formed between the femur (long bone of the
thigh) and a small triangular shaped bone called the knee-cap
or patella.
The tibiofemoral joint is between
two long bones - the femur (long bone) and the tibia
(shin bone). |
What are the most common causes of pain in front of the
knee?
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An imbalance between the innerside and outerside thigh
muscles may affect the way your knee-cap moves. Usually
the innerside muscles of your thigh may be weak and the
outerside muscles may be tight. This imbalance causes
pain, especially when you are walking, sitting for long
periods or squatting.
Another cause is inflammation of the patellar tendon.
Muscles are attached to bones by tendons. The quadriceps
muscle, which is the muscle in front of your thigh, attaches
to the patellar tendon. Activities involving lots
of jumping and kicking may overstress the patellar tendon
and this results in inflammation.
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What Can I do if I Have Pain in Front of My Knee?
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If the pain is severe, do the R.I.C.E.R.
regime. You may need to avoid vigorous exercise until the
pain subsides. The good news is that most of these problems
can be solved by doing specific strengthening and stretching
exercises like some of the exercises in the stretching section.
Exercises for the buttock muscles as well will help as they
add stability to the knee joint.
A physiotherapist can teach you or your parents taping
techniques which may reduce the pain.
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Don't overtrain
- always warm up before and cool down after an exercise.
Check your shoes
- poor foot position may also contribute towards knee
pain
- shoes are important because they support and control
movement of your feet.
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Remember you are growing!
Be smart and leave room for growth as your feet will change
shape as you are growing.
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 Pronator
- normally a flatter looking foot. This type of foot is usually
very good at absorbing shock, but because of its great mobility
increases the chance of overstress injury. Shoe selection
is vital with this foot type. |
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 Normal
- has a good balance of supination and pronation. Individuals
with normal feet can still be prone to injury. |
 Supinator
- usually a foot with a high arch. This type of foot is often
poor at absorbing shock making it prone to stress injuries.
It is extremely important to choose the correct shoe for this
foot. |
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Click here
to check out our footwear page!
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Serious knee injuries
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Luckily serious knee injuries like ligamentous, injuries
to the ligaments, and cartilage injuries are not common
in young people. The cartilage in your knee are two disc-like
structures called menisci.
Ligament injuries in young people are different from adults.
The ligaments in growing children are five times stronger
than the growth plates. This means that you may injure your
growth plate instead of your ligaments.
Most of these injuries may occur when you twist your knee
joint with your foot fixed in upright positions such as
running, lunging, etc.
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What to do?
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Do the R.I.C.E.R.
regime immediately after the injury. Use crutches to avoid
putting weight through the injured knee. Because of the
differences in the adolescent skeleton X-rays may be necessary
to check that you do not have a broken bone or a growth
plate injury. In severe cases surgery may be necessary to
repair a ligament or remove torn cartilage.
Always seek an opinion from a medical professional when you receive a serious injury.
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How can I prevent these injuries?
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Firstly remember to comply with the rules of the game as
some rules are designed to prevent injury. Strengthening
exercises of the hip and knee muscles are important to protect
your knee joint. Sport specific exercises, balance and endurance
exercises may also help to prevent injury.
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Osgood Schlatter Disease
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WOW!!! What a name!!!
This condition is common when you are going through growth
spurts, because the muscles become very tight during these
periods. It mainly involves the tibial tuberosity
which is the bump just below your knee-cap.
Your most active growth plate is located at the tibial
tuberosity. This growth plate contributes about 1cm
to your height each year. The patellar tendon attaches
the quadriceps (the muscle in front of your thigh)
and inserts at this bump below your knee cap.
Sometimes strong contractions of the thigh muscles or a
direct blow can cause damage to this bump and it may lead
to inflammation. This will then cause pain at this bump
which is worse when exercising or going up stairs.
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What to do about it?
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Rest from exercising if the pain is bad and
apply ice to the tibial tuberosity. If the pain persists you
may need medication to reduce the inflammation. Stretching
exercises for the quadriceps muscle are important.
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How to Prevent This Condition!
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| Concentrate on STRETCHING, especially the quadriceps muscle.
Make sure that you are not exercising too much. Your coach
will tell you how many times a week and for how long you need
to exercise. Wear knee-pads to protect your knees from direct
injuries like when you fall.
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Quadriceps stretches
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| Keep your hips in line with your upper body
and your knees close together. You should feel a stretch in
front of your thigh muscle |
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Exercises
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Tensor fascia stretch:
(The tensor fascia is muscle on the outside of the
thigh). You should feel a stretch on the outside of the back
leg. |
Hamstring stretches
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Keep your lower back as straight as possible.
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You should feel a stretch of the muscle at
the back of your thigh.
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