KNEES KNEES KNEES.
We will be beginning a series of posts on knee anatomy, biomechanics and common causes of knee pain.
There are three main articulations in the knee:
1 . Tibiofemoral (thigh and shin bone)
2. Patellofemoral (thigh bone and knee cap)
3. Tibiofibular (shin bone and the long thin bone on the outside of the leg)
For the most part we will be concentrating on the first 2.
Generally the knee is a pretty stable joint, working much like a hinge. So going to flexion and extension is easy but twisting either way can be an easy way to cause injury. It is stabilised by many muscles, ligaments, menisci and more which we will discuss in further posts.
There can be many causes of pain but its important to know how much weight goes through the knee with certain activities. Here is the list:
1. Going upstairs – 3x your bodyweight (BW)
2. Downstairs – 5x BW
3. Jumping – 5x BW
4. Squatting – 7-8x BW
As you can see thats a lot of weight your knees have to put up with on a daily basis.
Pain on RUNNING however is not caused by the articulating surfaces but actually the recoil on the patella (kneecap) from lateral to medial as the quadricep muscles contract.
Stay tuned for a more in depth lool at the structures that cause pain in the next posts.