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Many doctors for knee injury often say that the knee is the biggest joint of your body and is one of the most commonly injured joints. Ligaments, bones, tendons, and cartilage form your knee joint and let you bend your leg.
Because of the knee's moving parts and the joint's sensitive nature, it's prone to multiple types of injuries that need the help of doctors for knee injury.
If you're experiencing knee pain, you're likely suffering from one of the most common knee injuries. We will help you understand the makeup of the knee and how to identify the symptoms of a knee injury. However, only doctors for knee injury can determine what type of knee damage you are dealing with.
Within your knee, joint are three bones: the femur (thighbone), the tibia (shin bone), and the patella (kneecap). These three bones meet to create the knee joint. Articular cartilage covers the ends of your tibia, the femur, and the back of the patella.
The cartilage allows the knee joint bones to smoothly glide against one another as you straighten or bend your leg.
The meniscus is a rubbery and tough wedge-shaped cartilage between your femur and tibia. The meniscus cartilage cushions the joint and acts as a shock-absorber between the femur and tibia bones.
Four ligaments connect the bones and stabilize the knee joint. The medial collateral ligament is on the knee's inside, while the lateral ligament is on the outside. These ligaments control the knee joint as it moves sideways, stabilize it, and protect it from unusual movement.
The cruciate ligaments are within your knee joint and cross over each other to form an "X" shape. Your anterior cruciate ligament is found in the front of your knee joint, and the posterior cruciate ligament is found behind it. These ligaments control the knee's back and forth motion.
The tendons within the knee connect the muscles to the bones. The quadriceps tendon is found in the front of your thigh and connects those muscles to your patella. The patellar tendon connects your patella to the shinbone.
Many knee injuries can occur since several different parts make up the knee. In some instances, more than one knee structure is affected and injured. Here are the most common injuries.
The patella, or your knee cap, protects the knee joints from injuries or further damage. When you fall or collide with a person or an object, your kneecap makes first contact and protects the different parts within the knee joint. That makes the kneecap susceptible to fractures.
Knee fractures are common, but they are also very serious. The knee must be immobilized to enable the bone to heal or sometimes requires the help of doctors for knee injury and surgery for repair.
A knee dislocation happens when your knee bones come out of place. This can happen when there's a large impact on the knee, such as a fall, a collision, or a car accident.
In certain situations, the knee would correct itself. It'll feel a little sore but will function normally. If that doesn't happen, the only way to recover from a dislocation is to relocate your knee bones back into place. Doctors for knee injury will strategically adjust your bones back in place in a quick, fluid motion.
Ligament injuries are very common in sports. They happen when your knee is overextended or moved in a way it should not naturally move, and the ligaments cannot support the movement. Because the ligaments keep the knee in place, if they're forced too much, they cannot do their job, and they could stretch or tear.
The most commonly injured ligaments are the cruciate ligaments, which comprise the X - your posterior cruciate ligament (PCL) and your anterior cruciate ligament (ACL). Your lateral collateral ligament (LCL) and your medial collateral ligament (MCL) - are also commonly injured.
Though ligament injuries are very common, there are different degrees of how serious the injury is.
Grade I: The fibers have been slightly overstretched with a Grade I ligament injury, causing a ligament sprain. You wouldn't notice a lot of bruising, if any, and only minimal swelling. An example of this injury is an MCL sprain.
Grade II is when the ligament fibers are partially torn but not across. This will lead to more pain and joint restriction than Grade I, as well as additional swelling and bruising.
Grade III: A Grade III injury occurs once the ligament is completely torn and initially involves severe pain. The knee and surrounding area would be very swollen and bruised. An LCL tear is an example of this type of injury.
Meniscus tears, such as volleyball, frequently occur during sports where jumping or twisting is involved. Meniscus tears also are common in sports like football or soccer, where athletes change direction quickly while running. Any knee twisting, cutting, or pivoting could result in a torn meniscus. Sometimes, your meniscus also tears from wearing out over time.
Tendon tears could happen to anyone but are especially common in middle-aged people running or jumping sports and other activities. Awkward landing after coming down from a jump is a common way to injure your tendon, as your tendon is unable to support the overextension.
Falls could also cause a stretched tendon due to the direct force on the front of your knee.
Tell-tale signs of a knee injury include swelling and knee pain. You may also have trouble with the joint moving. It may feel stiff, locked up, or like it's catching as you straighten and bend your leg.
If you catch the sound of your knee pop and then give out at the time of impact, it's a cause for concern. This popping noise could be the sound of something tearing. Since your ligaments are unstable, you may feel like you can't stand firmly on your leg after a knee injury. It might feel like your knee is giving way.
If the knee pain is minimal, it's possible that you did not damage it further, and it's just feeling a bit sore from overexertion. You could typically treat this type of pain using the RICE (rest, ice, compression, elevation) method. If this method works for you and you feel back to normal, you can avoid visiting the doctors for knee injury.
When experiencing lots of pain, swelling, bruising, and instability, it's important to visit your doctor for treatment. Neglecting the problem could aggravate and turn a minor sprain into a tear.
Among the first steps of treating your knee injury is stabilizing the knee. Doctors for knee injury would likely recommend a brace to keep your knee joint from moving. This would allow bone fractures to heal properly. You might also be given crutches to stop you from putting weight onto your injured leg.
Physical therapy would involve a program of several weeks of specific stretches and exercises to restore the function of your knee joint. In addition, the exercises would strengthen the muscles surrounding your joint.
You might need surgery to treat your knee injury in certain instances to fully restore its function once physical therapy and other methods have not proven successful. Some injuries, such as a completely torn ligament, cannot heal independently, and they'll need to be operated on.
Numerous knee surgeries can be minimally invasive and performed arthroscopically using small tools and incisions. In other cases, doctors for knee injury must make a larger incision to repair the injury.
We at Sunnyvale Sports Medicine and Orthopedic Center have experienced and skilled doctors for knee injury who can help you determine what type of knee damage you are dealing with and how you could find relief. Please do not wait to see our doctors for knee injury to avoid further damage to your knee and possible immobility!
It s best to seek help from doctors for knee injury if your knee pain was caused by a forceful impact or if the knee pain is accompanied by: redness, swelling, and warmth and tenderness around the joint.
Doctors for knee injury may recommend that the patient try to avoid the activities that exacerbate the knee damage and just rest the knee. However, with more persistent and severe pain, doctors for knee injury may prescribe stem cell injections, corticosteroid injections, or physical therapy.