The Knee

This is the big problem joint, where over 25 percent of all problems are located. If we were talking about life in general, I suspect we'd be looking at back problems, and those are in the next post. Most joints involve some sort of bone support that seats two bones together nicely, and the muscles hold them together. The knee is less solid than the hip, which has a bone with a ball on the top of it on which rests the pelvic girdle with a socket for that ball to fit into. Then ligaments hold the ball in the socket, easy and happy. The knee is less secure. The bones meet up, both of them flat on the ends that meet in the knee. The ligaments tasked with holding them together are numerous, but they must also allow the knee to flex. On top of everything, they must not allow the knee to flex in both directions but only toward the posterior. A tough task but one they do rather well unless we decide to injure them. Once they get torn, they may never be the same again. If you don't take especial care to rehabilitate and strengthen the muscles of this area, you could be cursed with a weak and painful knee forever. what's more, a knee that has been injured before may be the more easily injured again. Another problem comes when you had an injury requiring surgery or immobilization in a cast. This can lead to premature wear of the joint.If you had a knee injury involving cartilage or ligament damage, you can cause your knee to wear out earlier than it might have done otherwise. look for signs such as aching or swelling when you use the knee, locking or giving way, loss of flexibility. These problems may not be bad enough to keep you from your sports or fitness activity, but don't ignore them when you choose which activity you're going to pursue. Consider cycling instead of running, for instance, or if you're going to swim laps, the crawl is easier on your knees than the breast stroke. If any of the above symptoms sound familiar, consult a doctor. The most common source of knee injuries is overuse. That's what I did; I started walking two miles a day when I had been shut up in an apartment for years. So if you like to exercise you should keep in mind that though you might not feel like stopping when you should (that's before you hurt yourself), you do need to, or when you need to cut back, you need to force yourself to do just that. If I run into this problem while I'm trying to get to my goal, I w8ill do that. Or else. But then, while I'm expecting to work hard toward this goal, I can promise that I won't be beating myself to death to get there. Overuse injuries are usually what happens when you attempt an activity that's too strenuous for strong you are or how much endurance you have. In fact it's having a quadriceps that isn't strong enough that is most likely to cause your knee to suffer. The quadriceps is the large muscle at the front of your thigh, just above the patella, your kneecap. It is responsible for much of the work in stabilizing the joint and keeping the kneecap tracking properly. If you overwork the quadriceps, or if both sides of the muscle aren't balanced, the kneecap can get moved to where it isn't tracking properly, and that's the beginning of a world of hurt. Your knee may ache after activity, then as the injury becomes more severe your knee may hurt and grow stiff when you sit with your knee bent for a long time. Then you may notice pain when you climb or descend hills or stairs. The pain is usually in the front of the knee, behind it or surrounding the kneecap. Or in my case, it was all three of those. Finally your knee may swell and feel tight, or it nay collapse when you lest expect it. At the very least these symptoms indicate the need for a stronger quadriceps muscle. Let's look at your knees: Knee Examination. First do what any good doctor does: ask yourself these doctor's questions: Have you ever been advised to wear a knee brace? Does your knee feel loose" Does your knee give way or lock? Does your knee swell with activity? Is your knee swollen now? If you had to admit to any one of these with "yes", go see a doctor. According to Garrick, you have a serious knee problem. If all answers were "no", go on to the next section. Does your knee hurt when you climb up or down hills or stairs? Does your knee hurt or ache when you sit for long periods of time with your leg bent, as in a theater? Does your knee feel weak, as though it's going to give way? If you answered one of these questions with a yes, then before you begin a fitness exercise program you need to make sure that the strength of your bad leg is equal to the strength of the other leg. More on that shortly. If all your answers are no, go on to the next section. You may be in fine shape, but you may still have discrepancies which are subtle and need to be caught before you start exercising. Sit on the floor with your knees extended out in front of you. Or if your bed is a firm one, sit there. Or in a chair with a hassock in front of you as you rest your heels on it. Look at the dimples on each side of your kneecap. Are they equally prominent on both knees? While still sitting with your knees straight, tighten the muscle in the front of your thigh, the quadriceps. The part just above your kneecap and to the inside is the vastus medialis. Observe how large the muscle is, compared to the other side. Feel the tone of the muscle with your fingertips. Are both sides the same in size and hardness? Sit in a chair and extend your legs in front of you. Do both knees straighten out to the same degree? Lie on your stomach. Bend your knees as far as you can. Are both your heels an equal distance from your buttocks? Stand on one leg, the other leg bent and the foot raised so that it doesn't touch the ground. Are you able to do a one-legged squat from that position. It doesn't matter how far you can go, but can you do the same with the other leg and squat just as far down? The point of this is not to see how strong you are but to see if you can do the same on both sides without pain? If you have access to a knee extension machine, can you lift the same amount of weight on both sides? Can you lift at least 15% of your body weight with each leg? If you can't, your leg or legs are weaker than they should be and you should start bringing both of them up to par. If your legs test out pretty much the same, it's an indication that your knees are balanced and you may be good to go on your exercise program. But if one knee is weak, that could be a problem or even an injury just waiting to happen--especially if you've been working around an old injury that was never properly rehabilitated. So if your self-examination turns up a discrepancy between the sides, you had better start on a strengthening program foefore you do anything else. Don't worry, it may cost you a week or five now, but that's better than needing six weeks of complete rest later. continued in the next post.