Knee Injuries – How to Avoid This Common Sports Injury
Knee injuries are the most common sports injury seen in Britain today.
In running alone, 60% of all runners are injured in an average year and about one third of these sports injuries affect the knee.
Knee injuries are also the most common sports injuries sustained by school children, as they often occur during football, hockey and rugby.
Yet far too little is known by the general public about the advantages of knee support or the other simple steps that can be taken to help knee injury prevention.
The knee is the largest joint in the body, made up of bones, cartilage, muscles, tendons and ligaments. A knee sports injury can involve any of these.
It can be hard to understand knee injuries and some of the complicated terms used do not make this any easier for the layperson.
You may have heard of knee ‘overuse’ for example. Well, although it is sometimes called an ‘overuse’ injury, the real name of the condition is iliotibial band syndrome (ITBS). This is one of the most common knee injuries. It is actually caused by a lack of strength and flexibility rather than anything than can accurately be described as overuse. In fact, it can be brought on in runners even if they are only running around 5 miles, which can hardly be seen as overuse.
There are a number of other common knee injuries. First, there is a knee sprain which means you have stretched or torn a ligament. Then there are strains, which mean you have torn a muscle or tendon.
Tendinitis happens when a tendon gets inflamed. Damage to the menisci is a really common sports injury, especially in activities where a side to side movement or a sudden change in speed can cause them to tear.
And, of course, sometimes there can be cartilage injuries, where a small piece of bone or cartilage breaks off, causing long term knee pain.
Osgood Schlatter Disease is particularly common in teenagers aged between 10-15, especially if they are having a growth spurt. A typical symptom is pain just below the front of the kneecap on the tibia, which gets worse with activity. There is sometimes a bump below the knee joint that is painful to touch. Osgood Schlatter Disease is especially common in boys who play sports involving running, kicking, or jumping, all of which put strain on the quadriceps muscles.
The arterior cruciate ligament (ACL) is the most common knee ligament to be damaged in a sports injury, usually by a sudden twist or landing badly after a jump. Interestingly, women athletes are eight times more likely to suffer from damage to the arterior cruciate ligament than men.
Nobody is immune from knee injuries, with many professional footballers like Ruud Van Nistelrooy and Paul Gascoigne being well known for their knee injuries.
For many knee injuries, it is advised to rest the knee and apply compression. In these cases, a knee brace can help. In the very worst cases, surgery may be necessary.
As knee injuries are so painful and so common, prevention is always better than cure. When playing sport, it is a good idea to wear protective equipment, such as kneepads and shin guards. Knee support including knee straps and knee braces can also help prevent injury and protect your knee if you have injured it previously.
It is also vital to make sure you always warm up and cool down and that your training programme is increased gradually, so that you do not put your knee under undue strain.
It is well worth trying weightlifting to strengthen your muscles and yoga or stretching to improve flexibility, as this will cut down the risk of sports injury. And, of course, if your sport involves jumping, do make sure you bend your knees when you land.
Increasing awareness about knee injuries, knee support and sports first aid can help you stay fit, so is a vital ingredient to becoming a successful athlete.
About the Author
Lucy Falle is Marketing Manager of First Aid 4 Sport, an online supplier of first aid, rehabilitation products and physiotherapy products. Lucy has previous experience as a sports instructor. For more information on first aid for sports injuries, see
http://www.firstaid4sport.co.uk/
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Dislocated kneecap, X-ray Photo Mugs Dislocated kneecap. Coloured X-ray of a side-view of the leg of a patient with a dislocated kneecap (patella) and ruptured patella tendon. The kneecap (dark brown, right) has moved upwards in front of the thigh bone. Dislocation can occur due to a hard knock or twisting movement, often during sport, or an imbalance in the muscles at the front of the thigh (quadriceps). It causes considerable pain … |
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Fractured kneecap, X-ray Photo Mugs Fractured kneecap. Coloured X-ray of a side-view of the leg of a patient with a fractured kneecap (centre right). The femur (thigh bone) is at top, the tibia (shinbone) is at bottom centre with the fibula to its left. The kneecap has broken into two pieces. The bones will be immobilised, either externally, using a cast, or internally, using metal pins, to allow the kneecap to heal. It is important… |
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Fractured kneecap, X-ray Photo Mugs Fractured kneecap. Coloured X-ray of a side-view of the leg of a patient with a fractured kneecap (centre right). The femur (thigh bone) is at top, the tibia (shinbone) is at bottom centre with the fibula to its left. The kneecap has broken into two pieces. The bones will be immobilised, either externally, using a cast, or internally, using metal pins, to allow the kneecap to heal. It is important… |
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Knee -support $28.99 Bell Horn’s exclusive ProStyle Knee Wraps are designed to give you the comfort of an elastic support with the therapeutic properties of heat, without the perspiration associated with neoprene. These supports are ideal for knee sprain or strain…. |
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Sportsmetrics Training; a jump training program for women proven to reduce the risk of knee injury … |
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Athletic Clinic: Knee Injuries … |
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Knee Injuries in the Young Athlete: A Physician’s Guide (ACSM’s Hot Topics and Fundamentals of Sports Medicine Series) $74.97 … |
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Body Glove 90145 Deluxe Ice Pack Knee and Elbow Wrap, Blue, Unisize $25.75 Unique patented design is adjustable to fit knees, ankles, wrists or elbows. Plush, premium closed-cell thermal neoprene traps warmth or cold next to injured area. Provides adjustable compression. Unisize, adjustable wrap soothes a wide variety of shapes and sizes. Retro-design Wide Mouth Bottle (included) fits into precut opening on the Deluxe wrap, and is easy to fill with ice or warm water. 11-… |
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Custom Leathercraft V310 Molded Natural Rubber Kneepads with Hook and Loop Fastener $5.99 These molded natural rubber knee pads by CLC are crafted out of thick molded rubber for comfort and protection. They are one size fits all, are lightweight and very durable and attach easily with elastic straps that have hook and loop fasteners. Great for gardeners, masons, stoneworkers, tile installation, or any other types of labor that are hard on your knees…. |
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Body Glove 90146 Deluxe Ice Pack, Shoulder, Back and Neck Wrap, Blue, Unisize $33.79 Deluxe Ice Wrap securely holds heat or cold against hard-to-reach back, shoulder, and neck regions, where other wraps slip, slide and fall off. Split design keeps wrap balanced and in place as it contours around the body, providing mild compression. Easiest way to secure cold or hot thermal packs in hard-to-wrap places Plush, premium closed-cell thermal neoprene traps warmth or cold next to injure… |