The knee is a large shock absorber in the body and hence helps to transfer loads in the body. Often, however, the knee can be put into positions of stress in day to day living, work situations or sports. This can cause undue stress on the knee and lead to knee pain.
Knee Injuries
When the knee is stressed it can typically lead to injuries to structures around the knee, such as:
Ligament tear
- Medial Collateral Ligament
- Lateral Collateral Ligament
- Anterior Cruciate Ligament
- Posterior cruciate ligament
Meniscus injury
- Medial Meniscus tear
- Lateral Meniscus tear
Tendon strain
- tendonitis more acutely
- tendinopathy in more chronic injuries or overuse
Injury to the joint surface, leading to an osteochondral injury or cartilage injury
Arthritis changes in the knee joint
How do Knee injuries happen?
- Running and cutting sports such as soccer, rugby, football, and hockey
- Explosive stop and start sports such as tennis and squash
- Endurance sports such as long distance running (marathons) which can lead to overuse or muscle strain
- Endurance cycling sports, such as mountain biking or road biking, and can be related to bike set up or injury
A thorough assessment is needed to determine what is causing the knee pain and how to treat it. Then an appropriate treatment program can be developed for you for help you move better, feel better and get stronger. Usually this will include a home exercise program as well as tips to use for your specific sport or work activities to help you manage better and learn to protect yourself form ongoing knee pain.
If you have had a traumatic knee injury playing a sport, and heard a pop or click when it happened, you may have injured your ACL ligament. Please click here to find out more specific info.
Learn More about Treatment for Knee Injuries
Check out our Physiotherapy Treatment Videos and our Informational Videos about knee injuries.