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The knee joint is often - and rightly - referred to as the most complex joint in the body. The knee's ingenious biomechanical structure, consisting of the patella, meniscus, capsule, ligaments, muscles, and tendons, gives it a remarkable load-bearing capacity. With each step we take, the knee smartly distributes and absorbs compressive forces of around twice our body weight!
It is no wonder that the knee is also especially prone to injury and wear and tear.
Movement is Life!
Healthy knees have become even more important in a society that extols the virtues of participating in sports and remaining physically active well into old age. While sports may indeed represent a key to healthy knees and to staying in good shape, they also represent the most common context in which acute knee injuries occur - even outside the ski season. As a condition for remaining physically active well into old age, healthy knees have become synonymous with an enhanced quality of life. |
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What is the cause of knee problems?
Current fitness trends and recreational sports provide one of the main contexts for the occurrence of acute knee injuries. While these factors do not always lead to permanent damage, cruciate and medial ligament tears and the structural imbalance they can cause often mark the beginning of chronic pain and discomfort, including inflammation, accelerated wear and tear, instability, and pain.
Our knees are also placed at risk in our daily lives. This is because our daily lives involve, paradoxically, a lack of exercise and other habits that leave us overweight. Both of these other lifestyle factors can promote osteoarthritis, a degenerative process that leads to the wearing away of the cartilage in our knees.
How do I know if I have a serious knee problem?
The only way to reliably determine whether you have a serious knee problem is to consult an orthopedic specialist. Using special low-radiation diagnostic procedures, such as magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), an experienced orthopedic specialist can even identify cartilage degeneration before it begins to be a source of pain. Arthroscopic surgery to diagnose knee problems may also be advisable in some case. This procedure enables a specialist to arrive at a precise assessment of your knee.
The advantage of early detection is that it enables you and your doctor to implement a course of treatment before any irreversible damage has occurred.
