#knee strain

The 5 most common knee injuries causing a lot of pain and leading to surgical intervention

1. Knee bursitis occurs when a fluid-filled pouch (called a bursa) in the knee is irritated, inflamed, or infected. Bursas are fluid-filled sacs located around joints that act as shock absorbers that minimize the friction between various tissues, such as the muscles and tendons around the joints. In the knee, there are two main bursas, one above the kneecap (patella), and one below the knee joint near the front of the tibia bone. 

2. Knee joint dislocation can occur due to high-impact, large-force injuries to the knee (sports, motor vehicle accidents). This is a rare injury but causes severe damage to all the anatomical components of the knee and can include damage to the blood vessels. This requires emergency treatment or surgery.

3.Knee fractures occur from acute injury direct blows to Patella, or kneecap, fractures occur when a person falls directly down onto the knees and the kneecap cracks due to the force. Collapse of the top of the tibia bone in the knee (tibia plateau fracture) can occur from sudden compression injury to the knee, especially in people with osteoporosis. More complicated breaks occur form serious accidents where multiple body parts may have been injured such as lower and upper leg breaks tearing through the knee structure.

4.Knee strains occur when hperextension or hyperflexion occurs around the tendons of the knee both above and below the knee joint. Surrounding muscles can also contribute from tears and tightness causing excess strain on the patella tendon. These are never too serious and can be treated with a very good recovery.

5. Patellofemoral pain syndrome or “runner’s knee” comes from weakness and degeneration of the cartilage under the kneecap (chondromalacia patella). These injuries are due to an accumulation of repetitive damage to the knee structures. This may be cause by either congenital problems or improper mechanics of the knee movement. Supportive compression braces and knee supports become an effective aid in exercise in these type of degenerative conditions.  A good resource on this is here

Treatment options

1. Surgery  - This is for the more serious injuries such as the fractures, strain and tears of the meniscus for more information on surgery options see this link here.

2. Pain Medication If you have a less severe case of knee pain which could be resolved from non surgical pain and swelling medication in the form of both steroid injections which are a typical treatment options for bursitis and very minor strains you can read more steroid injections into the bursa