Types of Conditions
Your knee is a complex joint with many components, making it vulnerable to a variety of injuries. Some of the most common knee injuries include fractures, dislocations, sprains, and ligament tears.
Many knee injuries can be successfully treated with simple measures, such as bracing and rehabilitation exercises. Other injuries may require surgery to correct.
MPFL Rupture
The medial patellofemoral ligament is a band of tissue which is connected to the medial (inside) edge of the patella (kneecap) and a bony protrusion on the inner edge of the lower end of the femur (thigh bone), known as the femoral medial epicondyle. The most common injury is a complete tear. Symptoms include instability of the patellofemoral joint including recurrent dislocations of the patella.
Meniscus Tear
A torn meniscus is one of the most common knee injuries. Any activity that causes you to forcefully twist or rotate your knee, especially when putting your full weight on it, can lead to a torn meniscus.
Each of your knees has two menisci — C-shaped pieces of cartilage that act like a cushion between your shinbone and your thighbone. A torn meniscus causes pain, swelling and stiffness. You also might feel a block to knee motion and have trouble extending your knee fully.
Conservative treatment — such as rest, ice and medication — is sometimes enough to relieve the pain of a torn meniscus and give the injury time to heal on its own. In other cases, however, a torn meniscus requires surgical repair..
Osteoarthritis
Osteoarthritis (OA) is a condition that affects the whole joint including bone, cartilage, ligaments and muscles. Although often described as 'wear and tear', OA is now thought to be the result of a joint working extra hard to repair itself. OA may include: inflammation of the tissue around a joint.
Knee Trauma
Any of the bones in or around the knee can be fractured. The most commonly broken bone in the joint is the patella or kneecap.
High impact trauma, such as a fall or car accident, causes most knee fractures. People with underlying osteoporosis may fracture their knees just by stepping the wrong way or tripping.