Get it checked!

We regularly help patients presenting with knee problems. So what can go wrong? Well if we consider the anatomy of a knee joint it’s relatively simple compared with say a shoulder. Its main movements are to straighten and bend, just like a door opens and closes. Minus direct trauma and twisting injuries to the knee we tend to find that pains in the area of the knee are secondary to problems elsewhere in the body, commonly the low back and sometimes the foot.

Why is that the case? Well as mentioned before the knee is relatively simple and shouldn’t have too many problems, however, the low back and foot are much more complicated and far more can go wrong with them causing stress on the knee. In most cases we explain it to our patients like this: “the knee is the victim and the low back is the culprit”.

The nerves from the low back supply the whole of the leg and knee so if the nerves are getting ‘pinched’ in the back then the knee could hurt even if there is nothing wrong with the knee joint itself. This is common place. Alternatively, we have patients who have damage to the knee joint itself, for example, cartilage, meniscus, ligaments, tendons or muscles. Some have this from an accident or sudden twist but what about the others who did not have an accident, why do they have knee damage and pains? That’s a good question that has a simple answer: “the knee is the victim” as another part of the body above or below is responsible for causing undue stress and wear on the knee!