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How we set about mending damaged knees with stem cells

Knees are rather wonderful things – first class engineering provided through millennia of evolution. Huge forces are channelled through the knees when we stand up, walk or run, amounting to three to five times our body weight in normal daily use. And they must survive these extreme conditions every day while also giving us the flexibility that we enjoy whenever we move. When they work we don’t really notice them. But if we damage them, we suffer incredible pain and lose the freedom to live a normal, active life.

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Featured

 Is it true that … running destroys your knees?

You know the warning people often give middle-aged joggers: don’t run too much or you’ll end up with bad knees? “It’s very much a myth,” says Richard Blagrove, senior lecturer in physiology at Loughborough University. While many believe that running is linked to osteoarthritis (chronic joint pain) in the knees, studies have revealed that recreational and competitive runners have a much lower incidence of developing it compared with those who don’t run.

 Why Our Knees Are So Easy to Injure

The knee is flexible because it is fundamentally unstable—just a few pieces of rigid, ill-fitting bone bound up by rope-like soft tissues. The bigger “ropes,” known as the major ligaments, break easily because they take the brunt of any stress to the knee. Ligaments are stretchy, fibrous bands of tissue that connect bone to bone. There are four major ligaments in the knee. The most easily injured is the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL), which connects the thigh bone and shinbone diagonally and is situated toward the front of the knee.

Articles of Interest

A Big-Time Injury Striking Little Players’ Knees

Although there are no complete or official numbers, orthopedists at leading medical centers estimate that several thousand children and young adolescents are getting A.C.L. tears each year, with the number being diagnosed soaring recently. Some centers that used to see only a few such cases a year are now seeing several each week.

After a Knee Injury, Be Wary When Returning to Sports

Athletes who pass return-to-play tests after an A.C.L. injury remain just as likely to experience a subsequent knee injury as those who fail the tests.

Common injuries in athletes' knee: experience of a specialized center

The complete ACL rupture was the most common injury found in football, basketball and volleyball players, followed by meniscal injury in street runners.

Common Knee Injuries

Many knee injuries can be successfully treated with simple measures, such as bracing and rehabilitation exercises. Other injuries may require surgery to correct.

If You Tear a Knee Ligament, Arthritis Is Likely to Follow in 10 Years

Orthopedists have believed for years that torn tendons or ligaments put patients, no matter how young, at risk for arthritis. But quantifying the long-term risk has been difficult because most orthopedic patients are not studied for extended periods after their injuries.

Knee problems tend to flare up as you age – an orthopedic specialist explains available treatment options

Knee injuries are common in athletes, accounting for 41% of all athletic injuries. But knee injuries aren’t limited to competitive athletes. In our everyday lives, an accident or a quick movement in the wrong direction can injure the knee and require medical treatment. A quarter of the adult population worldwide experiences knee pain each year

Loud, Startling Noises May Lead to Knee Injuries

Honking horns, sirens and other sudden noises can disrupt circuits in the brain controlling muscles and ligaments that stabilize the knee, causing people to trip and fall, researchers suggest. Buzzers and shouting during sports competitions could affect athletes who normally have good balance and muscular control, they said.

Pediatricians Say Training Can Help Teens Avoid Knee Injuries

If you're a teenage athlete, or the parent of one, you probably live in fear of a torn anterior cruciate ligament, one of the knee's key stabilizing ligaments. A torn ACL often requires surgical repair. But so-called neuromuscular training programs can cut the risk of a serious ACL injury and should be recommended to at-risk young athletes, especially girls, according to a clinical report from the American Academy of Pediatrics.

The ABCs of ACL, LCL, MCL, and PCL Injuries

The knee is one of the human body’s largest joints and one of its strongest. The knee structure is quite complex, and the human body demands a lot from it daily. It is home to four major ligaments, the ACL, LCL, MCL, and PCL. Each of these ligaments is a strong, elasticized band of tissue that connects the thighbone to the two shin bones and provides the knee joint with stability for all of its activities. The knee simply wouldn’t be the powerhouse it is without the ACL, LCL, MCL, and PCL ligaments.

Why Running Won’t Ruin Your Knees

Running pummels knees more than walking does, but in the process it may fortify and bulk up cartilage, helping stave off knee arthritis.

‘Don’t push into pain!’ How to rescue your knees from everything from torn ligaments to injured tendons https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2024/apr/29/dont-push-into-pain-how-to-rescue-your-knees-from-everything-from-torn-ligaments-to-injured-tendons From runner’s knee to fraying cartilage, knees are involved in 40% of sports injuries. But it can be hard to pin down what’s wrong, or what to do about it. Here’s what the physios say.

From runner’s knee to fraying cartilage, knees are involved in 40% of sports injuries. But it can be hard to pin down what’s wrong, or what to do about it. Here’s what the physios say.

Resources

19 Best Knee Mobility Exercises for Strength and Stability

Work these into your routine to prevent injury.