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
“I could talk for days about knees,” says physiotherapist Patricia Collins. “After backs, they are the most common area we treat.” According to a recent paper in the British Medical Journal, 41% of sports injuries are knee-related.
But just because knee issues are common, that doesn’t mean we should ignore them and soldier on. These knobbly little joints bear a heavy load, and problems and solutions can take some untangling. “Not only does the knee have the two major leg bones, the femur and the tibia,” says Bhanu Ramaswamy, physio and visiting fellow at Sheffield Hallam University, “but you’ve got the kneecap, cartilage, tendons and ligaments, and any changes in those will make a knee prone to becoming more stiff or inflamed.”
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