The knee, or patellar joint,
involves the movements among the tibia, femur, and patella bones. Cartilage
is a fibrous tissue located in joints and surrounds the ends of bones.
The purpose of cartilage is to cushion the ends of the bones, preventing
them from rubbing against each other when they move. Unlike bones
and muscles, cartilage does not have blood vessels to carry nutrients in
and waste products out. Cartilage has to rely on joint movement to squeeze
nutrients in and waste products out of the synovial fluid surrounding joints.
Runner’s Knee often occurs
as a result of the knee joint moving just slightly off its normally smooth
track. As a result, the knee joint movement does not properly move
nutrients into the synovial fluid, nor does it remove the waste products.
The cartilage then starves from lack of nutrients and waste products build
up in the knee. The cartilage begins to deteriorate, causing the
bones in the knee joint to rub against each other, which is very painful.
Risk factors for developing
Runner’s Knee include:
Wide hips, such as females
Knock knees
Patellar subluxation (the patella
partially slips out of the joint socket)
A high patella
The treatment for runner’s knee
involves:
Decreasing running to lessen
the stress on the knee. If pain continues, running may need to be stopped
completely until the pain is gone.
Once the pain is gone and running
is resumed, starting out slowly and gradually increasing the workout is
important in preventing a re-injury
Avoid running downhill or on
uneven surfaces
Run on surfaces that have some
“give” to them
Do not do exercises with the
knee bent
Do straight leg lifts to strengthen
the muscles that stabilize the knee joint
Stretch before and after exercise,
especially the legs, feet, ankles, and hips
Make sure the shoe fits properly
and is not run down
