How Do Knee Injuries Happen?
Knee injuries often happen when you're playing sports, training, or doing other physical activities. Your knees take most of your weight and still have to bend and twist and help you run, jump, and land.
Using poor techniques when you're jumping or landing, and over-committing to a stretch, turn, or another movement in the heat of play are some of the most common causes of knee injuries.
Other forms of trauma that can lead to knee injuries include slips and trips and auto accidents. These can all cause the tissues in your knee to stretch too far, rupture, or fracture.
What are Common Knee Injuries?
There are many ways to damage the complex structures that make up your knee, but some of the most common injuries are:
- Tendinitis
- Sprained ligaments
- Anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) tear
- Medial collateral ligament (MCL) tear
- Meniscus tear
- Patellar tendinitis (runner's knee)
- Patellar dislocation
- Articular cartilage injuries
- Iliotibial band syndrome
You could also fracture the bones in your knee or dislocate the main knee joint.
How are Knee Injuries Diagnosed?
Your provider at Beaufort Orthopaedic Sports & Spine first needs to conduct a physical exam to see where your knee pain is coming from and how it's affecting your mobility. They ask you how the injury happened and whether you have any other symptoms.
In addition to any relevant information from your medical history, your provider can form a preliminary diagnosis. To confirm the diagnosis, you might need to undergo diagnostic testing, which could involve X-rays, ultrasound, a CT scan, or an MRI scan.
How are Knee Injuries Treated?
Most knee injuries require rest and physical therapy, and some also need a form of support like splinting or bracing. You might also want to take pain-relieving and anti-inflammatory medication.
If your knee pain persists, you might require one or more joint injections. These contain corticosteroid medication to reduce inflammation and a local anesthetic that temporarily numbs the pain.
Knee injuries that involve fractures often need setting — repositioning the broken ends of the bones and immobilizing them with a cast or splint.
Do Knee Injuries Require Surgery?
Some knee injuries need surgery to repair torn ligaments, tendons, and cartilage, or badly fractured bones. The Beaufort Orthopaedic Sports & Spine team specializes in using minimally invasive arthroscopic techniques to carry out knee surgery.
Arthroscopy involves a slender tubular instrument that has a camera on its end. Your surgeon inserts the arthroscope into your knee through a small incision. They use the images sent back by the camera to perform the surgery, avoiding the soft tissue damage open surgery causes.
If you injure your knee, prompt, expert treatment could make a significant difference in how well and how quickly you recover. Call Beaufort Orthopaedic Sports & Spine today or book an appointment online.
