Get to Know Your Knees

If you’re struggling as a result of knee pain, it may benefit you to speak with a Pottstown, PA knee surgeon that locals trust. By scheduling a consultation with Premier Osteoarthritis Centers of Pennsylvania, you can voice your concerns, ask questions, and learn about your treatment options.

If you’re the kind of person who likes to prepare for consultations in order to make the most of your valuable time, you may want to familiarize yourself with some of the basic vocabulary and concepts related to your knees. That way, when we are explaining our recommendations and how we reached those specific recommendations, you’ll be placed in an excellent position to ask informed questions about your anatomy and how it might be affected by various treatment options available to you.  

Knee Anatomy

The knee is a hinge joint located between some of the longest bones in the human body. The knee is made up of the bones that meet to form your knee, ligaments, tendons, and cartilage. The complex anatomy of the human knee helps to explain why knees get injured so often. There are, quite simply, so many things that can go wrong that can affect the health, mobility, and function of the knee joint. Bones break, ligaments tear, elements dislocate… by understanding how all of these elements work together for your benefit, you can help to understand why certain treatment options may or may not effectively treat whatever is going on with your knee in particular.

There are four bones that meet to form the knee joint. Your patella is your kneecap. Your femur runs upward to help form your thigh. Your tibia and fibula run downward to help form your shin. When these bones fracture, dislocate, or chip, the stress can spell trouble for your knee. Similarly, your knee can suffer when the ligaments that attach your bones to each other tear or otherwise become compromised.

Ligament and tendon tears are notoriously painful. The team at Premier Osteoarthritis Centers of Pennsylvania regularly helps patients to manage ligament and tendon issues in order to improve flexibility, mobility and function. Whereas ligaments attach bones to one another, tendons attach muscle to bone.

Finally, your knee relies on cartilage to serve as shock absorbers within the knee joint and allow it to glide smoothly. When cartilage tears or breaks down, the integrity of the knee joint and its functionality can be compromised. The team at Premier Osteoarthritis Centers of Pennsylvania has discovered that cartilage and/or bone degeneration pain and inflammation can often be treated effectively through the use of knee injections. While no provider can guarantee the result of a specific treatment, we have witnessed that many patients who suffer from osteoarthritis, other inflammatory conditions, and degeneration of tissue due to advancing age, trauma, or defect, often see great results with this particular therapy. Connect with our team today to learn more and to discuss your options to manage your knee pain.