8/2/2019 Listen to Your Knee

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quired and in most such occasions the treatmentis accomplished arthroscopically (key hole sur-gery) which can be performed as a day-careprocedure.

Preventing knee pain

1. Keep your weight under control. Reducingweight reduces the stress on your knees.

2. Avoid running on hard or uneven surfaces.3. Warm-up before and graduate on to stren-

uous activities.4. Use proper foot wear.5. Quadriceps and hamstrings muscle strength-

ening keeps the muscles flexible and strengthens

it, thereby reducing the stress on prevents overuse and injury.

6. Practise yoga regularly.7. Avoid squatting or sitting on t

regular basis especially if you are at oping osteoarthritis. Under such cyoga can be practiced on the bed or a

Most causes of knee pain are tresult in quick recovery if diagnoseearly. Do not neglect pain for morweeks. Practise wellness at work and

The writer is a Consultant OrthJoint replacement Surgeon based in

Listen to your kneeshe marvel of thisweight-bearing joint isest realised when one is

n pain.

The knee is the largest and the most complexjoint in the human body. Being a weight-bearing joint it participates in almost allmovements of daily activities. This increased

otion puts your knee at risk of overuse andury frequently. While walking upstairs theessure on ones knee is up to four times theirdy weight, and while running upstairs it can beto eight times. A decade ago knee pain was a

oblem of the old but recently due to changes inestyle it has started to surface among the young-age group as well. Causes of knee pain in theung include injury, degeneration, arthritis, in-quently infection, and rarely bone tumors. The

mmon causes of knee pain in the young are:Chondromalacia patellaerefers to the soften-g of the cartilage under the kneecap. It is ammon cause of deep knee pain and stiffness inung men and women and can be associated within and stiffness after prolonged sitting and

mbing of stairs.Bursitis is caused by inflammation of variousrsa around the knee joint. Sometimes these canrelated to posture and overuse.

Early osteoarthritis is a common cause of kneein. Historically osteoarthritis was a disease ofe elderly. Obesity, sedentary lifestyle and lack ofareness among other risk factors have resultedearly onset of osteoarthritis lately. The risk,

ough, steadily increases with age. Osteoarthritisa form of arthritis involving degeneration of thertilage.Ligament and meniscal injuries are oftenused by twisting the knee or falling. Sports thatvolve running and jumping and sudden stop-

ng and turning, such as soccer, basketball, vol-ball, tennis, and baseball, as well as contactorts such as football, wrestling, and hockey in-ease the risk of an acute knee injury. Tears ofuciate ligaments, collateral ligaments and me-

ci are common either in isolation or inmbination.Timely attention is vital in the care of kneein. A visit to an orthopaedician combined withdiological modalities like X-ray and MRI willd in prompt diagnosis. Most knee pains are

ated conservatively and respond well to tem-rary restrained activities, medication, physicalerapy and strengthening exercises. However,ere are situations in which surgery may be re-

R. YOGISH VIJAYA KUMAR

O C T A L K....................................................................................................

RUNNING HELPS: But choose soft surfaces. PHOTO: