Very often, runners and players tend to have a strong fear of knee injuries. They believe that any kind of knee surgery could land them into a surgery room. But the truth is that the dreaded knee injury is quite common. In fact, 80 percent of runners suffer from knee injuries once in awhile, but only a handful of them need surgery to correct the issue. This makes the knee the most commonly injured joint. But if you ever encounter a knee injury, don’t be too scared, because not all knee injuries lead to surgery room.
Knee injuries that don’t require knee surgery
Runner’s knee
This is the most common type of knee injury that affects nearly all the players and runners. This type of knee injury is generally not serious and causes pain or tenderness under the kneecap or the front or the side of the knee. This type of knee injury can be easily treated with knee braces. Knee braces help in the alignment of the knee and also encourage regeneration of knee cells. This type of injury can avoided through proper exercise, weight training and maintenance of ideal weight under the guidance of a medical professional.
Iliotibal band syndrome
This type of knee injury is also common with sports players and causes pain on the outer side of the knees. This syndrome generally occurs due to over strain on the knee as well as increase in weight or sudden changes in exercise routine. This can be avoided by wearingkneebraces while running or can be treated through electrical stimulation.
Tendonitis
This injury results in degeneration of a tendon, which results in pain in the knee. The injury generally occurs due to tension on the tendons and due to non-treatment of an earlier knee injury. This knee injury may require you to go under physical therapy to ensure regeneration of tendon cells.
Surgery does not guarantee knee osteoarthritis free life
Many people undergo knee surgeries for even minor knee injuries thinking that surgery would eliminate their chance of knee osteoarthritis, but this is just a myth. Even knee surgeries do not reduce the risk of arthritis and therefore, people shouldn’t resort to surgeries until and unless it is crucial.
All these knee injuries can be avoided through simple measures and can be treated with minor intervention from a clinician and a physical therapist. But there are other types of knee injuries that might need surgery. Mainly, there are four ligaments that support the formation of knee. These ligaments include anterior cruciate ligament, posterior cruciate ligament, medial cruciate ligament and lateral cruciate ligament. Injury to these ligaments require surgery. Consult your doctor to provide you proper knowledge about what procedure would be best for knee injury. At the same time, adopt simple strategies to keep yourself fit and take precautions while exercising and running to ensure that you don’t get knee injuries. So, gear up and get ready for some sports action.
Abby Evans is a blogger for TheHouseDesigners and an active athlete that now has to rely on knee braces when she plays sports. A hingedkneebrace is her preferred model of brace and it has extended her high level of activity when she plays sports.
