Knee Injuries – How to Avoid This Common Sports Injury .

Knee injuries are the most common sports injury seen in Britain today.

In running alone, 60% of all runners are injured in an ordinary year and some one third of these sports injuries affect the knee.

Knee injuries are likewise the most common sports injuries sustained by school children, as they frequently happen during football, hockey and rugby.

Yet far too short is known by the universal public around the advantages of knee support or the early simple steps that can be interpreted to help knee injury prevention.

The knee is the largest joint in the body, made up of bones, cartilage, muscles, tendons and ligaments. A knee sports injury can take any of these.

It can be concentrated to understand knee injuries and about of the complicated terms used do not do this any easier for the layperson.

You may have heard of knee `overuse` for example. Well, although it is sometimes called an `overuse` injury, the actual figure of the term is iliotibial band syndrome (ITBS). This is one of the most common knee injuries. It is actually caused by a want of force and flexibility rather than anything than can accurately be described as overuse. In fact, it can be brought on in runners even if they are only run around 5 miles, which can scarcely be seen as overuse.

There are a bit of other common knee injuries. First, there is a knee sprain which way you have stretched or torn a ligament. Then there are strains, which mean you have torn a muscle or tendon.

Tendinitis happens when a tendon gets inflamed. Damage to the menisci is a very common sports injury, especially in activities where a position to side movement or a sudden shift in speed can cause them to tear.

And, of course, sometimes there can be cartilage injuries, where a little part of ivory or cartilage breaks off, causing long term knee pain.

Osgood Schlatter Disease is especially common in teenagers aged between 10-15, especially if they are having a growth spurt. A typical symptom is pain just beneath the presence of the kneecap on the tibia, which gets worse with activity. There is sometimes a protrusion beneath the knee joint that is irritating to touch. Osgood Schlatter Disease is particularly common in boys who play sports involving running, kicking, or jumping, all of which put stress on the quadriceps muscles.

The arterior cruciate ligament (ACL) is the most common knee ligament to be discredited in a sports injury, usually by a sudden twist or landing badly after a jump.

Interestingly, women athletes are 8 times more probable to get from harm to the arterior cruciate ligament than men.

Nobody is immune from knee injuries, with many professional footballers like Ruud Van Nistelrooy and Paul Gascoigne being well known for their knee injuries.

For many knee injuries, it is advised to ease the knee and apply compression. In these cases, a knee brace can help. In the real worst cases, surgery may be necessary.

As knee injuries are so terrible and so common, prevention is always better than cure. When playing sport, it is a just mind to don protective equipment, such as kneepads and shin guards. Knee support including knee straps and knee brace can also help prevent injury and protect your knee if you have injured it previously.

It is too critical to make certain you always warm up and cool down and that your training program is increased gradually, so that you do not put your knee under undue strain.

It is easily worth trying weightlifting to tone your muscles and yoga or stretch to improve flexibility, as this will cut down the chance of sports injury. And, of course, if your sport involves jumping, do make certain you turn your knees when you land.

Increasing awareness about knee injuries, knee support and sports first aid can assist you stay fit, so is a critical element to becoming a successful athlete.