As we all know, friends who often play basketball have more or less knee injuries, but even if there is an injury, it can't stop our enthusiasm for playing.
Therefore, in order to protect our injured knees, it is very important to have a knee pad that is suitable for our injuries. Some people will ask, are knee pads useful, and when do I need knee pads?let's talk about how important knee pads are for knee protection based on personal experience.
The structure of the knee and common knee injuries in playing
knee anterior cruciate ligament injury
78% of ACL injuries are non-contact, often occurring during landing, emergency stop, violent impact and twisting. ACL injuries are prone to occur in basketball, such as lateral jumps and single-leg landings. When the anterior cruciate ligament is torn, it is accompanied by a tearing sound and a sense of joint dislocation, and a "pop" is often felt, followed by obvious pain in the knee joint and difficulty in walking. Swelling of the knee joint can occur in the hours after the injury, with limited extension and flexion of the knee joint. After six weeks it is an old injury. Some people feel less pain and can walk, or even continue to exercise lightly, but often after a few weeks, the knee joint shakes, and they "play soft legs" while walking, and they can't run fast or turn sharply.
Many people lack the knowledge of sports injuries, and anterior cruciate ligament injury is difficult to find in ordinary X-ray films. It needs to be combined with professional physical examination and MRI examination for final diagnosis. Therefore, if everyone has obvious swelling and pain in the knee joint after exercise, and there is a soft leg and unstable knee joint in the later stage. Be sure to seek medical attention in time to avoid delays in treatment. If it is not treated in time, the sprain may occur again later during the exercise, causing damage to other structures of the knee joint.
Knee ligament injuries can be graded into three degrees:
The first degree: mild sprain, only a small number of ligament fibers are slightly torn, and there is pain to touch, but the stability of the joint is relatively good and stable, and normal activities can be performed after recovery.
Second degree: moderate injury, partially torn ligament, poor stability, recovery time is about 4-6 weeks;
Third degree: The ligament is completely or nearly completely torn, requiring surgical treatment and long-term recovery, and the stability is still poor after recovery;
Meniscus damage
The menisci are two crescent-shaped fibrocartilages located on the medial and lateral articular surfaces of the tibial plateau, respectively. It is one of the important structures for stabilizing the knee joint, which has the functions of transmitting load, absorbing shock, stabilizing the joint, limiting excessive flexion and extension of the joint, and lubricating and nourishing the joint. When the knee joint is suddenly straightened in a flexed or rotated state, the meniscus is easily subjected to strong external impact or compression, which in turn leads to meniscus crushing or laceration.
In the acute stage, the knee joint often has obvious pain, swelling and effusion, and the joint mobility is impaired. After the acute phase, the swelling and effusion can subside on their own, but the joints still have pain during activities, especially when going up and down stairs, downhill, squatting up, running, jumping and other movements. Bend obstacles.
For meniscus injury, if we have a serious situation, we must go to the hospital for examination in time. The acute stage is the golden stage for the treatment of meniscus injury.
Meniscus injuries are also divided into three grades, which are mainly judged by the signals presented in the MRI results:
The first grade: early degeneration of the meniscus, normal shape, smooth surface, MR examination showed dot-like shadows;
Grade 2: Late degeneration of the meniscus, the same shape is normal, but there is a linear shadow without tearing;
Grade 3: It belongs to the meniscus tear, the overall shape changes, and there is a tear opening extending out of the articular surface;
Patellofemoral Pain Syndrome
Also known as chondromalacia, runner's knee, etc. The patella is an important part of the knee extensor, which transmits the power of the quadriceps and provides leverage. But in the process of repeated flexion and extension, such as running and jumping. If the movement of the patella is not stable enough or the movement of the patella relative to the femur is abnormally misaligned, it will cause the cartilage to wear and tear, resulting in pain and soft legs. Patellofemoral Pain Syndrome is a chronic musculoskeletal disorder characterized by pain around or behind the patella during weight-bearing activities of the patellofemoral joint (eg, squatting, stair walking, and running). It is difficult to say exactly where the pain is. The pain will increase when going up and down the stairs, and the pain is often more pronounced when going downstairs than when going upstairs, because the pressure on the knee joint is greater when going downstairs, and the pain is more obvious when the knee joint is flexed for a long time. .
Exercise therapy is the treatment of choice for these conditions, with substantial evidence supporting short, medium, and long-term improvements in pain and function. Exercise therapy mainly increases muscle strength by correcting the movement patterns of the hip, knee and foot. It can also be corrected with foot orthoses.
Related Articles: How to Choose Knee Pads Scientifically
The function of knee pads
(1) Sports protection
The knee joint itself is not damaged, but the knee joint may be damaged during strenuous exercise, so you need to wear knee pads to prevent injury.
(2) Damage prevention
Injuries to the soft tissues of the knee joint such as ligaments need to wear knee pads to avoid aggravation of the injury and to promote the recovery of the injury.
(3) Line of force correction
The knee joint is deformed due to diseases such as rheumatism. The deformation of the joint causes abnormal alignment of the lower limbs, which will aggravate the damage to the knee joint. At this time, it is necessary to wear a knee brace to correct the alignment of the lower limbs.
(4) Keep warm
The local part of the knee is very easy to catch cold, and many knee joint diseases are related to the cold knee, especially in the mountains, where the mountain wind is very cold and hard, often the leg muscles feel very hot due to continuous activities, while the knee There is no muscle activity, so it is not hot. When we feel that the legs are very comfortable to dissipate heat, the knees are actually cold. At this time, if we wear knee pads, the thermal insulation effect of the knee pads can be exhibited.
(5) Brake
The knee joint is the center where the upper and lower leg bones meet. There are meniscus at both ends and the patella at the back. The patella is stretched by two muscles. It is suspended in front of the intersection of the leg bones and slides very easily. There is no violent movement, so the patella can move in a small area in the knee area. Because the mountaineering activities put too much pressure on the knees, coupled with the violent activities in mountaineering, the patella is easily distracted and separated from the original position, thereby causing diseases of the knee joint. Wearing knee pads can move the patella in an absolutely fluctuating position to ensure that it is not injured casually. The above mentioned is the mild restraint action of the knee pad when the knee joint is not injured. After the knee joint is injured, the knee pad with heavy braking can reduce the bending of the knee, keep it in a straight line from the thigh to the calf, and reduce the knee joint. Bend, so that the knee joint is no longer aggravating.
Summarize
The knee brace takes on the task of a part of the muscles around the knee, and the auxiliary muscles support and stabilize the knee, thereby protecting the knee. Because of this, the long-term use of knee pads will cause the muscles to not get enough exercise and become weaker and weaker. Once the knee pads are not worn, the knees are more likely to be injured.
Therefore, for people with healthy knees, it is best not to wear knee pads unless they are doing more intense exercise. For people with knee injuries, knee pads can be properly worn, but at the same time, attention should be paid to the exercise of the muscles around the knee
Strengthen your own exercise, supplemented by the protection of foreign objects such as knee pads if necessary, and protect your knees to make your outdoor life longer
If you are in a state of injury or illness, it is recommended that you seek medical attention in time and obey the doctor's arrangements honestly. Finally, if you don't know how to choose a knee pad that suits you after reading this article, then choosing protection is definitely the closest to the correct answer