Old people start with old legs. Old legs start with old knees.
The knee is not the most frequently injured part of the body, but it is the weakest and most demanding joint, because it often bears all the weight of a person, and because of its large range of motion, its structure makes it more vulnerable to injury than hip and ankle joints under impact.
The knee joint connects the femur of the thigh with the tibia and fibula of the calf, and there is a kneecap (patella) on it. There is a groove suitable for placing the patella at the front and lower end of the femur, which can make the patella move up and down in the groove very satisfactory. The cartilage on the surface of these joints can absorb vibration and bear pressure until problems occur.
There are two large cartilage discs between femur and tibia, which are called medial meniscus and lateral meniscus respectively. Cartilage, especially meniscus, is the most vulnerable part of human body during exercise.
The bigger problem is that the patella itself has no blood and lymph supply, so it recovers slowly after injury. Knee injury is because cartilage, meniscus and other tissues that are not easy to regenerate are injured or damaged. Unlike muscles, these tissues can grow rapidly. To help them grow, they need to eat a lot of glucosamine (glucosamine salt, not calcium), which has limited effect and is almost non-renewable. So when we realized this, it was too late.
Because the posterior surface of patella is mostly cartilage structure, it forms patellofemoral joint with femoral condyle and intercondylar fossa. When the knee joint is straight and the quadriceps femoris is relaxed, the lower part of the patella gently touches the femoral intercondylar fossa; When the knee bends to 90, the upper part of the patella contacts the intercondylar fossa; When the knee joint is fully flexed, the whole articular surface of the patella is close to the intercondylar fossa. During the long-term flexion and extension of the knee joint, the patella and thigh repeatedly rub and collide, causing cartilage surface wear and patella strain. After a long time, it will cause abrasions and injuries, such as inconvenient movement, degeneration, lameness, disability and so on. If you press the patella in front of the knee joint with your hand, you will often feel particularly dull pain and friction.
Patella strain (chondromalacia patellae) mostly occurs in young people, such as track and field, mountaineering and dancing. The incidence rate is 36.2%, especially for women aged 30-40, and the incidence rate is as high as 50%. And if not treated and controlled early, it will cause further degenerative diseases.
Patella strain attacks slowly. At first, I felt dull pain and fatigue in my knees. Later, I felt pain around the patella, which aggravated after fatigue. It is difficult to go up and down stairs, which seriously affects walking. Pathologically, patellar strain first causes or superficial chondrocyte necrosis, which destroys the function of cartilage to absorb nutrients from synovial fluid, but there is no obvious change in early X-ray examination. Because the cartilage loses elasticity, the periosteum adjacent to the patella is secondary to chronic inflammation, and edema, vasodilation and hyperplasia will occur around the patella, leading to patella softening. If the disease continues to develop, a series of degenerative changes such as cracking and peeling will occur in the patella. X-ray film can also reflect the phenomenon of joint stenosis, rough patellar articular surface, hyperosteogeny at patellar margin and narrowing patellofemoral joint space.
There is lubricating fluid between the soft tissues of the knee. When the leg is straight, the distance between the thigh bone and the calf bone is the largest, and a certain space can be created between the soft tissues. Legs are lifted by force, the essence of which is muscle strength, so lubricating hydraulic pressure can be put in the soft tissue gap of the knee to supplement nutrition to the soft tissue, which can strengthen the wear resistance of the soft tissue for a long time.
You can't practice your knees. We can only reduce the burden on the knee joint, protect the knee joint and improve the nutritional status of the joint by increasing knee lubrication and strengthening leg muscles.
Lose weight, change load, run and jump to swimming and cycling activities. Avoid climbing mountains and stairs and other sports that aggravate the symptoms of the disease.
1. Increase lubrication night.
Rub the lower edge of your knees with your fingers before climbing the mountain to promote the protection of your knees at night.
Sit on the bed with your legs straight and flat. When your legs are straight, lift them forcibly and repeat them a hundred times. Attention! Not two legs at the same time, but apart. The reason and function of this method: stretching the elongated hamstring muscle and patellofemoral joint is beneficial to reduce the chance of knee joint injury.
Strengthen leg muscles
Many injuries occur when physical strength is weak. When the thighs are tired, people will unconsciously lock their joints when walking. Locking the joint is to straighten the leg, which can reduce the burden of thigh muscles and temporarily relax the muscles, but it is easy to cause knee strain, which will lead to knee impact injury, ankle strain, ankle sprain and lumbar muscle strain.
Muscles with well-developed muscle training, especially quadriceps femoris, can reduce the pressure on the knee and minimize the damage to the knee under certain circumstances. Usually do more leg muscle exercises to minimize the tolerance to the knees. Consciously strengthen the exercise of quadriceps femoris (anterior thigh) and cruciate ligament, strengthen the muscle strength of quadriceps femoris and thigh (such as weight-bearing squat), and combine muscle stretching, walking, riding or sticking to the wall to pave the way for the smooth movement of patella in the femoral end fossa. But the bending degree should not exceed 90 degrees, and it should be guided by a fitness instructor.
Core Tip: After the age of 30, people's knee cartilage gradually begins to degenerate, so the daily protection of knee joint should be carried out as soon as possible.
(1) Keep your knees warm and try to wear trousers (old people can also wear knee pads to keep warm to prevent knee injuries. Don't expose the knee joint directly to cold air.
(2) Hot compress: improve blood circulation, relieve knee discomfort, relieve knee pain and muscle spasm. Reduce swelling. Hot compress combined with wet compress has better effect. Such as hot air bath, hot spring bath, mineral spring bath, whirlpool bath, etc. You can also use a hot towel to wet compress, but pay attention to stop hyperthermia if the joints are red and swollen. Use with caution in patients with hypertension and heart disease, especially when the temperature is high in summer (stop hot compress in acute phase).
(3) Combination of work and rest: avoid excessive joint load, keep a certain posture for a long time, especially less than 90, and don't sit for a long time. Exercise your joints properly, such as swimming more, cycling more, and walking less, especially up and down steps and uneven roads.
(4) Obese people should control their diet, lose weight and eat more foods containing protein, vitamins and minerals.
(5) People with bad posture should be corrected as much as possible, using crutches and crutches to reduce joint load.
(6) Reasonable use of braces: splint, kneepad belt and elastic adhesive tape to increase the stability of joints.
(7) Strengthen the massage around the joints: There are many methods, such as pushing, taking, rolling, turning, rubbing and rolling the patella.
(8) Strengthen knee joint strength exercises: A: straight leg lift, B: straight leg lift with load, C: short arc straight leg lift with load under the knee pillow, D: long arc straight leg lift with load and bed 90.
(9) Strengthen the training of knee joint range of motion. A sits on the affected limb under the key limb beside the bed, and B bends his hips and knees on the bed. If knee pain affects normal life, you should go to the hospital for examination and treatment.