Those of you who suffer from knee injuries and have problems with your knees can relate to the suffering of people afflicted with patella injury. The knees essentially perform the job of supporting and distributing your body weight. Hence, any injury to your knees can cause a lot of suffering. Most of us are always on our feet that include walking, running, bending and other such activities. Hence, the knee is a vital part of our body that helps us in locomotion and movement.

The patella is a rectangular shaped part of your knee and injuries to the patella can severely impact your ability to walk and move freely. Further, the knee cap can shift from one place to another place and hence cause a lot of stress and weight on your knee. It can be painful and debilitating for many people. Because of these reasons, it is more important to treat the patella injuries and ensure that these ailments are treated as quickly as possible.

It is often difficult to say whether you have suffered a patella injury. The movement of the joint can make it painful and since this is a condition that is shared by people suffering from arthritis as well, it would be difficult to say that you are suffering from an injury to the patella. Another symptom of a patella injury is the pain you have when walking downstairs. This is because the movement of the knee when you are walking downstairs can be painful, and hence you need to watch out for these symptoms. This is a sure indicator that you are suffering from patella injury. You would not experience pain when walking up the stairs. Though this is peculiar, this is to do with the nature of the knee joint and the patella mechanics of the knee.

You may also feel that your knees are grinding or have difficulty in rotating your knees. These are symptoms of patella injury as well. You may also feel pain when sitting for a long time and when you get up suddenly. All of these are common symptoms of patella injury, and it is better to seek medical advice and to be treated for patella injury.

There are some diagnostic tests that can detect symptoms of patella injury and these are often to do scans of the affected area. There can be an MRI scan or a CT scan depending upon the nature of the injury. There are many doctors who recommend a simple X-ray as well. In cases of patella injury, it is better to get the condition treated as early as possible to avoid long term damage to the knee. Early diagnosis also helps in limiting the damage to the knee cap, which if not prevented in time can lead to disability. As they prevention is better than cure and in this case early diagnosis is certainly better than having to wait for the knee to be ruptured or damaged leading to severe damage to the knee.

Jason Ladock

Copyrighted material; do not reprint without permission.

 

View all articles by Jason Ladock