Pain on the front of the knee can be a result of knee cap (patella) tracking issues. Over the years, it was commonly thought that the knee cap would tilt on top of the thigh bone (femur). As a result, treatment primarily consisted of quadriceps, or thigh muscle strengthening. However, recently researchers have been able to able to use MRI scans to show that in fact, the thigh bone can twist under the knee cap. We've provided the following pictures for understanding. You can see that the top images display the previous theory with the knee cap tilting on the thigh bone. The bottom images provide illustration to the current theory of the thigh bone rotating under the stable knee cap.
Why does this matter, you ask. Well, the muscles that control the motion of the thigh bone are actually the muscles of the hip. In fact, increased thigh bone motion during jump landing in
military recruits and in
female recreational runners have both been reported to be risk factors for patellofemoral (knee) pain development. As always, we also recommend
Pure MSM Organic Sulfur to help maintain overall joint health in addition to your active exercise program.
