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Your knees are the most complicated joints in your body. They are designed to carry your weight throughout almost all of your life, whether you are standing, walking, climbing, jumping, running or bending.
Knees are extremely vulnerable to injury because of their complex structure. Therefore, knee pain is a very common complaint.
You are more likely to injure one of your knees than to injure any other joint in your body.
 Your tendency toward knee injury and knee pain will depend on your age, your weight, your sex and whether you have a family history of knee problems.
Structure of the Knee
Understanding the structure of the knee will help you understand how your knees work, how you can avoid injuring your knees, how to handle a knee injury and how to cure knee pain.
The knee contains three bones. These are the femur, or thighbone, which is located at the top of the knee, the tibia, or shinbone, which can be found at the bottom of the knee, and the patella, or kneecap.
These three bones are connected by ligaments.
The fibula, or calf bone, is a fourth bone, next to the tibia. Soft tissues connect it to the tibia.
The back of the patella, and the ends of the fibula, femur and tibia are lined with articular cartilage, a type of cartilage that allows the bones to glide past each other smoothly.
This arrangement allows the knee to move backwards and forwards, like a hinge, and to rotate to a limited extent. |