Good evening and thank you for joining me for our nightly podcasts. I am Dr. Harrison Campbell primary chiropractor at Restoration Health a premier sugar land chiropractors office. These podcasts are done in the hopes that you will find these topics educational and informative. For tonights topic we will be discussing the anatomy of the knee.
To being this discussion of the knee we will first cover the type of joint the knee is the move to the bones, followed by the ligaments and muscles involved, and if we have time some common problems. First and foremost the knee is what sugar land chiropractors would call a hinge joint. What this means is the joint operates In a single plane or arc. In the case of the knee there is flexion and extension. This flexion motion for the knee is when you bring your heal towards your glutes while extension is what people commonly call straightening you leg. For most people there is very little extension to be had while flexion can be anywhere from one hundred twenty or thirty degrees up to probably one hundred seventy degrees at most. Full flexion will very from person to person based on the amount of soft tissue is in the glute as well as the tightness in their quadriceps muscles.
The tree bones which come together at the knee are the femur, the tibia, and the fibula. The femur is the long bone of the thigh. The tibia is the main bone of the lower leg and the fibula is a small bone on the outside of the leg. The femur and tibia are the mains two supporting bones for the body. The fibula is primarily used to help the body when we are running.
As for the soft tissue aspect of the knee let us begin with the ligaments first. As sugar land chiropractors will tell you there are four main ligaments in the knee. There are two collateral ligaments and two cruciate ligaments. We will begin with the collateral ligaments. These ligaments run along the sides of the knees known as medial and lateral. Medial is the medical term for the side close to the body, in this case these means the side of the knee facing the other knee. Lateral is the medical term for the side away from the body which for the knee with the side of the knee facing away from the other knee.
These collateral ligaments are names the medial collateral ligaments commonly shortened to MCL and the lateral collateral ligament commonly shortened to LCL. The job for these ligaments is to stabilize the knee from moving medial and lateral or to be more accurate they prevent varus and valgus stress. Varus and valgus are medical terms sugar land chiropractors use to describe motion occurring for this joint. For the knee when the term varus is used the lower leg is being moved medially or towards the other leg. This motion places stress on the outside of the knee or the lateral part of the knee where the lateral collateral ligament is located. For the term valgus in the knee this means the lower leg is moving away from the other leg places stress on the inside or medial part of the knee where the medical collateral ligament is located.
The two cruciate ligaments are called the anterior cruciate ligament commonly shortened to probably the most famous abbreviation in the knee, the ACL and then there is the posterior cruciate ligament shortened to the PCL. These cruciate ligaments are what prevent forward and backwards motion or again more accurately the anterior and posterior translation of the joint as sugar land chiropractors would call it. They are located inside the knee in a crossed or x pattern. The anterior cruciate ligament run from the lateral part of the femur towards the medical part of the tibia, while the posterior does the opposite running form the medical part of the femur to the lateral part of the tibia. This anterior cruciate ligament prevents the tibia from moving anteriorly meaning forward. The posterior cruciate ligament prevents the knee from moving posterior meaning backwards.
Now let us move on to the muscle group of the knee. The primary muscle groups for the thigh are the quardiceps commonly shortened to quads which are the muscles on the front portion of the leg and the hamstrings which are the posterior portion of the leg. The common muscles for the lower leg is the calf which as sugar land chiropractors would tell is actually the gastrocnemius muscle and the soleus muscle. The gastric is the only muscle to cross the knee joint in the calf however. The front side of the lower leg has the anterior tibialis primarily, but this muscle does not cross the knee.
The one part of the knee which has been neglected up to this point is a term many people will be familiar with. That is the meniscus. The meniscus is actually two c shaped pieces of soft tissue, a medical and lateral, which allow the joint of the knee to glide easily during motion. I have heard many sugar land chiropractors refer to the meniscus as the disc, referencing the discs in the spine, of the knee. I myself have used this term. It is not technically correct but it helps patients understand this particular piece of soft tissue a little easier. This is usually the forgotten part of the knee until there is a problem with it.
Thank you for once again joining me this evening. I hope this topic of the knee of informative and you were able to put some of this information to use in your own life. As always should you or someone you know require the services of sugar land chiropractors please give Restoration Health a call today. We would live to get you scheduled and help you on the road to better health. Thank you once again for joining us, I hope to see you tomorrow evening. Have a good night.