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(Articles) Most of the time you take your knees for granted. Maybe you were glad they bent so readily when you went for that grounder during your last baseball game. Or maybe you were glad they didn't give out on you when you asked that guy from English on a date. But the truth is, you probably don't give much thought to your knees. However, if you've ever suffered a knee injury, you know that healthy knees are needed for many activities and sports, and that getting hurt can mean some time sitting on the sidelines. Fortunately, preventing knee injuries may be a little easier than getting up the guts to ask for a second date, so keep reading for more info. Knee injuries are fairly common because of the stresses we place on our legs, especially during heavy physical activity. Bones, ligaments, tendons, and cartilage in the knee are all at risk for injury. How do teens most often injure their knees? Sports activities - especially sports that are considered high-impact, like football, basketball, or soccer - are the most common cause of knee injuries in teens. Typically, injuries to the knee occur when there is a direct blow to the knee (as during a football tackle) or a sudden stressful movement during activity (such as turning and twisting the body while the leg is planted, as during basketball or skiing) that stretches or tears the knee's connecting tissues. Overuse injuries to the knees, where a teen may be overdoing it - and placing too much stress on the knees (or other parts of the body) for too long without proper rest or care - can also cause the tissues of the knee to become irritated, with swelling and pain. Knee problems are more common than you might think. Types of Knee Injuries: Sprains and Strains Have you ever heard a sports announcer say about an athlete, "He's torn his ACL"? The announcer is describing a type of knee sprain. If you've sprained your knee, then you've stretched or torn one of its ligaments. The most serious sprains involve complete tears of one or more of the knee ligaments. Common knee sprains involve the ACL and MCL, but any knee ligament can be injured. How do you know if you have a sprained knee? Common symptoms of knee sprains include: · a popping or snapping sound in the knee at the time of injury · pain that seems to come from within the knee, especially with movement · not being able to bear weight on that leg · swelling · fluid behind the kneecap · a feeling that you shouldn't place weight on the knee because it feels loose or unstable Strains, on the other hand, occur when you've partially or completely torn a muscle or tendon. With knee strains, you may feel symptoms similar to a sprain and may see bruises around the injured area. Both strains and sprains occur frequently in many sports, including baseball, softball, soccer, and basketball, and contact sports like football, rugby, and hockey. Tendinitis With tendinitis, or inflammation (irritation) of the tendon, a teen may have pain or tenderness when walking, trying to lift a leg, or when bending or extending a leg. That's because the tendon (especially the tendon that connects the kneecap to the thighbone) has stretched or become inflamed from overuse during sports such as dancing, cycling, or running. Meniscal Tears Meniscal injuries are fairly common, especially in sports such as football, soccer, and basketball where sudden changes in speed or side-to-side movements can cause the meniscus to tear. If you have a meniscal injury, you might have felt your knee pop when you injured it and you may now feel quite a bit of pain. In the first few days after the injury, meniscal injuries can cause tenderness, tightness, and swelling around the front of the knee. Sometimes fluid collects around the knee, which is called effusion. Meniscal injuries often occur together with severe sprains, especially those involving the ACL. Fractures and Dislocations A fracture is a cracked, broken, or shattered bone. If you broke your tibia, femur, or patella, you might have heard or felt a bone snap. You may have trouble moving that bone and it's likely there's a lot of pain. Participation in many sports and physical activities increases your risk of a fracture, but contact sports such as hockey, rugby, and football are especially risky. Patellar dislocation is when the patella - the kneecap - is knocked off to the side of the knee joint. Sometimes it will go back to its normal position by itself, but usually it will need to be put back into place by a doctor. If your kneecap has been dislocated, you will probably have swelling and feel a lot of pain at the front of your knee. There will usually be an abnormal bulge on the side of your knee, and you may be unable to walk. Runners and teens who play contact sports that could result in a direct blow to the leg (such as football, soccer, or hockey) are more likely to suffer from patellar dislocation. Teens who are in car or bicycle accidents may also experience dislocated kneecaps. Cartilage Injuries Osteochondritis dessicans (OCD) occurs when a small piece of bone or cartilage softens or breaks off from the end of a bone, causing long-term knee pain. Teens, especially guys who are still growing, are most likely to develop OCD. Athletes such as gymnasts and baseball players may be at higher risk for OCD. Symptoms of OCD include pain, swelling, an inability to extend the leg, and stiffness, catching, or popping sensations with knee movement. Treatment can include resting the knee, wearing a cast for a couple of months, and sometimes surgery in older teens. If you're a runner, skier, cyclist, or soccer player, you may be at risk for chondromalacia. This condition occurs when the articular cartilage in the knee joint softens because of injury, muscle weakness, or overuse, and the patella and the thighbone may rub together. This causes pain and aching, especially when a person walks up stairs or hills. Treatment may involve surgery. Other Conditions of the Knee A bursa is a cavity filled with fluid that is located near a joint. If a bursa in the knee becomes inflamed and swollen from overuse or constant friction, it can develop into a condition called bursitis. Teens who run long distances or who are involved in sports that may result in blows or falls to the knee (such as football or wrestling) are at higher risk for developing bursitis of the knee. Symptoms of bursitis include warmth, tenderness, swelling, and pain on the front of the kneecap. Osgood-Schlatter disease (OSD) is a common condition in growing teens that involves painful irritation of the upper part of the shinbone, just below the kneecap. It occurs most often in teen guys who are very active and play a lot of sports. Sports that involve running and jumping, such as football, soccer, basketball, and activities including gymnastics and ballet, are all associated with OSD. Rest and anti-inflammatory medications like ibuprofen are generally used to treat the condition. As teens become older, OSD usually goes away on its own. << Back