Essay On Knee Joints

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Knee joints are a type of synovial hinge joint formed between the femur, tibia, and the

patella. Knee joints are needed because they are critical in our ability to do activities such as:

walking, running, swimming, standing, crossing our legs, etc.… basically anything you can think

of that involves movement in the leg. To prevent collision of the leg bones during these

activities, there is a layer of tough, rubbery fibrocartilage known as the meniscus/shock absorber.

Knee joints are one of the strongest and most important joints in the human body. It

allows us to do all of our daily activities by permitting the flexion and extension of the lower leg

relative to the thigh while supporting our body weight. The range of motion of the knee is
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There are many types of forces that are applied throughout the day that the knee joint can

withstand. For example: initial ground/ground reaction forces (force exerted by the ground on a

body in contact with it), muscle forces, knee forces, compressive forces, ligament forces, and

joint contact forces.

The most common reason to have a knee joint replaced is to relieve severe arthritis pain.

Doctors may recommend knee joint replacement if: patients are having pain from knee arthritis

that keeps them from sleeping or doing normal activities, they cannot walk and/or take care of

themself, their knee pain has not improved using any other treatment, and to understand what

surgery and recovery will be like. Most of the time, knee joint replacement is done in people age

60 and older. Younger people who have a knee joint replaced may put extra stress on the

artificial knee and cause it to wear out early.

Without our knee joints, we would be wheelchair bound and not be able to do our daily

activities that we enjoy such as running around with friends or play a sport. Even people with

bad knees have the potential to use their knees like the everyday average person by having

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