Anterior knee pain is a very common complaint among people who participate in sports and in the general public. Over the years many theories have been developed to try and understand the cause of anterior knee pain. It has been blamed on lower limb mal-alignment (“patello-femoral syndrome” – the most common diagnosis given to this condition in people engaged in sports activity and also known as “anterior knee pain” and “runners knee”), on muscular weakness, on hyperlaxity, over training, cartilage failure (“chondromalacia patella”) and more. A sub-type of knee pain, knee instability, has been discussed elsewhere.
Osteoarthritis is a chronic condition involving eroding cartilage and secondary exposure of bone. Osteoarthritis affects millions of people around the world. Common joints that are involved in osteoarthritis include the knees and ankles (weight baring joints). Osteoarthritis is a cause of functional limitation and chronic pain.
Ankle sprains are some of the most common injuries in sports. Other names for ankle sprain include twisted ankle and rolled ankle. A sprained ankle can have a limiting effect on a professional athlete’s season and on any athlete’s performance in the long term. Long term consequences of sprained ankles such as ankle instability and failed proprioception make this an important injury to know how to diagnose and treat.
Many people engaged in recreational and professional sporting activity suffer from foot pain at one time or another. However, foot pain can be secondary to many situations – some related to sports and other are not. A famous cause of toe pain, for example, is podagra secondary to gout. This post will not discuss gout… Sports related foot pain is also diverse and can actually be secondary to several causes. This post will discuss pain in the plantar (bottom) aspect of the foot.