Sports Physio Advice : Girls, beware of PFPS

knee cap (patella)

After working for a few months I realized lot of female basket ball players complained of ant knee pain (pain in the front aspect of the knee) after a heavy practice session or during the game.

This kind of pain fits in the category of the diagnosis of PATELLA FEMORAL PAIN SYNDROME (PFPS). In a layman’s term in the knee joint the knee cap is the part which has undergone wear and tear in all wrong places and so it hurts

MEDICAL TERMS:

• patella = knee cap
• etiology = cause
• lateral = outside (farthest from center)
• medial = inside (closest to center)
• quadriceps = your thigh muscles (on the front side of thigh)
• hamstrings = your muscles on the back of your thigh
• IT band = iliotibial band, runs from your knee to your hip on the lateral side of thigh
• VMO = where the quad muscle comes in contact with the knee cap on the medial side

Causes

• Faulty biomechanics
• Weakness of quadriceps (especially VMO)- the knee cap will not move in synchrony with the knee joint
• Calf muscle tightness- affect the foot mechanics and indirectly causes faulty stresses on knee
• Hamstrings tightness- affects the knee range of motion
• Illitibial band tightness (IT band) – compresses the knee cap from one side
• Poor foot posture
• Poor hip control
• playing on the hard court

Do you have PFPS

• Pain while running, stair climbing or jumping or duck walking or waddling
• Swelling near the knee cap/ front portion of the knee
• Click/ clunk while moving knee
• Quadriceps muscle bulk is reduced on the painful side compared to the normal leg
• In severe cases- knee movement is reduced\
• Hip muscle strength is reduced
• fine movements like taking quick turns, shuffling on sides, sprints will be a problem

Solution

• Work on your VMO strength
• Work on your hip strength
• Stretch hamstring, calf properly
• Mc conell taping/ kinesiotaping will be helpful
• Check your foot posture, some times footwear modification is also effective.