Stifle for human life must withstand enormous pressures, especially from people involved in physical performance, athletes and people who have suffered injuries, dislocations and sprains.

Difficult for us to even imagine all the functions that perform our feet during the working day (we walk, jump, run, squat on their heels). Responsible for these functions is extremely complex and powerful system - the knee joint that connects the thigh to the shin. Lines the surface of the knee joint cartilage - a dense tissue that makes the surface smooth and elastic. Cartilage cells continually divide and restored, so the joints can work for decades. While a person is young, he had no specific metabolism and blood circulation, healthy cartilage, smooth and elastic. All the cracks appearing in the cartilage are filled with new cells. In the knee there are two cartilaginous plate, smoothing the surface of the joint, as well as cross ligament, which strengthens the mechanical knee.

Damage to knee joints can cause two things: injuries and illness. Most often to blame for various injuries, and for young people is characterized by damage to the ligaments of the knee joint or other soft tissues, and the elderly are more frequent fractures.

To determine what happened to your knee, the most important thing to understand exactly where it hurts.

Pain at the edges of the knee (on the outside or the inside) may be associated with damage nearby ligaments, meniscus rupture or osteoarthritis.

Pain in the front of knee is usually related to the fact that knee cartilage softening. The reason may be osteoarthritis, as well as certain inflammatory processes in the tendons.

Pain in back of knee can cause arthritis or cyst, also called Baker's cyst. This cyst consists of a valve, which form a tissue cavity of the knee. Sometimes it can become clogged, and then the liquid is plugged into cysts. Thus, even if the wound is healed, swelling in the back of the knee can be preserved. The resulting pain is usually described as dull and aching. Prolonged walking or standing intensifies the pain.

Knee seems unstable. Feeling as though the knee is about to cease to operate. Sometimes people describe their feelings as "standing on roller skates." This may be due to ligament damage, osteoarthritis, sprains knee, and tears knee cartilage.

Blocking - a feeling that your knee was stuck in a certain position. This is a common phenomenon in many cases, problems with knees, and it may cause rupture of ligaments, arthritis, knee instability, infection, as well as cracks in the cartilage.