Injuries are a part and parcel of an athlete’s life. However, some of the injuries are far more serious and harder to bounce back from than others. Knee injuries are among those and can spell the end of an athlete’s career. Studies have shown that knee injuries account for more than 15 percent of all sports injuries that are sustained by athletes during high school. The following are some of the knee injuries that athletes have to contend with on a regular basis.
Q: What is Runner’s knee? How is it caused and how it can be avoided?
A: Runner’s knee is a common problem faced by long distance and marathon runners. It is caused by overuse of the knee and can result in pain that targets the kneecap area. These symptoms of pain usually escalate when the athlete is trying to bend his knee or start running or walking downhill. The best way to prevent runner’s knee from ending you career is to rest the knee for a while in an 
elevated position and apply ice on it. Strengthening the quadriceps muscles by doing regular front and side planks is another way of avoiding this injury since it will help in putting less pressure on the knee.
Q: What is Jumper’s knee? What are its causes and what can be done to avoid it?
A: Jumper’s knee is a knee injury that mostly affects athletes who have to jump a lot as is the case in sports like basketball and volleyball. The cause mostly is overuse of the knee joint but the pain felt is mostly on the upper part of the kneecap. This pain is felt most while doing a workout and if not taken care of might start affected daily activities as well. The best course of action for avoiding jumper’s knee is to stop the workout immediately if pain is felt in flexing the knee joint. Putting on a Patella tendon strap during workouts is another way of steering clear of knee injury.
Q: What is ACL injury and which athletes are most likely to get affected by it?
ACL or Anterior Cruciate Ligament injury is one of the most common knee injuries faced by athletes belonging to all forms of sports. More than 50% of knee injuries suffered by athletes on the playing field involve the Anterior Cruciate Ligament. Soccer players are more at risk of having an ACL tear since they have to make sudden changes in direction while running which can end up damaging the ACL. An ACL tear usually occurs while playing and is characterized by a snapping sound coming from the affected area accompanied by swelling of the knee joint.
The worst thing about ACL injuries is that they are accompanied by a lot of other injuries. In 50% cases of an ACL tear, there is a strong chance of damaging the meniscus as well as the articulate cartilage. Most of the time the damage sustained in the aftermath of an ACL tear cannot be treated by non-surgical methods and surgery becomes inevitable.
