What is the Patella?
The patella, more commonly known as the kneecap, is the hard, triangular bone that protects the front of the knee joint. Seeming to float in front of the knee joint, the patella is actually connected by ligaments to the muscles above and below the knee. Besides its role in protection, the patella serves as a lever for the leg muscles, increasing their ability to move the leg. The knee joint undergoes a great deal of stress and is actually rather delicate. If you consider how often a person walks, stands up, bends, jumps, runs, and caries heavy loads, you’ll see that the knees get quite a workout every day. The patella hovers over the front of the knee joint, serving as a hard, physical barrier against damage. When you fall and skin your knees, the patella helps insure that the damage is absorbed by the skin and bone, instead of harming the more delicate muscles, cartilage, ligaments, and tendons of the knee joint. Every time you walk into something and bang your leg, bounce a soccer ba
The patella is the kneecap bone. It lies within the quadriceps tendon. This large tendon from the powerful thigh muscles (quadriceps) wraps round the patella and inserts into the top of the lower leg bone (tibia). The quadriceps muscles straighten the leg. The patella acts like a fulcrum to increase the force of the quadriceps muscle. The back of the patella is covered with smooth cartilage. This helps the patella to glide over the lower part of the thigh bone (femur) when you straighten your leg. What is chondromalacia? Chondromalacia (sometimes called chondromalacia patellae) is damage to the patella cartilage. It is like a ‘softening’ or ‘wear and tear’ of the cartilage. The roughening or damage can range from slight to severe. What causes chondromalacia? Chondromalacia occurs most often in young adults and teenagers. It is more common in women. The reason why damage occurs to the cartilage is not clear. It is thought that the patella may rub against the lower thigh bone instead of
