Knee Injuries
What can be done to prevent knee injuries?
There is not necessarily a lot that can be done to prevent knee injuries per se. We put tremendous demands on the knee, that was not built by the manufacturer to handle some of the stresses that we put on it. Perhaps we ought to send it back to the manufacturer to be redesigned, but we put tremendous amount of stresses across the knee. There are some very basic things that we can think about. For example, with skiing, understanding how to prevent an anterior cruciate ligament injury, and understanding your equipment. For younger athletes you may choose soccer style cleats as opposed to long cleats when playing football. Being aware of twisting injuries, how to land from a jump would help prevent a lot of knee injuries.
What are 'orthotics' and are they effective?
Well, orthodics are custom-made inserts for your shoe, and are custom made for your foot. The purpose of an orthodic is to balance the foot with regard to pronation and supernation, and to give arch support. The advantage of orthodics for knee injuries is that it helps balance the lower extremity.
