The knee may be a joint, and may be a place where bones return along within the body. though some joints, just like the ones in your skull, merely connect the bones like items of a jigsaw puzzle and do not move, the knee may be a hinge-like joint designed to facilitate movement and bear weight.

The knee joint connects the higher and lower parts of the leg and permits it to bend and straighten - and even rotate inward and outward to a small degree bit. it's created from four bones, the biggest being the femur (thigh bone) and therefore the tibia (large shin bone), that go head-to-head among the knee joint and bear the brunt of the impact of movement. The smaller 2 are the fibula (smaller shin bone), that sits to the aspect of and slightly below the tibia, and therefore the patella (knee cap), that acts sort of a protect to guard the knee joint from trauma. many muscles, tendons and ligaments connect these four bones, create movement attainable, and facilitate keep the knee joint aligned and stable.

Although the leg bones be a part of along at the knee, they do not really bit every other: they are held slightly apart by cartilage, a rubbery, gel-like tissue that sits on the ends of bones like plush slippers on your feet. Cartilage, that is roughly three-quarters water, prevents the ends of those bones from grinding against one another as you move; instead the bone ends merely glide across one another with little friction. Cartilage additionally absorbs the shock of movement. this can be notably vital to the knee, a weight-bearing joint that's subject to constant pounding: as each time you step and your foot hits the bottom, shock waves reverberate up your leg bones. When walking, the strain on your knee is roughly 3 times your body weight, a figure that will increase to 10 times your body weight after you run. while not cartilage, the impact of movement would cause stress fractures of the bones, erosion of bone ends, the formation of bone spurs (think calluses on the ends of the bones), and ultimately the destruction of each the bones and therefore the weight-bearing joints.

Because the knee is subject to most stress, a thick layer of cartilaginous tissue known as the meniscus (plural menisci) cushions the ends of the femur and therefore the tibia. The meniscus is a superb shock absorber, absorbing the impact created by movement and serving to give stability to the knee joint. A broken meniscus, that is common among athletes taking part in grips sports, is usually spoken as "torn cartilage." Another reasonably cartilage found within the knee joint is articular cartilage, the "standard" kind that is found in most joints. This swish, slick surface covers the underside of the patella and features the femoral groove permitting these bones to glide smoothly among the joint because the knee bends and straightens.

When either reasonably cartilage among the knee becomes cracked, torn, thin, dried out or worn through, its ability to soak up shock and cushion the bone ends is reduced. Knee bones begin to grind against one another, inflicting pain, stiffness, loss of movement and typically swelling - in alternative words, a condition known as arthritis. which will extremely place a damper on your life.

Generic for Cartigen (Glucosamine Sulphate) is used in the treatment of a type of arthritis called osteoarthritis.