Knee Health

The anterior cruciate ligament is one of the main stabilising ligaments in the knee. An anterior cruciate ligament injury is a tear to the anterior cruciate ligament. Injuries to the anterior cruciate ligament are common among people who play sports that have start-stop movements, pivoting or sudden changes in direction. These sports include football, netball, tennis, dancing and skiing.

The symptoms include a popping sound when the ligament ruptures, difficulty with knee movement, feeling of instability, with the knee ‘giving way’ during daily activities, pain immediately after an injury, swelling of the affected knee within 4 – 12 hours, or walking with a painful limp.

If you experience any of these symptoms, consult your orthopaedic specialist. Your doctor will recommend treatment options that best suit your lifestyle needs. Find out more about the treatment options and sports rehabilitation services available.

A meniscus tear occurs when one of the pieces of cartilage in the knee is injured and tears. The meniscus is a small C-shaped cartilage that acts as a cushion in the knee joint. A meniscus tear occurs during movements that forcefully rotate the knee while the foot is firmly planted, which may happen during contact sports such as basketball or football.

Symptoms of a meniscus tear include clicking or popping sounds during movement, limited range of movement, a locking sensation (inability to straighten the knee), pain on either side of the knee, swelling at the joint line are or tenderness along the joint line.

If you experience any of these symptoms, consult your orthopaedic specialist. Your doctor will recommend treatment options that best suit your lifestyle needs. Find out more about the treatment options and sports rehabilitation services available.

Anterior knee pain is the inflammation of the underside of the kneecap (patella). It often affects young people who play sports and older people who overwork their knees. Anterior knee pain can be due to injury or trauma to the kneecap (such as a dislocation or fracture), overuse with repetitive stress placed on your knee joint (prolonged long distance running or jumping sports), or when muscles around the hip and knee weaken.

Common symptoms include a dull aching pain in the front of kneecap, which can be aggravated by kneeling, squatting, running, sitting and walking up and down the stairs.

If you experience any of these symptoms, consult your orthopaedic specialist. Your doctor will recommend treatment options that best suit your lifestyle needs. Find out more about the treatment options and sports rehabilitation services available.

Patellar tendonitis is an injury to the tendon connecting your knee cap to your shin bone. The patellar tendon helps your muscles extend your lower leg so that you can kick a ball, pedal your bicycle and jump up in the air.

Patellar tendonitis is usually caused by overuse of the patellar tendon. People who play sports with lots of squatting and jumping movements are most at risk. Another cause is abnormal alignment of the lower limbs, such as in flat feet. These altered postures change the angle between the quadriceps muscle and the patellar tendon. Increased tension in the patellar tendon may occur during growth spurts, such that the tendon cannot keep up with the growth of the lower leg. In this situation, the tendon becomes too short, causing it to pull on the bottom tip of the knee cap. This condition is known as Sinding-Larsen-Johansson disorder.

Symptoms of patellar tendonitis include pain and tenderness just below the kneecap, swelling and pain when kneeling.

If you experience any of these symptoms, consult your orthopaedic specialist. Your doctor will recommend treatment options that best suit your lifestyle needs. Find out more about the treatment options and sports rehabilitation services available.

Knee arthritis results from thinning of the cartilage of the knee joint, usually due to injury or wear and tear. There are 3 kinds of knee arthritis:

• Osteoarthritis, a degenerative disease that may occur when we age. This is the most common form of arthritis. Osteoarthritis is usually caused by degeneration of the joints, of which the cartilage (cushion between the bones) deteriorates, resulting in the bones rubbing against each other. This added friction can result in pain, swelling, and decreased motion. Osteoarthritis primarily affects weight-bearing areas, such as the knees, hips and spine. Causes of osteoarthritis include generics, gender (females are more prone to it), obesity, sports injuries, illness or infection, and ageing.


• Rheumatoid arthritis, an autoimmune disease in which your body’s immune system attacks the joint.



• Post-trauma arthritis, caused by direct trauma to the knee that damages the cartilage and changes the joint mechanics.

The causes of knee arthritis include being overweight, excessive wear and tear of knee joints from high-impact activities, increasing age, past knee injuries, tight lower limb muscles, or weak lower limb muscles. Symptoms include having bumps or ‘nodes’ around the knee, cracking or grinding when moving your knee, joint instability or feeling like the knee is ‘giving way’, knee pain that develops gradually and worsens with prolonged walking or standing, or morning stiffness and swelling.

If you experience any of these symptoms, consult your orthopaedic specialist. Your doctor will recommend treatment options that best suit your lifestyle needs. Find out more about the treatment options and sports rehabilitation services available.

As we age, our bone strength decreases. Osteoporosis is a disease that weakens bones, leading to the higher likelihood of the bone fracturing or breaking. Osteoporosis develops over time, usually with no symptoms or discomfort until a bone breaks. Thigh bone (femur) fractures most often occur in older people whose bones are weak, or in younger people with high-energy injuries caused by incidents such as a car crash. In both the elderly and the young, the breaks may extend into the knee joint and may shatter the bone into many pieces.

Common symptoms of thigh bone fracture include swelling and bruising, tenderness to touch, deformity where the thigh or knee may look out of place, or the appearance of the leg looking shorter and crooked. Causes of thigh bone fracture include osteoporosis, usually due to ageing, lack of nutrition such as calcium or vitamin D, hormonal imbalance, gender (females are more prone to it), and lack of exercise.

If you suspect you may have osteoporosis, talk to your orthopaedic specialist. Your doctor may perform a physical examination, followed by imaging tests or bone density tests. Treatment typically includes non-surgical treatments such as adequate rest and pain medications. However, if severe pain continues, surgery may be recommended.