1. There are four major bones in the knee, the femur, the tibia, the fibula and the patella. That means that there are three joints as part of the knee complex, the knee joint between tibia and femur, the patella-femoral joint, kneecap and femur and the superior tibia-fibular joint
2. The knee has 14 ligaments. 7 intracapsular ligaments including the anterior cruciate (ACL) and posterior cruciate (PCL). 7 extracapsular ligaments including the medial collateral (MCL) and the lateral collateral (LCL)
3. The function of the knee is particularly important for weight bearing activities, such as walking, running and going up/down stairs. The load distributed over the kneecap can be up to 5 times the body weight, particularly on going down stairs.
4. Babies are born without kneecaps. They don’t appear until the child reaches 2 to 6 years of age. Technically newborns do have kneecaps, however, they don’t show up on x-ray very well because they’re not ossified, or bony
5. The knobbles on our knees are all different. It has been suggested that they may be as unique as irises and fingerprints – and research has started into the possibility of implementing an MRI scanner that works at knee-level for airport security systems.
If you are having problems with your knees please feel free to contact one of the Sydney Physiotherapy Solutions team at our Sydney CBD or Chatswood Physiotherapy clinic