We may only think of the knees as flexing and extending or bending and straightening. However to fully do both the knee must rotate, here at Optimum Derby we will look discuss and explain how this happens, the importance of rotating knees and why they may not be rotating correctly. 

Knee rotation is possibly more important than bending or straightening, to even walk properly we need to rotate the knee. During flexion and extension the knee will rotate around 10 degrees, to lock the knee straight (extension) this occurs in the final 30 degrees of movement. A lot of the flexion and extension in your knee comes from the quadriceps and hamstring but they also apply some of the rotational movements along with the gluteals and politeus (a small muscle at the back o f the knee). 

You may wonder why the gluteals? 

The knee is made of two bones, tibia (lower leg) and femur (thigh). The tibia’s upper surface is relatively flat but deepened by the menisci on the medial (inner) and lateral (outer) sides of the tibial plateau. The medial condyle (knuckle) of the femur is greater and therefore creates external rotation of the tibia at terminal extension. 

Despite the gluteals being so far away, they play a role in externally rotating your femur when the foot is planted and therefore unlocking your knee. The popliteus muscle does very similar when the foot is not planted. This is why at Optimum Derby our sports therapists and physiotherapists spend time assessing, treating and teaching you how to move correctly to reduce pain.

What causes you to lose this movement?

Surgery at the knee can cause this occurrence, ACL, meniscus or knee replacements. Therefore it is vital to relearn the correct mechanics and teach your body and knee to move correctly again. Injury to the hamstrings, or the calf or even a foot fracture can create poor mechanics at the knee. 

At Optimum Derby we make sure to assess the body as whole, analysing head to toe the bodys movements and hereby correcting the root of the problem and not just the area of pain and discomfort.