Osteo *

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Be kind to your knees

From the more than you ever wanted to know department....

The patello-femoral joint refers to a specific part of the knee joint. Medically, the kneecap is known as the patella and the thigh bone is called the femur. The knee joint is composed of three bones - the femur (thigh bone), the tibia (shin bone), and the patella (kneecap). The parts of the knee joint are subdivided into the tibio-femoral joint which refers to the joint space between the tibia and the femur; and the patello-femoral joint which is the joint space between the patella and the femur. Both of these joints (patello-femoral and tibio-femoral) form the knee joint.

The patella is connected to the quadriceps tendon at the top of the patella. The quadriceps tendon attaches to the quadriceps muscle which attaches to the pelvis. The patellar tendon goes from the bottom of the patella to the front of the tibia known as the tibial tubercle. When the quadriceps muscle contracts (shortens), it pulls the patella which in turns pulls on the tibial tubercle, which causes the knee to straighten (go into extension). As the knee moves, the patella glides across the front of the knee joint in a shallow groove on the front of the femur which is known as the trochlear groove of the femur.

The centering of the patella in the trochlear groove is related to the strength of the vastus medialis obliqus (a part of the vastus medialis muscle) and the medial patello-femoral ligaments which pulls the patella towards the opposite knee while the vastus lateralis and lateral patello-femoral ligaments pull the knee cap towards the outside (lateral) aspect of the knee.

yada.. yada...yada...lets just go geocaching and not think about it.