Anterior Cruciate Ligament (ACL) injuries are very common in both contact and non-contact sports, especially those that require sudden changes of direction such as football or soccer. 200,000 ACL injuries occur in the US each year. 1 in every 100 female athletes sustains a catastrophic knee injury per year and the majority are non-contact.
Morton’s neuroma is a uniquely painful condition that affects the ball of your foot, specifically the area between your third and fourth toes. It is described as feeling like you are standing on a pebble in your shoe.
Osgood-Schlatter disease happens where there is a painful lump located below the kneecap in children and adolescents who are going through growth spurts during puberty. However, this can also happen at an older age.
An overuse injury is any kind of joint or muscle injury, like a stress fracture or tendinitis that happens from repetitive micro-trauma to the joints, tendons, and bones. Overuse injuries ultimately result in injuries like tennis elbow, runner’s knee, shin splints, and achilles tendinitis.
Repeated stress on your patellar tendon (which already absorbs so much force) will likely end up in some sort of overuse injury, and this is the main cause of patellar tendonitis. The stress causes small tears on the tendon, which your body then rushes to repair.
Patellofemoral pain syndrome happens most commonly athletes, teenagers, and manual laborers. This is when there is a wearing down, softening, or roughening of the cartilage that is located underneath the kneecap.
Plica syndrome usually comes with onset anterior knee pain. Like the appendix, it can be a source of pain, but seems to lack a significant important function other than compartmentalizing the knee during growth stages.