Anatomy of the Knee (update of my injury)

This morning, I visited my lovely physio for a 2nd assessment of my medial meniscus injury. After assessing me, she realized that I have a very weak right VMO which is believed to be the cause of the clicking and locking/jamming I have been experiencing til date.

Let me bring you through a quick lesson on the anatomy of the knee - Meniscus & VMO, so you can understand what is going on in my knee :)

Meniscus refers to the shock absorbers between the femur (thighbone) and tibia (shinbone). We have 2 menisci(plural) in each knee.


The medial meniscus, located at the inner aspect of the knee and the lateral meniscus located at the outer aspect of the knee. The lateral one is highly mobile, slides along with knee movements and absorb impact. The medial one moves very little as it is tightly bound to its surrounding structure as a result it is the one that is most commonly injured. One can injured the meniscus by twisting it (don't try) and having your full weight transmitted through one knee via the meniscus. Usually, this will cause a tear. I only strained mine so I guess I didn't transmit my full weight on it :p

Now, what is VMO? VMO stands for Vastus Medialis Obliquus, it is the lower part of the vastus medialis muscle / "teardrop" muscle.

The VMO fibres pulls the patella towards the medial side and prevents it from dislocating so if the VMO becomes weak there may be a tendency for the patella to be pulled to the lateral side. This is exactly what is happening to me now. My right patella is being pulled to the lateral side because my VMO is weak.

I am now undergoing rehab... eh... actually not really until after this weekend's "Gallop of the Dragons" race :p Meanwhile, I am just doing some strengthening, seeing my lovely physio once a week to get a "relaxing" sports massage to release all the tightness in my right leg.

My lovely physio will also K-tape me (look above) and I gotta wear the tubicgrip or whatever you call it plus I need to tape up my knee for any physical activity.

I had a good conversation with my lovely physio and I am beginning to understand my body better. Honestly, I am physical unfit. After "Gallops of the Dragons", I will be a good girl, do my proper rehab, strengthening, correct my posture and get myself ready for the next netball or DB season.

May the good Lord bless me :D

Reference List
Introduction to the knee meniscus, Functional anatomy of the meniscus
Retrieved on May 13, 2010 from http://www.kneeguru.co.uk/KNEEnotes/node/1819
Picture of Vastus Medialis
Retrieved on may 13, 2010 from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Vastus_medialis.png
The patella - important anatomical relationships
Retrieved on may 13, 2010 from http://www.kneeguru.co.uk/KNEEnotes/node/1800