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Dr. Harner explains why women incur more patellofemoral joint injuries than men.
Dr. Harner:
Men get it too, but what I see more in women, I see more in women a wearing out of the patellofemoral joint where the coating cartilage wears out, and that’s usually due to a couple of things. It can be due to an injury where they fall and hit it, hit their kneecap, or they twist their knee and the kneecap comes out, or the articular cartilage can be damaged by wear over time. And that’s where the most common problem I see is a wear of the articular cartilage due to high BMI, Body Mass Index, due to certain type of alignment issues; women tend to have what we call increased Q-angles, knocked knees, which puts pressures on the kneecap, and those things over time can create problems.
What’s important to know is there are some very detrimental exercises that you can do that really affect the kneecap.
About Dr. Harner, M.D.:
Dr. Christopher D. Harner, M.D., is a Blue Cross of Western Pennsylvania Professor, the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine Medical Director, and works in the UPMC Center for Sports Medicine and the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery.
Visit Dr. Harner at the UPMC Center for Sports Medicine