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Tendons in the Knee

Tendons are much like cables of strong tissue connecting muscles of the leg to one's bones. These tendons play a crucial role in knee anatomy. The patellar tendon, illiotibial band, quadriceps tendon and the hamstring tendons are the ones that are most frequently injured.

  1. Quadriceps Tendon

    • The quadriceps tendon is one of the tendons that are located in front of the knee. It connects to the patella's (kneecap) top and allows for the leg's extension. The main job of the quadriceps tendon is to attach the quadriceps muscles to the kneecap or patella just above the knee. The quadriceps tendon is susceptible to becoming inflamed, a condition known as tendonitis.

    Patellar Tendon

    • This tendon attaches the patella or kneecap to the tibia (one of the lower leg bones) by way of the tibial tubercle. Since it runs between two bones, the patellar tendon is sometimes called the patellar ligament. This tendon is able to efficiently complete the attachment of a person's quadriceps to his lower leg. The patellar tendon is quite a bit thinner than the quadriceps tendon which only averages approximately thirty millimeters wide. One extremely common sports injury is patellar tendonitis.

    Illiotibial Band

    • This tendon is very long and attaches the knee to the tensor faciia latte muscle. The tensor faciia latte muscle is a hip abductor and aids in providing some medial rotation of a person's tibia. The illiotibial band attaches on both the tibia and fibula on the lateral or outer side of the knee. As the knee extends and flexes, the illiotibial band moves over the fibula's head. If this particular tendon is tight, inflammation and irritation can be caused at its point of insertion. This knee injury is often called IT band friction syndrome.

    Hamstring Tendons

    • The primary knee flexors are the hamstring tendons. They run along the posterior or back side of the thigh. The hamstring tendons attach to the fibula and the tibia along the medial (inner) and lateral (outer) sides of the knee. One of the common knee injuries with sports is hamstring tendonitis.

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