Martha went skiing, and twisted her knee. Then she came back to her hotel room a

Question

Martha went skiing, and twisted her knee. Then she came back to her hotel room and soaked in the hot tub. In the morning, she found her knee stiff, swollen and painful to walk on.

Explain the process that caused the swelling in her knee and the benefit of that process

Which arteries are involved in carrying blood to this site? What changes do you expect in those arteries?

Did her time in the hot tub affect the swelling? If so, what affect did it have and how did it cause this effect?

What should Martha do now?

PLEASE EXPLAIN ALL TYPED

Explanation / Answer

Knee comprises of tough bands of fibrous tissue which connect the upper and the lower legs. Knee twisting may cause injury in any four of the knee ligaments; Anterior cruciate ligament (ACL), Posterior cruciate ligament (PCL), Medial collateral ligament (MCL) or Lateral collateral ligament (LCL). Such a sprain may be mild, moderaate or severe! Injury to these ligaments leads to swelling within few hours of the injury, discolouration of knee joint along with tenderness and pain.

The femoral artery which carries blood to skin and various muscles descends in the thigh region. It enters in the posterior knee through the popliteal region and here it is known as the popliteal artery. Several of its branches spread through the tissues of knee supplying blood. Also, most of its branches flow into the lower leg. Injury to the popliteal artery can be devastating, can even lead to knee deformity. Severe injury cause this vascular damage to knee.

Although hot water may be helpful in soothing of whole muscle spasms , applying heat pack or hot water in such cases can make the inflammation worse. Sewlling and pain may become exagerrated with heat. Whereas application of ice packs in such cases can help in calming down damaged tissues and reduce inflammations like redness, hot and swollen.

In such cases, it is better to get medical aid as soon as possible. Ligament seperation from bone or a fracture is diagnosed by x-ray or MRI scan. Treatment may include rest, application of ice pack to injured area to reduce swelling, compression of tenderness ans swelling by elastic bandage and elevation of knee.

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