FOOTBALL KNEE

Hokitika Guardian, 11 March 1927, Page 4

FOOTBALL KNEE

(By a doctor ia “Daily Mail.”) Mr W. \V. Wakefield, the greatest of England’s Rugby forwards, will probably have to take a long rest if he is to make a complete recovery from the knee injury which has kept him out ol' the big match to-day. What us‘ua Ily occurs in these eases is that a man twists his knee while he has loot fixed, and falls to the. ground with his knee half bent. lie is unable to straighten his leg, and when this is eventually done for him the knee speedily swells. What lias happened at the time of the accident is that the. friction of the hones in the knee joint has torn tip one of the cartilages, and this cartilage has heroine fixed between the holies on the inside of the joint. Jf one of flic onlookers will grasp tho affected knee in his hand, bent it fully, then giro the foot a little twist inwards and swiftly straighten the leg, the pain will pass off and the injured mail ho able to stand. This is generally only the beginning of flic trouble, for there is no condition which is so liable to recur ns this internal derangement of the knee joint. Were every player to whom the injury occurs able to take tinoe mouths’ rest followed hv three months of light exercise. the damaged cartilages would lack themselves down in their original positions, and that would he the end of the story. In the majority of eases Ihc player ceases to consider himself an invalid once the swelling of the knee lias disappeared. aml soon after his return to his favorite gam:' similar accidents occur. The i rrverse rarti'age, having learnt the habit of becoming displaced the manoeuvre until the man becomes a martyr to locked knee. The sufferer may in many cases he given the choice of an operation for the removal of the cartilage of the wearing of an apparatus for two years. He will he wise to select operation, for manipulative treatment lias been permanently successful in only a minority of eases, and after two years’ incarceration in n knee splint the eartilogc may heroine nipped again within a few davs.