Knee Flexion

When talking about Flexion we are talking about the action of bending or the condition of being bent especially the bending of a limb or joint, in this case the knee. The knee is the largest joint in the body and one of the joints most frequently injured. Most daily activities as well as sports activities require full functional movement of this joint. The knee consists of six articulating surfaces (any surface of a skeletal formation (bone, cartilage) that makes normal direct contact with another skeletal structure as part of a synovial joint,) including, the two condyles (the round prominence at the end of a bone) of the femur, the two condyles of the tibia, the posterior surface of the patella, and a patellar surface on the anterior surface of the femur. The knee joint is essentially a hinge joint capable of flexion and extension, however the knee is not a simple hinge. During flexion and extension the femur moves forwards and backwards respectively over the tibial plateau and during the late stages of extension there is some medial rotation at the joint. (Conversely during the early stages of flexion there is lateral rotation. The joint where the femur and tibia meet must be able to flex, extend and rotate while withstanding large amounts of force exerted on it and relative sliding between components during vigorous activity.