Sports Medicine Terms with Dr. Jason Tarno

What exactly is a joint?

In medical terms a joint is the connection between two separate bones. The knee joint is a connection of ligaments and muscles around two bones, the femur (thigh bone) and tibia (shin bone). Wherever two bones connect there is a joint. Around this joint are ligaments, which connect the bones together. Tendons attach around the joint so that when the muscle flexes, the joint moves.

What is the difference between a strain and a sprain?

A strain is a pull of a muscle. A sprain refers to an actual tear of a tendon, or ligament. Sprains are graded as either grade I, II, or III. Grade I sprains represent a minor tear (just a few fibers are torn). Grade III sprains are complete tears of either the tendon or ligament. When a muscle is torn, we call it a rupture or tear. Strained muscles usually heal on their own with rest and ice. Sprains often heal on their own as well. Sometimes, however a joint must be immobilized with a cast so that the ligament or tendon can scar together and heal. Occasionally a sprained ligament or tendon must undergo surgery in order to be corrected. It really depends on which tendon or ligament and the grade of the sprain. Ruptured muscles usually do not heal without surgery.

What is the difference between a ligament and a tendon?

A tendon is the end of a muscle that attaches a muscle to bone. There is a tendon at each end of a muscle. A ligament is a soft tissue structure that connects a bone to a bone.

What is the difference between a broken bone and a fracture?

There is no difference. The medical term for a broken bone is a termed fracture.

What is meant by the terms medial and lateral?

Medial refers to the inside part or closest part to the body and lateral refers to the outside part or furthest part from the body.

What is a meniscus?

Meniscus is a term used to refer to the cartilage between the femur and tibia in the knee joint. The meniscus acts as a shock absorber between these two knee bones. There are two separate menisci in each knee. One on the medial side and one on the lateral side. They are “C” shaped structures, and therefore have a front and back or anterior and posterior aspect to each side. If these structures tear, they tend to become trapped between the femur and tibia during flexion and extension of the knee, which can cause a locking of the knee joint. If your doctor says that you have a tear in your posterior medial meniscus they are referring to a torn piece of cartilage at the back of the inside of your knee.

What do the terms proximal and distal refer to?

When physicians or surgeons are trying to describe where an injury or fracture is they want to use terms to help them form a picture in their mind. The term proximal is used to describe something that is closest to the body on an extremity. Distal refers to the farthest part past midpoint of an individual bone or extremity. For instance, if someone were to sustain a fracture to their tibia, the physician or surgeon would describe it as being either proximal (close to the knee joint), midshaft, or distal (closer to the ankle joint).

In closing...

Hopefully this has been helpful to some of the readers. As one can see, these terms often build on one another and if you do not understand the very basics of this medical “lingo” it can be hard to follow your physician or surgeon when they rattle off some long list of fancy sounding terms. If you do not understand what your physician is telling you, make sure that they put it into plain English (or Spanish for some readers) so that you can understand exactly what is wrong. Knowing what is wrong with you and understanding how it happened is half the battle toward getting better!

- Jason M. Tarno, D.O., is Board Certified and Fellowship trained in Sports Medicine. Dr. Tarno is an associate of Crovetti Orthopaedics and Sports Medicine.

For further information call: 990-2290.

Or visit us at: www.CrovettiOrtho.com