Our thigh muscles (quadriceps) control how the knee cap moves. The quadriceps is made up of 4 muscles and each of those muscles and multiple areas within it (top, bottom, inside, outside,,,etc). The control of the knee cap requires a pattern of activation across these areas within the muscles to produce a smooth and precise movement. This study looked at how the activation of the quadriceps muscles changes in people with knee pain. They found that in people with knee pain the activation pattern of the quadriceps is simplified in comparison to people without knee pain who had a complex activation pattern.
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