About this video
Last updated: 9 October 2026
It says a sprain and a torn ACL (anterior cruciate ligament, a knee ligament) are both ligament injuries, but of different grades. It says a torn ACL is the most severe ligament injury, a total break in the fibres, while a sprain is less severe, with small or partial tears.
Key points
- The video says some operations, such as total knee replacements (operations that replace the worn surfaces of the knee with artificial components), involve a fair amount of hammering.
- It says by and large most knee surgery these days is minimally invasive, using small keyhole openings to pass a camera and small instruments into the knee.
- It describes the meniscus as a specialised tissue between the thigh bone (femur) and shin bone (tibia) that spreads pressure across the joint.
- It says a torn meniscus most often causes pain, and a badly injured meniscus may cause knee locking, when meniscus tissue comes out and blocks the two bones from moving.
- It lists injury from sport or an accident, degenerative changes (wear-related changes, common in older people even without injury) and inflammatory causes, naming gout as the most common inflammatory one.
Questions this video answers
What is the difference between a sprained knee and a torn ACL?
The video says both are ligament injuries of different grades. It says a torn ACL is the most severe type, with a total break in the ligament fibres, while a sprain is less severe, with the ligament pulled and small or partial tears.
What are the symptoms of a torn meniscus?
The video says a torn meniscus most often causes pain, because the meniscus becomes unstable and may tug on the tissues around it. It says a badly injured meniscus may cause knee locking, when meniscus tissue blocks the two bones from moving.
What are the common causes of knee pain?
The video lists injury from sport or an accident, degenerative changes that are common in older people even without injury, and inflammatory causes, naming gout as the most common of these.
