Your knee pain could all be down to a tiny bone scientists thought had disappeared

A tiny bone that scientists thought was being lost to evolution could be making a comeback and causing knee pain, experts at Imperial College London have said.

The fabella is found buried in the tendon behind the knee of some people.

Linked to arthritis?

Doctors believe the bone is entirely pointless, and many people live without it.

However, some who do have it get arthritis, and it is thought that the fabella could have something to do with this.

The findings were published in the Journal of Anatomy.

The word fabella means ‘little bean’. In medical terms it is a sesamoid bone, which means it grows in the tendon of a muscle. Other sesamoid bones include the kneecap and the patella.

Scientists studied medical records from 150 years

Dr Michael Berthaume led a team at Imperial College London which looked at medical literature on knees from over 150 years in 27 different countries.