Patellar Tendinopathy:
What is it?
Patellar Tendinopathy is a condition that affects the tendon at the front of the knee which attaches to quadricep muscle to the shin bone.
Patellar Tendinopathy tends to come on over a period of time and can be caused by an increase in load through the tendon itself. The Patellar Tendon sits just under the knee cap and plays an important role supporting the quad muscles straightening the knee. During activities that require repetitive loading through the patellar tendon, there is a risk of developing patella Tendinopathy.
What are your symptoms?
The main symptom is pain at the front of the knee just below the knee cap. It may also be quite tender to touch.
Activities like walking, running and jumping may aggravate and increase pain.
Who gets it?
Patellar Tendinopathy is a condition that primarily affects relatively young people (15-30 years old), especially men. People who compete in sports such as basketball, tennis and football which require repetitive loading of the patellar tendon are more susceptible.
Increased bodyweight/BMI have been indicated as risk factors, however the biggest risk factor appears to be training load.
What can we do to treat it?
Due to the injury being predominantly a repetitive overloading injury, the first thing that needs to be done is modifying activity and avoid any activity/movement that aggravates the knee.
Once activities and movements have been modified, we can start loading the patellar tendon in a graded exposure manner due to tendons responding well to specific load. At the same time, we need to make sure the ankle and hip muscles are working hard enough to support the knee, so the lad is being spread equally through the whole lower limb.
Along with this, hands on treatment may be indicated in the first couple of sessions to reduce pain and discomfort to give you the best opportunity to load the tendon.
Tendon rehab can take some time to improve. Therefore it is vital to trust the process and work through the graded exposure program in a controlled manner without rushing into higher levels too soon.
Get in touch to book an appointment if you have knee pain by contacting us at contact@limitlessphysio.co.uk