Patellar Tendinopathy
What is it?
Patellar tendinopathy (previously known as patellar tendinitis) is an overuse injury that affects the patellar tendon. The patellar tendon is a thick tendon that runs over the front of your knee, from the lower edge of your kneecap (patella) to the front of the shin bone (tibia). It attaches your quadriceps muscles (front thigh muscles) to the shin bone. Any activity that activates or uses the quadriceps muscles also loads the patellar tendon. Patellar tendonitis is most commonly found in people who do sports and activities that require a lot of fast, repetitive, high-force contractions of the quadriceps muscles, e.g. football/soccer, volleyball, tennis, long jump, basketball, and CrossFit.
What is the cause?
Overuse injuries like patellar tendinopathy develop when you either:
Do an activity that is a lot more intense or harder than what you’re used to, e.g. playing in a tournament that results in six hours of high-intensity play when you’re used to two hours;
Or you don’t allow your body enough recovery time between high-intensity training sessions. Whenever we train, our bodies (tendons included) sustain microdamage. If you allow enough recovery time, your body repairs this microdamage and as a result you grow stronger. But if you do another high intensity session before your body has fully repaired, the microdamage can accumulate and cause an overuse injury.
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Tendinopathies can also be caused by trauma. The vast majority of cases of patellar tendinopathy are caused by overuse, but sometimes a direct blow to the patellar tendon (e.g. someone kicks you or you bang your knee against something) can also cause the tendon to develop patellar tendinopathy.
Signs & Symptoms
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The pain is felt over the front of the knee and most often in the area where the patellar tendon attaches to the lower edge of the kneecap.
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Pain on jumping, running and hopping
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Stiffness in the morning in the knee after activity
What can we do about it?
Exercise has been shown to improve the capacity of the tendon and reduce pain significantly. Our therapists at Sports and Spine have experience with athletes and patients with patellar tendinopathy and can guide you through the rehabilitation, provide advice and educate you on the condition. Taping and manual therapy have been proven to be useful in modulating pain related to patellar tendinopathy.