What To Do For Jumper’s Knee

Q Angle Of The Knee & Vmo

The Q angle of the knee refers to the angle of the femur to the tibia .

Often athletes with patella tendonitis will also have poor Vastus medialis obliquus function. This is the muscle on the inside of the quadriceps near the knee.

They may also have significant weakness in the calf muscles.

• Learn more about Q angle

A Basketball Player With Jumpers Knee

I grew up a basketball player. Like many of you, I was good at sports from a young age. I never had any catastrophic injuries, just some growing pains, ankle sprains, and a broken foot. As a kid up to the end of high school, I dont think there was a season where I was not doing something that involved jumping, sprinting, cutting, or bounding. I loved hoops, and later in high school, I found out that triple jumping was a ton of fun.

Toward the end of my senior year, between playing basketball and doing track, I started to have some sharp pain in both of my knees. I was 18, I was in great shape, I wasnt growing or anything like that, and I didnt have bad knees .

Rest didnt seem to do much and I was taking lots of ibuprofen. In hindsight, that was a terrible idea. It should have been a clear sign that I needed to get some help after it did not go away after a few weeks I let it drag on way too long like most people do. Waiting for the pain to go away was only making things worse for me.

I will never forget going up the sideline in that open gym. Imagine, trying to plant to go back between my legs, then BOOM. That sharp jab we are all too familiar with, but this time I could not even walk off the court. I just rolled the ball away, hopped over to the wall, and sat down.

I felt useless and it shook my confidence for that entire season. I could no longer trust my body to perform. I was struggling.

Do These Name Differences Matter

Receiving an accurate medical diagnosis, such as patellar tendonitis, is more important than the informal name used to describe the pain. Moreover, many times more than one problem is presentfor example, a person whose kneecap is not tracking properly may also develop patellar tendinitis.

While the treatments for runners knee and jumpers knee are similar, several differences do exist. Fortunately, they rarely require surgery.

See Treatment of Runners Knee

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Patellofemoral Pain Vs Patellar Tendonitis

Often, it can be difficult to know whether the pain is related to the patellar tendon or the kneecap joint.

Generally, patellofemoral or kneecap pain is often not as focal as patellar tendonitis pain. Also, pain usually occurs with walking, cycling, and sitting unlike patellar tendonitis. Sometimes, taping the kneecap can improve pain and point to the patellofemoral joint as the cause of knee pain.

Best Value: Mueller Max Knee Strap

Overview: This lightweight, comfortable double knee band provides targeted compression without reducing mobility. It has 3 compression tubes:1) Lower targets the patellar tendon 2) Upper targets quadriceps malalignment 3) 2 side tubes help improve patellar position, movement and tracking. These all decrease the forces going through the knee cap and friction on the Iliotibial band and patella tendons.

Breathable mesh fabric prevents excessive sweating, a common problem with knee braces. One size fits most.

My verdict: I love that the Mueller Max Knee Strap provides support above, below and at the sides of the knee. Whilst not quite up to the standard of the Cho-Pat, it is good value. Average user rating 4.1/5.

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Do You Have These Common Symptoms Of Jumpers Knee

Common symptoms of jumpers knee include pain and tenderness around the knee, pain while jumping, running, or walking, swelling, and tenderness behind the lower region of the kneecap. The act of bending or straightening the knee may also make you wince.

In many cases, pain becomes unbearable during activity, but fades away once you hit the showers and head home. Dont be fooled by the temporary lapse in discomfort patellar tendinitis strikes when active, but if left untreated can put you on the path toward chronic pain. Commonplace activities such as bending down to pick something up, climbing a flight of stairs, and putting on pants, can become cumbersome for those suffering from chronic jumpers knee.

Cause #: Low Ankle Mobility

Ankle mobility encompasses a number of ankle movements, but the most important one for our goal is dorsiflexion. Low ankle dorsiflexion range of motion has been linked to patellar tendonitis in a number of research studies, for example and .

So what is ankle dorsiflexion?

You dorsiflex your ankle when you pull your foot up towards your knee or when you bring your knee out in front of your toes, with your foot planted. The opposite movement, plantarflexion, occurs when you point your foot away from your knee or when you push yourself up to stand on the balls of your feet.

There are two major reasons why low ankle mobility will lead to knee issues. First, if you lack ankle mobility, the body will compensate for it by increasing mobility at the neighboring joint, the knee. This increased demand of mobility will slowly overload the knee, which in time leads to pain and injury.

Secondly, if ankle mobility is low, you will have a difficult time maintaining good alignment of your leg. This is how ankle mobility is connected with the third major cause for jumpers knee .

As you can see, the evidence supporting the importance of ankle mobility for healing the patellar tendon is strong, but how do we improve it?

How to improve ankle mobility

In ankle mobility drills, you might not feel a stretch. The goal is to move the joint through its full pain-free range of motion gently. By doing this you slowly increase the range of motion of the joint.

Asymmetry Between Sides

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When Can I Play My Sport Again

Once the athlete has been deemed fit for return to play, it is unwise to simply return to the level they were at before the onset of pain. A gradual reintroduction to the demands of the sport is advised. Maybe the athlete will be able to participate in the warm-up before a training session, then the next week can try to participate in technical skill activities and drills, and then gradually back into game/match like situations. A good rule of thumb to follow is the following:

As always, if you are experiencing pain or unable to perform the sports and activities you enjoy, go find a physical therapist for guidance.

Dr. Nicole Canning PT, DPT, CSCS

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Knee Pain After Running Here Is What To Do About It

Do your knee hurt after going for a run? How about knee pain after playing basketball or jumping?

Patellar tendinitis is an injury to the tendon connecting your kneecap to your shinbone. The patellar tendon works with the muscles at the front of your thigh to extend your knee so that you can kick, run and jump.

Patellar tendinitis, also known as jumperâs knee, is most common in athletes whose sports involve frequent jumping â such as basketball and volleyball. However, even people who donât participate in jumping sports can get patellar tendinitis.

In children, patellar tendonitis is called Jumperâs Knee.

It is an inflammation or injury of the patellar tendon, the cord-like tissue that joins the patella to the tibia . Jumperâs knee is an overuse injury .

Constant jumping, landing, and changing direction can cause strains, tears, and damage to the patellar tendon. So kids who regularly play sports that involve a lot of repetitive jumping â like track and field , basketball, volleyball, gymnastics, running, and soccer â can put a lot of strain on their knees.

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Jumping To Conclusions: Do I Have Jumpers Knee

Patellar tendinitis can bring a person to their knees and for about 200,000 people a year in the United States, it does. Connecting your kneecap to your shin bone , the patellar tendon works with the quadriceps of the thigh to give us the ability to straighten the knees and extend the leg. As the muscles of the quadriceps engage, the patellar tendon is stretched this action is what straightens the knee and extends the leg.

Activities and sports that require harsh landing and jumping can lead to swelling, pain, and discomfort due to inflammation and microscopic tears. Like many other musculoskeletal disorders, patellar tendinitis can be either acute due to overexertion or injury or chronic .

If youve experienced this type of pain, youre in great company. The disorder doesnt discriminate, and victimizes athletes across professional courts and baseball diamonds alike. Tendonitis in the legs is particularly tricky to heal, as our legs are constantly in use.

Cause #: Bad Leg Alignment

As you can see, were trying to avoid internal rotation and adduction. For this reason, weve trained gluteal muscles that create external rotation and abduction, the opposite movements.

Unfortunately, many people start and end in this position when they run, jump, or squat. This is problematic, as it puts undue load on your patellar tendon and on other passive stabilizing structures of your knee, such as the ACL.

Knees collapsing to the midline of the body are the main cause behind ACL-tears, especially among women. However, this faulty movement pattern will also overload your patellar tendon.

How Bad Leg Alignment Causes Jumpers Knee

If your knee collapses inward when you move, the force transmitted through the patellar tendon will be off-axis and not parallel with the collagen fibers inside the tendon. Its much like opening and closing a zipper by pulling it off to the side, instead of straight up and down.

It will slowly break down the zipper and you need to expend more energy to get it done because its less effective.

In your knee, the force pulling off-axis will slowly overload your collagen fibers. This overuse eventually results in jumpers knee. Oh, and youre wasting energy when you move that way, which means that if you learned to move properly, youd be able to jump higher and run faster with the same amount of energy expended.

Alignment When Walking

The next time you walk, look at your feet and their alignment. Are they pointing to the outside?

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How Can I Prevent Jumper’s Knee

Jumper’s knee is an inflammation of the patellar tendon usually caused by overuse during activities such as jumping, running or biking uphill. Maintaining strong thigh muscles can be an effective way to prevent this condition. The following may also help prevent injury:

• Wear proper fitting shoes that are right for the activity
• Use orthotics to support the arch if necessary and
• Gently stretch before and after exercising.

What Are The Symptoms

The main thing is pain. You might notice it:

• Usually in front of your kneecap, though it could be around or behind it
• When you bend your knee to walk, squat, kneel, run, or even get up from a chair
• Getting worse when you walk downstairs or downhill

The area around your knee could swell, or you might hear popping or have a grinding feeling in the knee.

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When To Call A Doctor

If these treatments dont help your patella injury, see your doctor. He or she will examine and diagnose you and, if warranted, prescribe anti-inflammatories and physical therapy.

New York City sports medicine specialist Jordan D. Metzl, M.D. is a 33-time marathon finisher and 13-time Ironman. His book, The Athletes Book of Home Remedies, has more than 1,000 tips to fix all types of injuries and medical conditions.

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How Patellar Tendon Straps Work

Video Transcript:

If you have patellar tendonitis, youve overworked certain parts of your patellar tendon. In other words, parts of your patellar tendon are still completely fine, but some areas are damaged. If overuse continues, your tendon eventually becomes painful.

When you put on a patellar tendon strap, youre changing which parts of your patellar tendon youre stressing the most. Youre redistributing tension inside the tendon. In many cases, this gives injured areas a break, which is why your pain may go down.

This may seem like a good thing, but its actually a huge problem and a psychological trap. Heres why.

Youve overworked your patellar tendon and this happened because of two reasons:

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What Are The Treatments For Jumpers Knee

In general, patellar tendinitis is a difficult condition to manage. Usually, we tell sports patients that the road to recovery is long and arduous.

Overall, we use simple treatments first including:

• Modified activity: Often, a period of rest from sport is needed. Cross-training helps maintain fitness.

• Anti-inflammatory tablets: Usually, a short course of anti-inflammatory tablets such as ibuprofen will help reduce pain.

• Exercise therapy: We all agree that exercise is important. You will need to perform a strengthening program with supervision. Recent studies reveal that quadriceps muscle and tendon strengthening improves pain and function. Generally, we recommend a heavy loading program consists of a series of three or four different exercises targeting the various muscle group in the leg. For example, single-leg knee extension, single-leg incline press, and reverse lunges are some of the exercises we recommend to build strength and reduce pain in the patellar tendon. Also, you need to build strength around the knee including the calf and hamstring. Exercises targeting these muscles include seated and standing calf raises and hamstring curls/hip thrusters. Once you achieve good strength, you should add plyometrics such as skipping, hopping, and running every 2-3 days.

Where Do You Put Kt Tape On Jumpers Knee

Where do you put KT Tape on jumpers knee?/Jumpers the knee also called patellar tendinopathy, is a painful condition of the knee caused by small tears in the patellar tendon that mainly occurs in sports requiring strenuous jumping. The tears are typically caused by accumulated stress on the patellar or quadriceps tendon. As the name implies, the condition is common in athletes from jumping sports such as volleyball, track , and basketball. The condition has a male predominance. Contrary to traditional belief, the jumpers knee does not involve inflammation of the knee extensor tendons.

Jumpers knee, or patellar tendinopathy , is a chronic overuse injury of the patellar tendon. The prevalence is particularly high in jump sports athletes, such as in elite basketball players and volleyball players, respectively 32% and 45 %. However, also the prevalence among non-elite athletes is substantial and varies between 14.4% and 2.5% for different sports. Athletes with PT are often forced to reduce their training and competition levels because of patellar tendon pain. In some cases, athletes even have to quit their sporting activities. It is without a doubt that this condition can have an enormous impact on sports participation.

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How Is Jumpers Knee Treated

Your childs doctor will talk with you about the best treatment plan for your child. As instructed, your child should:

• Rest from jumping or running until symptoms go away, often 2 to 4 weeks.

• Ice the knee 3 to 4 times a day for 15 to 20 minutes at a time. Never put ice directly on your child’s skin. Use an ice pack or bag of frozen peasor something similarwrapped in a thin towel.

• Take anti-inflammatory medicine, such as ibuprofen, as directed.

• Use crutches, as directed.

• Wear a patellar tendon strap during exercise, if instructed.

• Do exercises at home as instructed by the doctor. Your child may also be referred to a physical therapist for a supervised program of exercises. Your childs physical therapist or healthcare provider may also ask your child to do exercises at home.

How Patellar Tendon Straps Can Worsen Jumpers Knee

Heres the psychological trap you may be tempted into:

If pain goes down, the natural human tendency is to assume everything is fine. You may think, Hey, pain is down, so I must be getting better, right?

But if all you do for your patellar tendonitis use the strap, your pain may go down for a while, but itll come back eventually because you havent fixed the actual causes for your injury and I dont want this to happen to you.

As an analogy, think about bending a paperclip. If you bend the clip too often at the same spot, youll cause more and more damage and eventually itll break. The same happens in your patellar tendon if you dont fix the two causes I mentioned earlier.

Lets say you put on a patellar tendon strap and continue your regular training. Continuing with our analogy, youre still bending the paperclip, just in a slightly different spot. The clip will be fine for a while longer, but youre still destroying it and itll break eventually.

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