What is Patellar Tendonitis

What is Patellar Tendonitis?

Patellar tendonitis is the injury or irritation to the patellar tendon, the tendon connecting the quadriceps to the tibia. Like with any tendonitis, it starts with a light sore feeling after exercise or activity and progressively gets worse if it is left untreated. The knee joint is the joint that performs flexion and extension of the leg. Flexion of the knee can hurt because the tendon is being stretched. Extension of the knee can be sore because the quadriceps muscle will be elicited for the movement.

What does patellar tendonitis feel like?

In the beginning, patellar tendonitis will feel like a dull annoying pain after an activity or a workout. As the injury progresses, the dull pain can set in for twenty-four hours a day, eventually intensifying. There can also be times, depending on the movement that debilitating sharp stabbing pain can be felt in the knee. Other sensations that can be felt are the feeling of being double-jointed and feeling unstable.

What are some of the causes of patellar tendonitis?

Like with any injury, there may be many contributing factors. It will be very important to have an athletic therapist or sports massage therapist properly evaluate muscle strength, muscle firing capabilities, gait, posture, muscle tone and movement patterns. It is important for there to be a certain balance between all the muscles of the body to allow for proper movement and injury prevention. Weak gluteal muscles, tight quadriceps, hip flexors that don’t fire and hamstrings that are too tight are all factors that could contribute to patellar tendinitis. Improper footwear or poor movement patterns are very important factors with patellar tendonitis.

How is patellar tendonitis treated?

There are different stages to every rehabilitation program. The sports massage therapist or athletic therapist will evaluate the severity and determine the treatment goals and treatment plan. If the pain is very intense and there is a lot of swelling, the first step is to manage the pain and swelling with ice, lymphatic drainage massage, range of motion exercises and modifying some of the body’s movements.

Step two of the rehabilitation process will be to promote proper range of motion of the knee, hip and ankle through muscle activation, muscle relaxation and various exercises. Once the range of motion is healthy, the athletic therapist will start to strengthen the muscles, first through exercises in one plane, and eventually with compound exercises.

It is important to note, that just like with every other injury, it is important to communicate with the rehabilitation therapists so that they can build a proper program, and to actively participate in the rehabilitative process by doing all the at-home exercises.

Some Professional Athletes who suffered from Patellar Tendonitis:

• Carmelo Anthony
• Alonzo Mourning
• Damon Stoudemire
• Glen Rice
• Cedric Ceballos
• Manny Ramirez

Do you have patellar tendonitis? Contact us Clinique Santé & Physique