Weird Injury...

[BadMotherVaulter]

just wanted to see if any of you have an idea of what this might be.

Okay so below my right knee... right where my patella tendon connects into my lower leg bone... any time i do a motion that involves me engaging my quad and shin, like pulling my leg in towards me, it hurts BAD

and it bothers me if i squat down any...

anyone out there ever had this before?

[jumpbackin]

Sounds like standard Patellar Tendinitis. A popular therapy is to get a specialized band (or athletic tape) that puts constant pressure on the tendon. I'm sure with a quick Google search you can find these bands. They're probably cheap.

This is counter-intuitive, but, I have cured Patellar Tendinitis in myself, on two separate occasions, by simply starting a once a week Plyometic program.

[BadMotherVaulter]

Sounds like standard Patellar Tendinitis. A popular therapy is to get a specialized band (or athletic tape) that puts constant pressure on the tendon. I'm sure with a quick Google search you can find these bands. They're probably cheap.

This is counter-intuitive, but, I have cured Patellar Tendinitis in myself, on two separate occasions, by simply starting a once a week Plyometic program.

just found out, i'm pretty sure what it is.

and what kind of plyo's did you do?

i'm googling this band right now...

[SlickVT]

The band is a temporary fix. I completely healed mine this indoor by icing religiously, and STRETCHING the quad throughout the day. Stretching is the key. I would be willing to bet that if you compare the tightness of your two quads, the leg with the itis is MUCH tighter.

Long story short... rest it... AKA don't do plyos or any top speed running. Warm it up and stretch a few times per day with some 15 min interval icing in between. Prescription strength Ibuprofen twice a day will also help. The band will also help, but thats like saying that wearing a back brace will heal a hurt back. It just helps with pain.

My $0.02...

[BadMotherVaulter]

The band is a temporary fix. I completely healed mine this indoor by icing religiously, and STRETCHING the quad throughout the day. Stretching is the key. I would be willing to bet that if you compare the tightness of your two quads, the leg with the itis is MUCH tighter.

Long story short... rest it... AKA don't do plyos or any top speed running. Warm it up and stretch a few times per day with some 15 min interval icing in between. Prescription strength Ibuprofen twice a day will also help. The band will also help, but thats like saying that wearing a back brace will heal a hurt back. It just helps with pain.

My $0.02...

okay.. thank you sir.

i'm going to be an idiot and try and jump on friday...and then its no activity until that bugger is all better.

(you're right about the quad being tighter.

[jumpbackin]

The band is a temporary fix. I completely healed mine this indoor by icing religiously, and STRETCHING the quad throughout the day. Stretching is the key. I would be willing to bet that if you compare the tightness of your two quads, the leg with the itis is MUCH tighter.

Long story short... rest it... AKA don't do plyos or any top speed running. Warm it up and stretch a few times per day with some 15 min interval icing in between. Prescription strength Ibuprofen twice a day will also help. The band will also help, but thats like saying that wearing a back brace will heal a hurt back. It just helps with pain.

My $0.02...

I agree with much of what SlickVT has said here, including not to do plyos. The plyos worked for me, but it's so counterintuitive, I would only recommend trying them if ice and rest then a gradual resumption of training doesn't work.

I disagree with Slick about the use of Ibuprofen. I will use antiinflamatories only at the onset of an injury (in the first 24 hours), but NEVER continuously after that. I understand that stretching helps a lot of people (or at least they think it does - I'm a skeptical *******) so you should try it, but stretching has never helped me with any kind of tendonitis.

It's now sort of coming in vogue with performance trainers to focus on Hamstring training for Patella Tendonitis so you may want to consider doing some Semi-Stifflegged Deadlifts (RDL's), Leg Curls and Cable Pullbacks. At very least these are things you can do to keep up some training while you're letting the Patella Tendon rest.

[jumpbackin]

The band is a temporary fix. I completely healed mine this indoor by icing religiously, and STRETCHING the quad throughout the day. Stretching is the key. I would be willing to bet that if you compare the tightness of your two quads, the leg with the itis is MUCH tighter.

Long story short... rest it... AKA don't do plyos or any top speed running. Warm it up and stretch a few times per day with some 15 min interval icing in between. Prescription strength Ibuprofen twice a day will also help. The band will also help, but thats like saying that wearing a back brace will heal a hurt back. It just helps with pain.

My $0.02...

I agree with much of what SlickVT has said here, including not to do plyos. The plyos worked for me, but it's so counterintuitive, I would only recommend trying them if ice and rest then a gradual resumption of training doesn't work.

I disagree with Slick about the use of Ibuprofen. I will use antiinflamatories only at the onset of an injury (in the first 24 hours), but NEVER continuously after that. I understand that stretching helps a lot of people (or at least they think it does - I'm a skeptical *******) so you should try it, but stretching has never helped me with any kind of tendonitis.

It's now sort of coming in vogue with performance trainers to focus on Hamstring training for Patella Tendonitis so you may want to consider doing some Semi-Stifflegged Deadlifts (RDL's), Leg Curls and Cable Pullbacks. At very least these are things you can do to keep up some training while you're letting the Patella Tendon rest.

[Lax PV]

The band is a temporary fix. I completely healed mine this indoor by icing religiously, and STRETCHING the quad throughout the day. Stretching is the key. I would be willing to bet that if you compare the tightness of your two quads, the leg with the itis is MUCH tighter.

Long story short... rest it... AKA don't do plyos or any top speed running. Warm it up and stretch a few times per day with some 15 min interval icing in between. Prescription strength Ibuprofen twice a day will also help. The band will also help, but thats like saying that wearing a back brace will heal a hurt back. It just helps with pain.

My $0.02...

I agree with much of what SlickVT has said here, including not to do plyos. The plyos worked for me, but it's so counterintuitive, I would only recommend trying them if ice and rest then a gradual resumption of training doesn't work.

I disagree with Slick about the use of Ibuprofen. I will use antiinflamatories only at the onset of an injury (in the first 24 hours), but NEVER continuously after that. I understand that stretching helps a lot of people (or at least they think it does - I'm a skeptical *******) so you should try it, but stretching has never helped me with any kind of tendonitis.

It's now sort of coming in vogue with performance trainers to focus on Hamstring training for Patella Tendonitis so you may want to consider doing some Semi-Stifflegged Deadlifts (RDL's), Leg Curls and Cable Pullbacks. At very least these are things you can do to keep up some training while you're letting the Patella Tendon rest.

Lot's of research has been done on stretching... it's all over the forum. The stretching of the quad helps patellar tendinitus frequently in that PT can be caused by tight hips and quad muscles. I had it for a while, the icing helped, the cho-pat strap (the knee strap refeered to above) helped, but I thought the most beneficial was some intense quad stretching, and a lot of hip mobility work (walking over hurdles, deep overhead squating...). Every injury is going to be different and it is really tough to find what the route of the problem is online (most times when a chronic injury occurs, a body part hurts because of something entirely different being the problem)

As far as the cho-pat, Slick is right in that it will not cure you. It serves to add another attachment point for your patellar tendon to tighten it back up. After all, tendonitis is (in simple terms) a swollen or elongated tendon. It might help in the immediate future, but long term will more than likely need some other modality of treatment.

[jumpbackin]

Lot's of research has been done on stretching... it's all over the forum. The stretching of the quad helps patellar tendinitus frequently in that PT can be caused by tight hips and quad muscles. I had it for a while, the icing helped, the cho-pat strap (the knee strap refeered to above) helped, but I thought the most beneficial was some intense quad stretching,

I doubt quad stretching will help him, but hopefully he will get better in spite of it.

[birdi_gurlie]

hehe, it's not a "weird" injury...I have it too! I haven't completely gotten rid of mine yet...I had it during XC season and took 3 weeks off when it hurt really bad at the end of the season [1 week off XC season, 2 off of Indoor]...but taking ibuprofen definitely helps...I took it for about 2-3 weeks and then quit because my mom said that you shouldn't take it too long. Patellar tendinitis is literally "inflammation of the patellar tendon" [-itis means inflammation] and ibuprofen helps keep it from becoming as inflamed. Also, the band helps it from getting inflamed too. Another thing, strengthing and stretching the quad really will help! Its helped me a lot! Icing helps it too.