Patella Tendonitis?

Reese777

Cathlete
Hi

Super bummed right now. I have been trying to get back into the swing of things for a year now and I did very well from February until about 2 weeks ago with lifting and working out. I even lost 22 pounds, but NOW -my right knee has betrayed me.

Actually, the pain isn't in my knee, its at the top of my shin directly below my knee and it is generally painless unless I lunge or squat - it doesn't to sit unless I'm on the sofa and my leg is completely bent. I noticed it was "uncomfortable" last week so I gently pressed around to find the origin of the pain and when I hit that spot YEEEEEOUCH! Thing is, I haven't worked out since Monday and its STILL sore to the touch - despite icing it.

Has anyone else had this? If so, how long did it take to heal? I can't buy any special equipment. Right before this injury hit I bought $115 worth of cardio videos from Cathe. They're still in the #$&^ plastic wrap!

It's hard not to get completely deflated when I get injured because it takes so long to build up strength and endurance and 10 seconds to lose it. It doesn't look like I'll be able to work out for a while...just bought STS recently....going to drive my car into the river now... :(

Reese
 
As an athletic trainer, I treat a lot of patella tendonitis. You'll want to do ice massages 3x a day. Freeze a Dixie cup that's about 2/3 full and tear away the excess cup as needed. Massage for ~7 minutes. Use a bit of pressure when doing these. Rest is also important. You should see improvement within days. Have you taken any NSAIDS such as ibuprofen?
 
Not really - it doesn't hurt unless I kneel, squat or lunge....or push on it! That's when it really hurts. When would you say I could expect to be up and moving again? I'm going to see the doctor tomorrow. :( Still bummed.

Reese
 
I am so sorry that you are hurting. I had tendonitis in the elbow when I was a kid and it turned out that it was from a car accident and that it was my neck that was severely out of alignment. I went to physical therapy for a couple of years and I have been mostly ok since. I did find that yoga actually did a better job of relieving that problem than the PT.

Anywho, if the doctors and rest for 3 weeks doesn't cut it, you might want to see a PT or chiro (I know some are bad, but there are bad western dr. too.) to make sure its not just something out of alignment. I had searing pain, transient numbness, and was incapable of moving my arm for months at a time. All my dr gave me was ibuprofen. What an idiot he was.

If you really do just have tendonitis, you may be experiencing some muscle imbalance from your workouts, for that you want a PT to assess your body and to possibly suggest some good exercises or a plan to fix it so that the tendonitis never comes back. Hugs!!!

I hope you feel better soon.

Alisha
 
Yeah, I wondered the same thing. I don't think its an alignment issue though because I see a chiropractor regularly. :(
 
My son was diagnosed with this also and had PT. Some of the pain improved wihtin 2 weeks, but then we realized that the patella pain was also masking a torn meniscus. You might want to see an orthopedic and have an MRI to be sure. Good luck.
 

Our Newsletter

Get awesome content delivered straight to your inbox.

Top