Patellar Tendinopathy

[slasher]

I just had another appointment with David.

He asked me to do the hopping test and there was no difference between the legs pain wise which is good.

However I have been bothered by pain in my left knee still. Sometimes it feels quite good, other times it gets quite sore. It feels solid (ie I could go jumping and it wont make it worse, unlike before if I did that it would make it feel worse).

At any rate he had me do single legged leg press and the strength in my bad leg is quite lower than my good one. I was able to do twice as many reps with my good leg, which is surprising but I didn't notice as I have been doing 2 legged leg press while working out. Also it's not like I have done any more work on my good leg compared to my bad one whilst having this injury, so I guess it is related to the injury itself and was not directly addressed.

David has written a program for me to do weights with my bad leg to improve the strength, we will evaluate again in a month.

[slasher]

I've been working on strength in each leg legs for nearly 2 weeks, I've noticed more of a decrease in pain in my knee for most things, especially when sitting down on a chair with my leg going straight down to the floor or slightly underneath the chair, which is what usually caused it to flare up (I don't think the patella liked it when it was put in this position).

I'll be seeing David again on Monday to see what he says.

[slasher]

It's been a while but I thought I'd update this, if for nothing else to keep a record of my progress.

I've been making gains strength wise, I've been doing single leg dumbbell squats with the rear leg elevated. I'm up to 22.5kg dumbbells which I aim for 10 reps but may struggle get to 9 or 8. I also did barbell squats for the first time in a long time and even though it was only 60kg it was really sore afterwards. I assume the DOMS will decrease as I do this more.

As for my pain levels, they have improved (although it is a bit sore today for no real reason). I find if I release either side of my quad it helps a lot. But I am still frustrated that it has not healed completely yet.

I can sit down at a chair with my legs parallel to the floor for longer periods of time than in the past, I also don't really get any pain from my workouts anymore (Although I still tape my knee when doing legs).

I am actually seeing David Bick today and may see what else we can do, I'm thinking perhaps a blood injection my be something I need to reconsider to get this thing completely healed. Hopefully I wont need to consider surgery to get it 100%.

[BT1981]

Slasher still sounds like the injury is bothering you. I personally wouldn't consider surgery as it is such a hit and miss operation even with the best surgeons.

3.5 years down the track still battling this injury although it is the best its been since the failed operation. Still doing weights and power stage (i have eased off over last two wks due to a negative response).

Have a appointment with specialist in Melbourne next friday going to discuss the possibilitym of using HGH (human growth hormone). I figure ive got nothing to loose and i will never get drug tested at the level of sport or recreational activities I want to return to.

Has anyone used hgh to treat a tendon injury?

Let us know how you get on. I haven't posted for ages but still to if anyone else has posted.

[slasher]

It was probably more frustration than anything mentioning surgery...It wont be necessary.

I saw Dr J last week, the tendon for the most part has pretty much healed, but I have some retro patella pain (which has probably been there the whole time).

I'm seeing a couple of physios about it to start rehabbing that.

The plan is once this is better then I will start rehabbing the tendon to build strength and return to things like running/jumping.

Don't know if I will ever return to competitive basketball, I want to go back to baseball and just be fit enough to do things like run, bike, etc.

BT1981, you've had other injections in the past right? What have you had done exactly? Aprotinnin or blood?

[acstewart25]

Hello all, I posted 1st time last week but on 'knee injuries' but should've been on this Forum.

Interesting reading the last few pages as I am in a similar situation - had patella pain in both knees for years since playing bball from age of 13 (27 now), started with physio 2 years ago but would always return to training / playing without sufficiently strengthening to area. In my opinion, you MUST resist returning to your activity too soon as its been my downfall too many times. Since moving to Sydney I was treated for trigger point muscles in my quad which was the main problem with my right knee but had to undergo MRI to diagnose quadricep and patella tendonopathy and a PCL injury to my left. Last week I had prolotherapy (Uses a water/glucose solution which is different from Aprotinnin, I think) injections into areas of the tendon and now waiting till the swelling reduces and go back for next consult. A lot of contraversy surrounding this technique but supposedly is widely used in the States. Will see how things go over the next few weeks but may try and get a consultation with David Bick as he comes highly recommended from what I've heard. The frustration of this injury is doing my head in.

My last physio recommended swimming as the best means to keep fit whilst not affecting the tendon. However I also heard that breast stroke is bad for the tendon, anyone know of any truth in this?

If anyone has any questions about any treatments I've had i'm more than happy to answer as i've been bothering people about this for years now!

One more thing - I'm not sure of the implications of 'an injury to the PCL' which was on the MRI report. The doc thinks ultrasound guided injections will help...

[pgino22]

hey guys i have patellar tendinopathy also, heres a little background on my injury.



I play div 1 hockey in the US, started of with bad pain from squatting to heavy-400 ibs, played 7 months of hockey with severe pain, my knee stayed swollen the whole time, many days i could not walk due to the pain was that bad, but yet i kept playing on it for the season, i would tape it up, and do my best. Since the season has ended i have rested for 3 months striaght, with complete rest for the first month then started rehab the 2month... heres how my progress went.....

weeks 1-3 complete rest

weeks 3- 8- saw physical therapist, started light leg training and isos treatment to help the swelling go down and did estim. Started squatting at the end of the month, experience a set back, the swelling came back and pain started again.


week-9- complete rest till the swelling went down !

weeks -10- swelling went down start weights aagain and squatting.

weeks 11-12- stopped seeing the PT. these last two weeks ive been tough on it, feeling slgiht / no pain, been doing step up with 95 ibs barbell- back and front squatting 135ibs and started single leg squats. Single leg squats have been rough on both my knees and tendons, i think i will stop doing them even though they build up legs sooo much!.

weeks 13, MRI SCAN DONE ! ! ! FINNALLY !!!! have the images and results need my doc to explain wat it all means, I contiued with 1 legged squats for 5 days straight this week and my knee has slight pain in both tendons now, NOW IM REALLY GOING TO STOP SINGLE LEG SQUATS. Other than that i have no pain doing squats, i am doing light weight though only 95ibs for front squat and 135 for back squat, step ups only 95 ibs also.

ILL TELL YOU GUYS WHAT MY DOC SAYS ABOUT THE MRI NEXT WEEK WHEN I SEE HIM, he told me this though before the mri, try conservative and when the pain has become to much , go see him and have surgery, and ill be back to hockey in 3 months,


Hopefully this goes away by oct, when my hockey season start.

Does anyone eles have a thick tendon they can see ? like my tendon is so thick you can see it and feel it unlike hte other healthy tendon? do you guys press your tendon to see if it hurts>? i do it all the time which i prlly bad and 99 percent of the time i do not have pain !

CAN u guys post somehting like i did about your progression so i can see similarities ?

From MY mri report i guess the most damage was the insertion part right under the kneecap thats where its thickess and i guess i have some fluid in the inferior pole? where is the inferior pole ? what does this mean?

[slasher]

acstewart25 - From my experiences I did notice the kicking while doing breast stroke would cause more irritation than freestyle. Like anything my advice would be if it makes your condition worse then stop. You may even want to consider taping before swimming, I did that in the early days when it was really sore.

pgino22 - Surgery is not always guaranteed to give results, for this type of injury is really a coin flip and can often take a long time to recover from. Have you seen someone who specialises in Tendon injuries? It might be in your best interests to do so. You should also be given some exercises to do (usually involving eccentric drops) as well as being shown things to avoid, how to strap your knee, etc, etc.

[pgino22]

yes ive seen 2 sports doctor and a surgeon alon with a physical therapist, im currently doing one-legged squats on flat surfaces, causing irration and swelling? do you guys do 1legged squats and do you guys still get swelling/ inflammation,

im getting pain for the 1legged squats at the tibula not the kneecap insertion

[bella]

I have been diagnosed with this and would like to know and/or hear from anybody who's had this or is going through this condition...

the doctor i saw said it could take 2-3 years to return back to normal? i was staggered when i heard that, is this the avg time it usually takes?

from what ive read so far eccentric exercises are the way to go, and the doc has also prescribed me nitrate patches... has anybody had any experiences with these before?

any help would be much appreciated
thank you

Did you have surgery for your hip? I have the same pain as I have in my left hip. Diagnosed with small labral tear in the anterior aspect from 9-11 O'Clock. Booked for surgery on 10 August with Dr John O'Donnell. I have now developed left medial knee pain. I have not had a mri but believe it is from the hip labral tear. Is your related and how is your hip pain now?