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  1. #1
    Join Date
    Apr 2002
    Location
    At the North end of the Parkway
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    1,787

    Patella tendon area pain

    So I was just skiing along...

    Here's the deal skiing a blue run hit small bump landed and felt a mild pain in the tendon area in front of the knee. Seemed fine went away then next run got thrown backseat a bit and the pain was quite acute and then continued sore all day. Walking stairs hurts, standing up hurts and any stepping into bindings really hurts. What could be the problem?

    My current med history is a back problem that is causing some major hamstring, quad and glut tightness, I am wondering if this is related?
    Move along nothing to see here.

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Nov 2004
    Location
    YetiMan
    Posts
    13,370
    I have the exact same thing with the patella and the back-leading-to-hamstring-glut-tightness...

    can we agree to tell each other if one of us figures a good solution to this?

    I'm trying to be vigilant with stretching but it's only going so far.

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Jun 2004
    Location
    Issaquah
    Posts
    2,058
    I had patella tendonitis from years of basketball & eventually had a partial tear and elected to have surgery. I healed 70 percent in 3 months & was good as new within a year. First I would ice it & try to cut back on any high impact sports that you are on a hard surface (moguls, running, hoops) until the pain subsides. Also take some Ibuprofin or Naproxin to reduce the swelling and once it subsides work your way back into the high impact stuff. They make a band that you can put around your patella that I wore but it did not seem to make a huge difference. Usually this will injury will respond to rest, ice and anti inflammatory meds. I don't know your age but would assume you are in good shape so I think just a week or 2 off would help
    Last edited by Ski to Be; 12-08-2008 at 04:49 AM.
    License to kill gophers by the government of the United Nations

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Jan 2008
    Posts
    10,094
    My doctor buddy's unofficial off-the-record diagnosis when I asked him about my tendon pain was tight/poorly stretched muscles along the back of the leg (calf and hamstring) screwing up the alignment of the quad which in turn put too much pressure on the PT area (or something to that effect). Basically gave me the "stretch more before running - if its still an issue in 2 weeks go pay a doctor to look at it"

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Nov 2008
    Posts
    64
    I would guess that you have a slight strain of your patellar tendon. Basically like pulling a muscle but it occurred in your tendon. All the the motions that you describe as painful (stairs, standing, stepping into bindings) flexes your quadriceps. The patella tendon is basically the tendon that attaches your quads to the bone and is stressed in all those motions. Time off and pain free quad strengthening exercises and stretching should help. Take Ibuprofen to help with the pain and inflammation, also ice after exercise. Pain should go away in two to four weeks with that. If you push through the pain it could take longer or could get worse.

    Doesn't sound too serious, but its a bad time for the injury if your planning on a lot of skiing because the quads are used so much.
    Last edited by tank3467; 12-09-2008 at 10:54 PM.

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Nov 2003
    Location
    318 Powder Lane
    Posts
    3,647
    patello-femoral pain or patellar tendonitis secondary to your hamstring/quad tightness. strethc, stretch, stretch. ice ice ice.
    fighting gravity on a daily basis

    WhiteRoom Skis
    Handcrafted in Northern Vermont
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  7. #7
    Join Date
    Apr 2002
    Location
    At the North end of the Parkway
    Posts
    1,787
    Thanks for all the advice. Well stretch, stretch, stretch and more stretch seems to be the answer. I was hoping it was get really drunk and it will be great tomorrow.

    I have been working on the stretching and it is getting better, this is the only good side I can see to the -30 weather.
    Move along nothing to see here.

  8. #8
    Join Date
    Jan 2007
    Location
    Houston, Texas
    Posts
    648
    The best stretch that I know if is on the stomach, with the assistant gently stretching the heel such that it touches the butt, and then gently lifting the thigh off the bed so as to stretch the pelvic origin of the rectus femoris.
    the lateral retiniculum, which is a usual suspect in this problem, is also stretched.

  9. #9
    Join Date
    Aug 2012
    Location
    below the Broads Fork Twins
    Posts
    5,772
    Patella recovery observation & progress report

    strained my patella in January, just in time to rest during the February thaw.

    Symptoms:
    - Sore patella
    - Walking on flat surfaces uncomfortable, ability of the knee to stabilize itself while bearing weight was shaky
    - Up stairs is a no go, must hop that sheeyit
    - Down stairs only one leg down, then level with the bum leg

    Ended up playing it conservatively for once, Ice Compression Elevation using one of the orenge straps below to keep the patella supported while walking. Wore it for 3+ weeks, slowly stopped wearing it to keep from over using too soon.



    A lot of ice for 3-4 hr sessions for roughly 2 weeks. All ice sessions included elevation of teh knee.

    Started with shorter tours of 1hr with the voile strap on teh knee, then evaluated. No issues during or after, except for a little sensation when pushing it uphill. Backed off at the time so it didn't make things sore afterwards. Eventually worked in whole days walking without the strap (no tours), then a tour without the strap. Since then done some normal tours and a longer yurt trip and no issues.

    Figured this may be of use to someone with patella pain from spraining or simple overuse. I can easily see a minor sprain devolving into worse without the right treatment.

    Cost of treatment:
    - 1 voile strap
    - 1 borrowed ice pack
    - 1 netflix membership
    - saved money not drinking beer to prevent immobile fatness disease
    - smoked more cannabis than normal, offset some beer savings

  10. #10
    Join Date
    Dec 2010
    Location
    Last Best City in the Last Best Place
    Posts
    7,267
    Quote Originally Posted by weibo View Post
    Thanks for all the advice. Well stretch, stretch, stretch and more stretch seems to be the answer. I was hoping it was get really drunk and it will be great tomorrow.

    I have been working on the stretching and it is getting better, this is the only good side I can see to the -30 weather.
    You might also consider going to a good massage therapist and having him/her work on your legs--not the relaxing kind of massage therapist, but the kind who works you so hard it makes your eyes water. I've had one do this to the muscles leading into my knees and is remarkable the difference it makes. She also massaged out some calcium deposits that were causing pain, and fixed some strange foot pain too. (All of this pain was related to long descents off mountain peaks--dry land, not on skis.)

    Anyway, if you can find the right massage therapist, it's worth the $. It's amazing how many aches and pains are tight muscles causing other muscles and tendons etc. to compensate. Stretching isn't really enough to fix this. But it is difficult to find a massage therapist who is willing to put you through the misery of doing what it takes to actually help.

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