Forums >Health and Nutrition>Running with Osgood-Schlatters? (Or patellar tendonitis)
I've only been running for a few months now, but I've had a bit of nagging knee pain beginning shortly after I started. I finally got it checked by a doctor because it was getting a bit worse, and he diagnosed me with Osgood-Schlatter Disease, or more likely the after effects of it, given that I'm 24.
Right now I'm looking to manage the condition and see how much I can run while still keeping my knee healthy, but it is a bit discouraging to be hampered so soon. Hearing about other runners who've managed the condition would be a great help to keep me motivated. Thanks.
#artbydmcbride
FWIW, my advice from my experience with knee pain and doctors is............get another opinion. And maybe another one after that too.
Runners run
old woman w/hobby
+1
steph
some call me Tim
agreed... and I was diagnosed with it in high school. what I could never figure out was whether I never had it or was just distracted by the dry heaving during races (i cannot understand people who race to the point of puking - that kind of crap kept me away from the sport for a looong time). seriously though, i had no special plan except to not try to train through pain that was increasing or causing my form to suffer. and it went away after i was done growing, as it does in the vast majority of people, and which is why you really ought to get another opinion. make sure it's not just an overuse injury.
ME WEBLARG
Thanks for the replies. I've got an appointment with another doctor for Oct.. 29th to get a second opinion, and I'm trying my best to manage with ice, stretching and strengthening exercises. I don't have much pain right now, but I still get a twinge in my knee every once in a while. From what I've read, Osgood-Schlatters seems to be a good fit for my symptoms, but I'm going to insist on getting an x-ray from the new doctor to confirm it. Surgery results are supposed to be excellent to good, so I will be looking into that if I can't increase my mileage enough with conservative treatment.
Just thought I'd update this thread in case anyone was interested.
I went to a second doctor to get my knee checked out and he sent me for an x-ray. I called back today and the doctor said that they looked normal. The pain in my knee has gotten better over the past few weeks since I've been taking care of it, but I can feel that it still isn't 100%. I've been talking to my cousin who is a physio therapist and she said that I should add friction massage to my patellar tendon. I'm going to add that to my regime and see how it goes. She lives out of town so she can't take a look at my knee directly, but I should see her at Christmas and I plan on keep running until then unless the pain increases.
Glad to hear you've made some progress, but I know it's no fun not having a concrete answer. I can't speak to the massage aspect, but also don't forget simple stuff like problems with gait, footwear, etc. Extra stretching and strengthening on off days has been great for my knees and ankles, and so is a couple of days off when I'm feeling beat up. Good luck!
Another update.
I've been running since the previous update and the condition of my knee has been both better and worse since. Last week the pain was starting to increase again and I made an appointment to see a sports medicine doctor. I saw her today and received the most thorough and hands on inspection of my knee of the three doctors that I've seen so far. She said that Osgood-Schlatters is unlikely since I didn't have it as a teenager, and my x-rays were normal (she hasn't seen them, instead relying on the opinion of the last doctor). She thinks the most likely cause is patellar tendonitis at the tibial insertion. She said that when its at this location it can be particularly hard to recover fully.
Her recommendations are to take at least a month off and consider quitting running in favor of low-impact exercise. This is frustrating to say the least. I don't want to become a competitive runner, but it is the most convenient form of cardio for me and I don't want to give it up entirely.
I'll take a month off running for now, and hopefully I can slowly ease into running pain free after that. In the meantime I think I'm going to continue doing the eccentric step downs for my quads and I'm thinking about getting a foam roller to help stretch my quads and hamstrings.
Patellar Tendonitis happens to be my first real injury (an over-use injury) as a runner. Mine showed itself halfway through a half marathon in October. I had a thread going on that other website about it. Currently, I'm doing better but like someone pointed out in that thread, there are good days and bad days. I found this program and I've been doing it for maybe 5 weeks now. http://www.fix-knee-pain.com/patellar-tendonitis-knee-tendonitis/ I can actually feel more muscle in my legs now and I'm a lot more stable. It's something that takes time to recover from. I haven't had to use any for the last couple of weeks but I was using Alleve. It REALLY helped me with pain. I'm still an Ibuprofen user for normal stuff but Ibu wasn't even taking the edge off this pain. I had self diagnosed prior to seeing our doctor and he confirmed it for me. He was poking around and hit a spot that pretty much sent me through the ceiling. On that note, I really can't even comprehend anyone telling you to do anything called "friction massage". Holy crap.... I couldn't even touch that area of my leg for the first 3 weeks let alone massage it. I tried one of those stupid little straps and that made it hurt worse. Ice did help though. Good luck and let us know how it goes.
Sorry to hear about your problem my friend, I hope you recover soon.
Patellar tendonitis is a relatively common cause of pain in the inferior patellar region in athletes. It is common with frequent jumping and studies have shown it may be associated with stiff ankle movement and ankle sprains.
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