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Patella Tendonitis

Patella tendonitis

Patella tendonitis is a common injury, in which the patella tendon which connects the kneecap (patella) to the shin bone (tibia) becomes inflamed. Anyone can get patellar tendonitis, but it is more frequent in volleyball and basketball players, often known as, jumper’s knee.

What causes patella tendonitis?

Patella tendonitis is a repetitive stress injury, overuse or the same movements will create tiny tears in the tendon resulting in it becoming inflamed causing the tendon to weaken over time. Participating in sport which includes running, jumping and squatting will put more force on the tendon making it more at risk of suffering from tendonitis. Other contributing factors can include:

  • Tight leg muscles
  • Uneven leg muscle strength
  • Obesity
  • Hard playing surfaces

What are the symptoms?

  • Pain and tenderness at the bottom of the patella
  • Swelling and a burning feeling in the patella
  • Kneeling down or getting up from a squat can be painful
  • Pain is sporadic

How can patella tendonitis be diagnosed?

In order to diagnose this condition, the sports therapist will ask a series of questions to get a background of what is going on, this will then be followed by a series of tests to confirm or deny patella tendonitis.

How can we help?

A personalised treatment program will be designed to suit your needs and abilities, treatment methods include:

  • Ice therapy
  • Soft tissue massage therapy
  • Ankle joint mobilisation
  • Stretching exercises
  • Orthotic advice
  • Strengthening exercises
  • Proprioception exercises
  • Taping
  • After care advice and support

What are the benefits of Sports Therapy treatment?

The aim of our Sports therapy treatment is to speed up your recovery and prevent the tendonitis from reoccurring. The main benefits of Sports therapy treatment for tendonitis are:

  • Pain and inflammation reduction
  • Improvement in ankle range of movement
  • Improvement in ankle strength
  • Accelerated recovery time
  • Prevention of the injury reoccurring