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Old 11-10-2010, 11:31   #1
crimson ghost
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Patellar Tendonitis

I'm currently on profile for patellar tendonitis. After two weeks, I have seem nominal improvement in my condition. I'm currently taking 1200 mg of Motrin daily. I've read conflicting reports about whether or not to apply heat or ice to my knee (both seem to make sense), so I ice after activity and heat before bed. Is there anything else that I can do to speed up my recovery aside from rest? I'm eager to get back out there and crank the pt back up...

Thanks

Eric

Last edited by crimson ghost; 11-10-2010 at 13:02.
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Old 11-11-2010, 11:02   #2
Boomer-61
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Therapy for Pat Tendonitis

As for the Motrin, if you need to you can go up to 2400mg a day. If you're resting per orders you shouldn't need to. As for ice vs heat, think of ice as treatment of choice in the acute phase. The PT's where I work like heat before PT to warm things up and dilate the vasculature. They like ice following the therapy to control swelling and pain. I know you don't want to hear this but time is the best cure. Look for ways of maintaining your fitness that don't exaccerbate your symptoms. For instance, maybe you can swim but cycling drives you nuts. You can still work the upper body. Look at John Brookefields battling ropes course. It can challenge your hybrid muscle systems without affecting your knees at all. Anway the idea here is to maintain fitness without setting yourself back.
Good luck.

Last edited by Boomer-61; 11-11-2010 at 12:38.
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Old 11-11-2010, 11:09   #3
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When I had it, I did physical therapy for three weeks and was good as new. If they don't have you doing PT, ask about it.
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Old 11-12-2010, 23:59   #4
TOMAHAWK9521
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Be very patient and do everything the docs tell you. I dealt with chronic tendonitis for the better part of my adult life until I ground off the cartillage under both patella. That will brought me and my SF career to a screeching halt.

It's going to suck trying to come up with 3-5 other exercises to make up for the benefits you get from running. Biking is good, but it can become frustrating during winter months when you are stuck using the Habit Trail at a gym. You could alternate that every other day with some easy treadmill walking. Again, very mind-numbing, but stay focused on the goal of getting your legs back under you.

Swimming is an excellent form of exercise. I did that for 3 months solid when I fractured my spine and came out from that therapy in better shape than when I started. You can try the aqua-(polio victim) running. Now there's something that requires determination to stick with. I would also recommend elastic/isometric bands to work your legs.

Trust me, you don't want to lose the knees. Once that happens, you will start to lose everything else after that. If you can't do some kind of cardio to help maintain your core and keep it in balance then you increase the risk of further injury.
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Old 11-13-2010, 06:46   #5
Tatonka316
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I agree with Tomahawk and Blue

If you are NOT getting Physical Therapy, request it. Not only can a physical therapist help with some other types of treatments to assist in the healing other than heat before and ice after, but they should be able to look at the initial cause of the tendinitis, and address that as well - for example if your foot and ankle anatomy are "incorrect" for the amount of running you had been doing, they can get you an orthotic to put in your shoes to "correct" the mechanics while running and rucking.

But I would also recommend water running. Get a water ski vest or other floatation device and head to a pool with a deep end. Put the vest on so you are not just treading water, and you can "run" intervals, do "speed work", and even "long slow distance" running based on the intensity of the "running " in the water, and the time "running" in the water. It is an excellent rehab technique that does not stress the patellar tendon if IMPACT with the ground is causing your pain. If, after a few minutes of water running you have pain in your tendon, STOP IMMEDIATELY because something else is causing your dysfunction.

Feel free to PM me if I can help out in any way

Good luck!!!

molon labe
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Old 11-13-2010, 23:14   #6
TOMAHAWK9521
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To take what Tatonka wrote a bit further: When doing the water running, lean forward a bit and imagine trying to run in tall grass up a steep hill in order to get your stride. As I've stated before, you'll feel like a polio victim when you first start out but it will definitely make you break a sweat. I would do it for 20-30 minutes every other day.
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Old 11-14-2010, 10:35   #7
crimson ghost
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Thanks for the replies. I'm hating being the guy on profile, and I want to get out there asap. That being said, I'm resting as much as possible. I have also upped my motrin intake to 2400 mg. I'm doing burpees to sub for running. Burpees don't seem to aggravate my knee. I'll try the pool out in the next couple of weeks (can't swim due to PRK).

I'll be heading out to SUT in the next couple of months. If this doesn't go away by then, would a cortisone shot be a viable option?

Thanks

Eric
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Old 11-14-2010, 11:14   #8
bost1751
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Reference the shots: sometimes they work, sometimes they don't. My guess is it won't be cortizone but something along the same lines such as kenalog. An oral steriods pack may help, but shots seems to be more effective, provided they work.
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Old 11-18-2010, 03:14   #9
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You don't need to be resting it, you need to be doing physical therapy on it. Cortisone shots are short-term fixes that cause issues of their own.
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Old 11-18-2010, 06:02   #10
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Cortisone

Cortisone is a bad idea. You can't inject the tendon without risking rupture. As for oral steroids, another bad idea. Your body is telling you to rest; listen to it. There is no substitute for time and rest. Train around your injury and give it time. If you don't let this heal it will nag at you a long long time.
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Last edited by Boomer-61; 11-19-2010 at 08:27.
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Old 11-18-2010, 21:19   #11
crimson ghost
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Roger that on the rest. Knee was feeling back up to about 80%, so I ran a few miles with my team this morning, and that set me back a ways. I'm going to sick call again tomorrow to look into physical therapy. I just want to train, and move forward. Driving on...
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