Jumper’s Knee

Jumper's knee, also known as Patellar tendinitis is an injury affecting the tendon that connects the patella to the shinbone. This is a common condition with sports involving repeated jumping and stretching. Patellar tendon plays a central role in helping your muscles to extend the knees when kicking a ball, running and jumping.

Symptoms

The initial symptom of jumper's knee is usually the pain that is felt at the patellar tendon between one's kneecap and the area where the tendon attaches to the tibia. This pain at the knee may initially be felt at the beginning of a physical activity or at the end of an intense workout, continue to a state of interfering with a person's sports performance and eventually interferes with the daily undertakings like climbing stairs.

Causes

Jumper's knee or Patellar tendinitis is a common overuse damage that results when repeated stress is placed on one's patellar tendon causing small tears in the ligament, which the body endeavors to restore. Nevertheless, as the tears in the tendon increase, they cause pain from irritation and a weakening of the tendon arrangement. Tendinopathy may result when the ligament break continues for a long time.

Risk factors

Several determinants may play a role in development of this condition, including muscular imbalance in the legs where relatively stronger muscles in the leg might pull harder on the patellar tendon, increased strain due to reduced flexibility in the thigh muscles or quadriceps and intensity and rate of a physical activity.

Complications

Trying to work through the pain while ignoring the caution signals that the body sends could cause extremely larger tears in one's patellar muscle. Severe pain in the knees and reduced function can continue if the proponents of patellar tendinitis are not addressed in time, which may eventually develop to the more chronic status of patellar tendinopathy.

Home remedies

Approaches like use of pain relievers recommended by a general practitioner, avoiding activities that may cause pain such as reducing how often one practices sport. Avoid working through the pain as this can injure patellar tendon further and apply ice after activity that causes pain.

Prevention

Prevention procedures involve strengthening one's muscles through eccentric exercises, improving on your sporting techniques by getting professional instructions to avoid problems with the tendon and avoiding any play through pain. In case of pain in the knee during an activity, one ought to take a break, apply ice in the painful area while resting.

Treatment

A number of physical therapy techniques assist in reducing the symptoms associated with this condition. They include taking regular stretching exercises to reduce muscle spasm and lengthening muscle tendon unit, eccentric exercises to strengthen weak thigh muscles that may contribute to strain in the patellar tendon and patellar tendon strap that applies pressure to the patellar tendon thereby distributing force away from the tendon itself but at the same time directing it through the strap.

References

https://www.webmd.com/fitness-exercise/jumpers_knee

https://www.coreperformance.com/knowledge/injury-pain/jumpers-knee.html