What is it?
A knee condition seen in adolescent children/young athletes. This particular condition involves pain, swelling and tenderness over the tibial tuberosity, which is the growth plate at the top of your shin. When a child hasn’t finished growing this area is made up of cartilage rather than bone, which isn’t as strong, and with high levels of impact and load can cause soreness in the area.
What causes it?
It’s not caused by a particular injury but rather an overuse injury. The tendon that attaches onto the tibial tuberosity pulls on the bone with repeated activities and overtime this can cause micro tears and inflammation.
This then causes pain, swelling and tenderness over the area.
Who is more likely to get this?
-males
-those who have experienced a rapid growth spurt
-adolescent age
-people that are highly active, particularly when doing activities such as running, jumping, stop start activities, kicking and kneeling.
How do I know if I have this?
Come see anyone of our physiotherapists at Darwin Health Group who can complete a full thorough assessment to determine the cause of your knee pain.
What is the management for this?
Load modification is one of the main forms of treatment for this condition. Persisting with high amounts of physical activity often will lead to lack of improvements or even worsen the pain. Reducing the load, completing physiotherapy specific stretches and strength exercises and ice can all help in reducing pain.
Does this mean I have to stop my sport altogether?
No. It means that we might discuss reducing the frequency you complete sport per week and reducing the duration you do it for. We may also discuss alternatives that are low impact (such as swimming) and can help develop a plan to reduce your load and improve your knee pain as quickly as possible.
This particular condition is more likely to occur just in one knee but can occur in both.
Are you having knee pain that might fit this description? Then book in to see a physiotherapist now to start improving the pain as soon as possible.
For further information please contact Darwin Health Group.
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