So I had Osgood Schlatter growing up and recently (now 52) starting having pain below the knee again. I’ve tried taping / icing and rest, but it seems to come back fairly easily. I had an XRay and it appears I have a bony ossicle? in the patellar tendon. My original plan was to try and get a cortizone shot in the area (I have Crohn’s disease so i get inflammation super easy), but now not so sure. I’m getting contradicting advice from my sports doc and my PT. PT doesn’t want to touch it as there is bone in the tendon, sports doc is recommending aggressive pt.
Both agree at end of season I should get it removed surgically, but I really don’t want to do that until November if at all possible. Any thoughts from the PT / orthos on ways forward at least until November? Cortizone, pt, cold laser? Anyone else have something like this?
I know your sports med doc, and PT, are much smarter than me on this topic but have they ruled out this is not just “Runners knee� You sound like you’ve had this before so it’s likely something you can pinpoint directly related to your Osgood-Schlatter, but figured it’s worth asking because that’s where I get knee pain every time my Runners knee flares up.
I would imagine you can manage this non-surgically, realizing that the risk/reward with surgery may not be worth it. If you are truly getting patellar tendon pain, the approach would be gradual progressive loading to the tendon to improve it’s ability to handle load (ie, running, cycling). A good combo of concentric and eccentric work. Not to mention, looking a little closer at your stride rate/length as we know a lower stride rate increases patellar forces a bit.
I’ve been dealing with the same issue for most of my life. Ran competitively in college. I’ve had a few time periods where it flares up and makes running a no go. Aggressive PT resolved the issue, but ongoing strengthening, stretching and body work has helped keep it at bay. My ortho told my surgery was an option but recovery will be lengthy and returning to daily running post op will likely cause further damage to knee joint. No great options. I would pursue non-surgical first and only have the procedure as last resort.
Just started a round of Prednisone for it and will start some PT for it as well. I’m concerned the PT will aggravating the tendon further, but we will see.
I have had it since I was 16 (now 50). Basically, had a clicky knee since then, and have to avoid certain things like very low cadence workouts on the bike and overly aggressive upper leg exercises.
Periodically it flares up in the patella region, but it is usually something that some lower mileage and icing can fix in a few days.
