Has anyone else experienced this issue? I’ve had an mri done and seen a couple of orthopedic surgeons. The way to get rid of this completely would be surgery which would have me back running again (hopefully), in about three to four months. I’ve since refrained from running but continue to bike and swim in hopes that rest will do the job, but it doesn’t seem to be doing anything.
Anyone else have a similar experience?
What would happen if you did nothing and continue to run/bike? Does it bother you when biking? What are the drawbacks of having the surgery? How long have you had the problem? Did it progressively get worse.
I’ve had patella tendonitis for 3 yrs …sometimes it feels ok other times very uncomfotable. I’ve been told rest, ice, advil and stregthen the quad, but the problem still persists.
tendonitus (I was told anyway) can be healed. but you have a tear?
have you been told how this came about in the first place (ie, foot mechanics, inflexibility, etc). if you could identify that first then addressing that could be your cure, as opposed to surgery.
It’s at the point where I feel it every single day even if I’m not working out. It’s just a nagging ache that’s worse and worse. The risk I run is that I could potentially tear the tendon and then I would have to have the surgery. I’ve been told the same thing regarding the ice, advil and lifting. Nothing has worked. The mri clearly showed the inflamation. The surgery would cut open the knee in the front, clean out the tendon and then sew it up. I would be in a straight leg brace for two straight weeks followed by about a week of the same brace w about a 10 degree angle. Then, rehab. As I’m in the real estate business, going into the Spring isn’t exactly the best time, but then again for triathlon, or just training I would say hold off on the surgery until next November.
Yes, I'm now recovering from surgery for a partially torn petella tendon. It was an open surgery performed by Dr. Frank Cordasco at the Hosp for Special Surgery in NYC on 1/03/05. The doctor said 2 to 3 months for full recovery. I was on the bicycle trainer within 2 weeks, gently spinning and in the pool with a pull buoy in three. I shoveled out two houses after this past snow storm. Then Bam I fell on the ice and I think I may be back to start again. Just had another MRI yesterday so I should have the results later today or tomorrow. I think I'll have to start over. But all said, it was healing well until the fall on monday.
Good luck with yours, get it done now while you have time to recover for racing season.
I had my torn ACL reconstructed with a piece of my patella tendon as a result I did have some tendinitis. The tendon will get stronger again and grow back.
if you’ve got such inflamation then you should be on something more powerful than advil!!! also, what about a TENS unit and doing therapy now? these are all excellent alternatives to surgery…and should be sought first.
so, surgery IMO should be last result. if you aren’t on a perscription then get on one. Personally Lodine works like a champ for me…take it two times a day (plus, it’s been on the market for 15 years and is pretty friendly on the body, but works great), get into the best therapy you can…one that uses laser treament to help the cells reinvigorate themselves, realign and heal.
I’m shocked that your doc hasn’t suggested this prior to even thinking about surgery (but then again, surgery makes money…it’s a business after all…)
I had patella tendenitis for a couple years in college due to extensive vertical jump training. The way I finally got rid of it was by strengthening my HAMSTRINGS, NOT my quads. I was told by a sports-medicine person that it was caused by strength imbalance - I had super strong quads but relatively weak hamstrings.
I had been on Bextra from the first ortho who referred me to this other guy who does a lot of sports related work. He actually suggested checking into Cranial Osteopathy which only relatively smaller number of physicians D.O.'s practice. I’ve held back on that because I’ve never been a huge believer in alternative types of medicine; such as reflexology, accu-puncture, etc.
physical therapy isn’t alternative medicine…how bout that route?
I had a patella issue 3 years ago. I was unable to run for more that 20 mins without pain and my doc said, my knee cap was sliding around rubbing the patella. The Doc offered no real hope, only rest for 2 months and after that it came back. Only after switching my running style did the problems disappear. POSE
Paul
Unfortunately, riding, except ,maybe, low resistance high cadence is not good rest for the patellar tendon. Pushing off the wall isn’t either. They both require a forceful contractions of the quads, which pull on the patellar tendon.
I’m not an orthpedist, so I could only speculate as to how long. I was only pointing out that riding is not particular restful to the patellar tendon. Skiing uses the quads extensively. They transmit their force through the patellar tendon. As to which exercises would be good, it might be best to consult an orthopedist or a sports med doc OR possibly at PT.