Patellar tendonitis / Jumper's knee

Causes of Jumper's Knee

The function of the thigh muscle is to extend the knee - that means straightening it. The tendon is the extension of the muscle and where it attaches into your shinbone in this case.

Your thigh muscle and its tendon across the patella are therefore used extensively for both setting off and landing when jumping and running. The pain felt if you’re suffering from jumper’s knee can be caused by overloading the knee through repetitive movements straining the tendon. In fact, any increase in activity level exceeding the tendon tissue’s tolerance can lead to it being overloaded.

With age, the kneecap becomes more rigid. This can increase your risk of injury. When you overload your kneecap tendon, it becomes inflamed - a sterile inflammation producing swelling and soreness in the area.

Symptoms of Jumper's knee

Pain in the bottom part of the kneecap is a common symptom if you have jumper’s knee. It’s generally brought on by the start and end of physical activity. The pain usually subsides as your knee warms up. Some people will experience pain from performing everyday activities like walking up and down stairs.

It is important to take these symptoms seriously. If they are ignored and the kneecap tendon continues to be overloaded, the injury will become worse.

If your pain is located on the inside of the knee instead of in the front bottom part of your kneecap, it's possible you might be suffering from pes anserine bursitis rather than jumper's knee.

Diagnosis and Treatment of Jumper's Knee

Relief

As jumper’s knee is caused by overloading the knee, avoiding any activity triggering pain is where you should start. Typically, this will include jumping, kicking and running activities. By relieving your knee, you let your body get to work on healing the muscle and tendon damage.

Rehabilitation

Rehabilitation is important - in addition to pain relief. If you suffer from jumper’s knee and would like to return to the activities that triggered your injury (e.g. sports), there’s no way around rehabilitation exercises.

Rehabilitating jumper’s knee means placing special emphasis on slow and heavy strength-building exercises, as well as exercises stretching the thigh muscles.

It’s important you don’t increase the load on your kneecap tendon too quickly. Additional mobility and flexibility exercises will help you create optimal conditions for the kneecap to work in and help prevent future injuries.

In the examples below, you can see some of the most common exercises used to treat jumper’s knee.