A very common cause of anterior knee pain is due to patellar tendinopathy. Often referred to as ‘jumpers knee’ this injury is common in sports that require fast explosive jumping movements. Sports like basketball, Australian rules football and even CrossFit are frequently the athletes affected by this painful injury.

The quadriceps muscles are a group of four powerful muscles which attach together at the top of the knee where they are known as the quadriceps tendon. This tendon then acts as a pulley over the the kneecap and then becomes known as the patella tendon or ligament as it attaches into the tibia (shin bone). These muscles work together to primarily extend the knee and the rectus femoris muscle also acts to flex the hip (due to it attaching across the hip and knee). When we perform movements like jumping and hopping, these muscles quickly store energy in the tendon and then release this energy as we spring into the air. It obviously needs a high amount of force to be able to do this. Now if this is done repeatedly, it results in a lot of stress/strain going through the tendon, ultimately leading to overload from inadequate recovery. A tendon becomes reactive if overloaded without inadequate time to adapt and recover from the load. In other words, the load supplied exceeds the tendons capacity to tolerate and adapt.

This injury can occur in several sites. If the pathology occurs at the superior tendon attachment (top of knee cap and where the quadriceps muscles converge into the quadriceps tendon), then it is known as a quadriceps tendinopathy. This is about in 20-25% of cases. In 65-70% of cases, the pathology occurs directly below the kneecap, where it is called a patellar tendinopathy. A patellar tendinopathy is also known as the pathology that occurs where the tendon attaches into the shin at the tibial tuberosity. The type of presentation only occurs in about 5-10% of cases.

At The Reform Lab Osteopathy we provide evidenced based education and exercise rehabilitation to best manage these injuries. We provide our rehabilitation inside the elite gym Project Reform, so that your management is not limited by equipment.

Ensure you read our informative blog with scientific research ‘Tendon Reaction Injuries’