tendonitis in knee, maybe

Jack said:

For the last 6 years I have had pains in both knees right above the
kneecap in front of my leg. It is not runner's knee. It is especially
bad in the first few inches off the seat as I get up from a chair. The
pain seems to be in the area of the attachment of my quads with my
kneecap. So, I'm guessing it is tendonitis. I went to an orthopedic
doc awhile back and had x-rays. He said it was not arthritis but
wasn't able to help beyond that. Any ideas?

Jack

Hi Jack,

Check out this site:

http://www.sportsmed.buffalo.edu/info.html

It is a list of various sports injuries, you'll have to determine which
one matches your symptoms. The site gives excellent description of
symptoms, what exercises and stretches will help. Most importantly it
gives guidelines for when the injury has healed. The good news is that
most of what is listed doesn't require anything more than doing proper
exercises. I had tendonitis of the knee a few years back and I got over
it with physical therapy. These days I continue to do my lifts once or
twice a week and stretch a few times each day. When I get lazy and
don't do them my knee aches until I do.

FWIW the orthopedist I saw was able to diagnose the source of my injury
in seconds. I had muscle weakness in the affected leg and through
physical therapy I learned that my muscles were really tight.

Hope this helps,
Andy

"Jack" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
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Quoted message said:

For the last 6 years I have had pains in both knees right above the
kneecap in front of my leg. It is not runner's knee. It is especially
bad in the first few inches off the seat as I get up from a chair. The
pain seems to be in the area of the attachment of my quads with my
kneecap. So, I'm guessing it is tendonitis. I went to an orthopedic
doc awhile back and had x-rays. He said it was not arthritis but
wasn't able to help beyond that. Any ideas?

Jack

It could just be tendonitis, which rest, ice, etc will help alleviate.
As will an anti-inflammatant drug. However, in the long run only rest will
really 'fix' tendonitis. I'm surprised the ortho doc didn't have any
additional suggestion - perhaps you should get a referral to a more
sports-medicine oriented office. Find out where the local high schools,
college, and pro teams refer their athletes.
To help prevent this kind of problem, get in good gentle stretching of
your quads (and calves and hamstrings and groin and hips - they all connect
to your knee) and keep their strength up. I feel this preventive stretching
works far better when done after the workout, while the muscles are very
warm. Many quad problems are due to them being not strong enough, a common
issue with road runners - so keep an eye on that and do strengthening weight
training or exercises.

Dave

Jack said:

For the last 6 years I have had pains in both knees right above the
kneecap in front of my leg. It is not runner's knee. It is especially
bad in the first few inches off the seat as I get up from a chair. The
pain seems to be in the area of the attachment of my quads with my
kneecap. So, I'm guessing it is tendonitis. I went to an orthopedic
doc awhile back and had x-rays. He said it was not arthritis but
wasn't able to help beyond that. Any ideas?

Jack

Stop whackin' off, your right shoulder will feel better too.

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Andy,

Does my description sound like your tendonitis?

I have been doing leg lifts for over two years now. My quads are
strong. I do have a problem with flexibility. I try to stretch but
usually forget.

Thanks to all of you for your advice.

Jack

My pain was below the knee cap.

Hope you heal fast.

Andy

Quoted message said:

My pain was below the knee cap.

Hope you heal fast.

You give me a pain in the neck.