Background:

The tendons are the thick, strong extensions of the muscles that attach the muscles to the bones that they move. When the muscles are overworked or overloaded the tendon can become damaged and when the damage leads to pain and inflammation with movements of the involved muscles around the knee then we have Knee tendonitis. The primary cause of tendonitis is a chronic repetitive motion injury that after the first time it happens it was not properly rehabilitated and the tendon becomes deficient and can’t take the normal strain we put through it. The most common tendonitis around the knee is patellar tendonitis that affects the tendon which attached the lower portion of the kneecap to the Tibia (the lower leg). Other common tendonitis’ around the knee include the tibialis Anterior muscle (Shin Splints), the popliteus (posterior knee) and the gastrocnemius (calf muscle) as it attached at the back of the knee.

Signs and Symptoms:

Someone suffering form a tendonitis at the knee will usually report knee pain that has gradually gotten worse over the past few weeks to months. There will occasionally be one incident that initially started the pain and it hasn’t gone away fully since the initial injury. Any use of the affected tendon will re-create the pain and exacerbate the problem. The pain can vary from a dull ache to very sharp and tender. There can occasionally be associated swelling and palpation of the injured tendon is quite tender. Tendonitis' in the knee are usually seen in people who do repetitive motions to the knee with a lot of stress such as athletes that run and jump a lot, certain types of manual laborers and anyone with faulty biomechanics in the normal walking motion.

Treatment: