Viewing 19 posts - 1 through 19 (of 19 total)
  • Patella tendinitis?
  • B.A.Nana
    Free Member

    Apparently I’ve got a classic case. Did it 9 months ago (turned up to a ride with my dropper post stuck down and rode 3 hours regardless), thought it would just go away over time, but it hasn’t. A very pretty physio I know diagnosed it instantly, but she’s expensive and I can’t afford private physio and I’m too polite to even explore a cheapy on the side, even if she’s game. Could go NHS, but just wondering how did you quickly sort it out please???

    badnewz
    Free Member

    Muscle strengthening exercises, you could pay for a couple of sessions of private physio, just get them to show you the exercises then do them on your own.

    lungman
    Full Member

    Still working on mine. Realistically it’s going to take about 3 months with NO biking. Try a book I found beating patella tendinitis by Martin Koban. I’ve seen a nhs physics and she agreed with most of this treatment. It’s been bloody frustrating but finally I’ve got a handle on it.

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    Davesport
    Full Member

    I’ve just had a recurrence of this that I last had in 2011. The last time prior to proper diagnosis I had physio and an arthroscopy on private health care. The surgery obviously made no difference. I then put my bikes up in the attic and took 6 months off of cycling. This was enough for the thing to fully heal. I guess I’ve done this to myself as I had loads of time on my hands and was cycling for about 3 hours a day. I’ve simply overdone things and will probably now have to back right off. I’m trying to do < 1 hour rides on relatively flat ground in a low gear. It’s a complete pain in the hoop as I’m the fittest I’ve ever been and the summer is here.

    Good luck with this. What I learned the last time was don’t do any eccentric exercises unless under the closest of supervision. These can damage the tendon much more seriously if not done correctly. And basically if you want full resolution it’s going to take time away from the bike.

    Good luck with your outcome. It was pure misery for me 😀

    Digby
    Full Member

    I had this a couple of years ago – as others have said some muscle strengthening exercises etc are required.

    I can’t recommend enough seeing a good sports physio – it should only take a few visits and they should give you a list of exercises/routines to do.

    Mine was caused by a previous snowboarding injury (MCL ‘tear’) that made me ‘prefer’ the other leg, combined with tight quad/ITB that was causing the tendon to ‘track’ incorrectly; exacerbated by a bit of ‘overuse’ on the singlespeed and running. You’re ‘root cause’ may well be different so some specific exercises tailored to you may be required.

    I was given a sheet with daily foam roller exercises, dips, stretches, & squats etc.

    I stuck with the routine pretty religiously and I’m happy to say with a successful outcome.

    Good luck

    greentricky
    Free Member

    Got this in both knees, been doing rehab for seven weeks which includes cycling every other day on the turbo but its really light and looks like its going to take months to fully get over. (Most things I have read say 3-6 months plus the time you trained through it). I pushed through for a good six weeks before deciding I should do something about it, as a consequnce have had to drop out of LEL, cycling trip to italy and several events this summer.

    also read the Martin Koban stuff, most of it is summarised in this:
    Patella rehab infographic

    Physio has me doing lots of limited range squats, started with body weight, just introduced weighted, lots of rolling my quads with a massage stick, cycling every other day and some hamstring and glute activation activities.

    He blames it on poor cleat set up and over active quads. Also has got me to start using knee savers/ pedal extenders to allow a more natural foot position on the bike. The other major factor was rapidly ramping up my training and physio has made clear that training through winter is a must if I expect to be able to train hard in spring so that the tendon maintains condition.

    Watched this last night and is similar to what I have been given to do, everything I have read says to do and shows rehab does work. Think he probably got over it quicker due to his fitness and youth.
    [video]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bhgxor2vP7U&t=579s[/video]

    jambalaya
    Free Member

    OP in my very humble opinion you kust have a few sessions with a proper sports physio – as above diagnosis and further excersizes you can do alone. I haven’t had this specific problem but have other knee issues and its a bloody complex joint and must be respected

    Good luck

    tomd
    Free Member

    I’ve had this a few times over the years with biking or running.

    The only reliable long term solution for me is to make sure I combine regular strength training and stretching into my routine. If I don’t do that the patella issues come back when I ride a decent amount. I think most biking training plan always recommend some element of strength and stretching anyway, it’s just not as much fun as riding bikes so gets ignored.

    That said, a good physio will set you right with your current problem.

    greentricky
    Free Member

    Yeh the physio made it clear to me that rest won’t cure it, I was tole to rest if its bad but after 2 -3 weeks rest the inflammation will of stabilised and only a strength and conditioning regime will bring it back to health. He showed me a picture like the below, that is the collagen fibres in a patella with tendonitis on the left and how it should be on the right, apparently the progressive overload from a squat program brings it back to looking like the healthy one but with just rest it would stay like the left

    fifeandy
    Free Member

    Same as others, 2x30min sessions with physio for diagnosis, get exercises and possibly an IT band torture session, then just do exercises and voila, working knees!

    B.A.Nana
    Free Member

    Ok thanks, looks like the best course of action is to visit a pysio then, even if just for a couple of sessions to get an exercise routine to work it out. I’ll have a think about NHS or private

    footflaps
    Full Member

    Took me about a year to get back to full strength / range of motion. A lot of isometric and eccentric exercises every day for 9 months. Then added in partial range squats, increasing the depth by about 1cm every few weeks. Now pain free and squatting the same I did before it occured.

    A sports therapist might be slightly cheaper than a Physio (who will be more generic).

    13thfloormonk
    Full Member

    What are the symptoms of patella tendinitis?

    My knees are always on the cusp of becoming a problem, although I’m anxiously awaiting some Time pedals in the mail which I hope will sort the inner knee pain when pedalling, and I still think the outer knee pain is mostly just IT band tightness/patellar tracking issues.

    Problem is, every time I try squats or any exercise more weight-bearing than Oysters, I seem to tweak or aggravate the knee again, has put me right off anything except oysters/side leg raises…

    footflaps
    Full Member

    What are the symptoms of patella tendinitis?

    My Sports Therapist said that if your knees hurt when you walk downstairs first thing in the morning, it’s a sign you have tendonitis. I found this a good inidcator of how well I was healing, in that for months that was the case, but now they’re completely pain free first thing.

    The other sign was that under any load (eg pedalling hard on a single speed, or squatting) I got a sharp pain in the patella tendon ie the bit I’d damaged.

    shermer75
    Free Member

    Loving that infographic 🙂

    B.A.Nana
    Free Member

    What are the symptoms of patella tendinitis?

    In my case, when walking on flat or easy ground there are no symptoms, but as soon as I’m lifting (or lowering) my body weight ie stairs, scrambling, climbing, then there is discomfort which manifests itself in the knee cap area. if it’s been aggravated then it often feels tight behind the knee in bed first thing in the morning, but loosens up quite quickly after hobbling up and down stairs a few times (i have steep staircases). Over the last 9 months I’ve had good patches and bad patches. Most recently, I was shuffling around on my knees whilst lighting the fire, got a shooting pain in my knee, back to like it was 9 months ago. In the recent fine weather I’ve been cycling on the canal 6 miles to/from work and it is clearly niggling and on the threshold of painful, in that anything requiring more pedal resistance than a canal ride feels like it would be painful for me. Also been doing some hill walking and general walking is fine, but any scrambly sections where I’m lifting my knee higher and lifting/lowering my body weight, then still causing me discomfort issues.

    greentricky
    Free Member

    How’s the knee going Op? Still treating mine, seems to be taking forever

    el_boufador
    Full Member

    Hmm I need to read this thread in more detail. I have patella tendonitis in my left knee, started last summer when I banged my knee on a tree. Wasn’t too bad and I just ignore it. Then went running in October and that frigged it up properly.
    Anyway went to physio and got some exercises, they have helped a lot. main one seems to have been stretching quads out (painful, but works) I have also been riding throughout and also strength training (decline squats) just over this last month or so I am getting back to full strength, but still get some pain.
    Ps at its worst my left.leg was very noticeably emaciated due to preferring my right leg!

    B.A.Nana
    Free Member

    Just as an update of my circumstances. Following my above post, went to GP, referred to Physio. I was given the option of in house NHS Physio or local private sports Physio offering 4 sessions on the NHS, I took the sports physio option. He diagnosed patella tracking issue rather than what I’ve stated above of patella tendinitis (not sure what the dif. is). 1st session he gave me 2 gluts exercises, 2nd session he did some ultra sound stuff and gave me a squat exercise using a gym ball. Still have some discomfort in right knee, but now able to do squats that I couldn’t do 5+ weeks ago.

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