Osgood Schlatter is a disease that commonly affects adolescents. It most often occurs during growth spurts and is aggravated by physical activity. It is a painful knee condition which causes the tendon that attaches the quadricep muscles on the front of the thigh to the shin bone to become tight. This causes inflammation and micro-fractures in the tibial tuberosity which then causes swelling and pain during high impact physical activities such as running, jumping or stair climbing. Even some warm-up exercises such as squats can cause the syndrome to become aggravated!
Unfortunately you can’t just stop using your legs completely, nor can you allow your children to just sit around out of fear that this will affect them! Instead, set up a plan of preparation for if this happens to you or your kids. Be prepared with alternative activities such as swimming or cycling so that you can continue to get exercise, be able to put off a hike until the aggravation is gone.
Osgood Schlatter syndrome seems to affect boys more than girls and this is believed to be simply because boys are more active than girls at younger ages so they are simply more prone to aggravating the tendon more often than girls. The hardest part of treating Osgood Schlatter is simply keeping kids still so that they can rest the tendon for a day or so!
What are the symptoms of Osgood Schlatter?
- Pain in one knee or both knees
- Pain in the affected knee when straightening the knee
- Pain in the affected knee when squatting
- Pain when running
- Pain going up and down stairs
- Pain that improves with rest
- Swollen tibial tuberosity
- Redness of the skin over the tibial tuberosity
- Inflammation of the skin over the tibial tuberosity
- Quadriceps losing strength and bulk
How can I prevent Osgood Schlatter Disease?
There is no guaranteed way to prevent Osgood Schlatter disease unless you cease all activity which isn’t healthy. Instead take care to make sure that leg muscles are properly stretched and that aggravating activities such as running are switched out for activities like switching when the tendon is aggravated.
What are the treatments for Osgood Schlatter?
- Rest your joint! Stop doing the activities that cause the condition to become aggravated like running, jumping and kneeling.
- Ice the affected area to help reduce pain and swelling for twenty minutes every two to four hours.
- Stretch your leg muscles before doing exercises!
- Protect the affected knee from injury with things like knee pads.
- Try a protective strap to help keep the tendon from slipping out of place.
- Avoid activities that could aggravate the injury and instead direct attention towards low impact activities like swimming or cycling.
- Increase selenium and vitamin E. They help to strengthen the muscle and help speed repair.
- Have more turmeric in food to help lower inflammation.
- Up the intake of vitamin C. It is a natural anti-inflammatory and can help to speed tendon healing.
- Consider using crutches to help completely rest the muscles when walking is unavoidable.
