Patellar tendon injuries are known to commonly affect athletes that perform sporting activities involving a lot of jumping and so it is not very surprising to learn that basketball players and those who indulge in volleyball are most affected by such injuries. In fact, even footballers are not immune to suffering from patellar tendon injury.

Right knee-joint. Anterior view

The most common form of such injury is the one known as patellar tendonitis though this term is being used less often because the ‘itis’ in the term tendonitis refers to inflammation and patellar tendon injury is not believed to be caused by extreme inflammation.

Significant Morbidity

Patellar tendon injury is known to cause significant morbidity in athletes irrespective of the fact that such athletes are professionals or merely recreational. The cause of patellar tendon injury is usually attributed to a breakdown in collagen and not inflammation. Once noticed, this form of injury must immediately be treated by a physician who will need to determine the underlying causes and then try to reduce inflammation.

One of the most commonly used regimens being used to treat patellar tendon injury is the one known as ‘tendinosis paradigm’ that attempts to try and reduce load on the affected areas as well as requires that the patient perform exercises meant to strengthen the affected area, and in addition, requires giving of suitable massages.

Surgery is another treatment option; though it must only be considered when other and long-term regimens of treatment have been tried out and which have failed to address the issue adequately.

Patellar tendon injury can and does lead to much morbidity and so if you feel pain while performing heavy training or when making jumps you should then immediate seek medical help so as to identify and control the malady. Pain from such a malady will generally be local to a specific area of the knee region (anterior) though some patients also complain of tenderness of the patella.

The good news is that exercising can lead to reduction of pain in the knee and whatever discomfort was felt too will lessen. However, this should not give you reason to ignore the problem and you must always seek timely aid to control as well as treat your condition. Knee patella tendonitis, when left untreated, may lead to further damage of the tissues that form your tendons and so will require special treatment including using straps to keep the knee in place. The sad part about ignoring patellar tendon injury is that it can lead to wasting of the quadriceps and this will affect your mobility considerably.