Patellar Tendonitis or “Jumpers Knee” Is Most Observed In Basketball Players

When a person overuses the knee it can result in patellar tendonitis that is also known as “jumper’s knee”. The patellar tendon is a structure attaching the quadriceps group of muscles to the tibia or shin bone and is also referred to as patellar ligament, and some anatomists believe it should be referred to as a ligament, which is what connects bone to bone as opposed to tendons that connect muscles to bone.

Patellar tendonitis can be a result of a rapid increase in the frequency of training, suddenly increasing training intensity, transitioning from one training method to another, repeatedly training on a rigid surface, mechanics during training were improper, knee joint abnormalities or even a poor base strength of the quadriceps muscles.

A Number of Different Causes

Patellar tendonitis is most often observed in basketball players. In addition, during school years, many kids make a transition from football to basketball and the two disciplines places completely different stresses on the knee joints, which can cause the onset of patellar tendonitis. There are other contributing factors as well, such as changes in training surfaces, increasing the amount of running or jumping or both as well as the pounding that is normally associated with football.

When athletes suffer from patellar tendonitis the signs as well as symptoms are easy to detect and include pain in the tendon area, knee feeling “tight”, pain being felt early in a workout as well as on completion of the workout, subtle swelling of the tendon as well as a certain “squeaking” of the tendon felt by athletes. One may treat this condition with a general fitness as well as flexibility program, though prevention is certainly better than cure.

Multi-sport athletes that make the transition from one sport to another should take care to utilize proper conditioning techniques so that the transition is trouble free and it may call for their performing aerobic fitness training, lower body strength training as well as training for lower body flexibility. Patients of patellar tendonitis are strongly encouraged to keep them active while practicing as well as when undergoing rehabilitation in order to prevent them from detraining, failing to keep up on defensive as well as offensive aspects of the game and most important of all, to keep the mental drive strong.

When patellar tendonitis occurs, it becomes necessary to first recognize the predisposing factors, because in case the condition goes unchecked, the tendon may form scar tissue that may result in the athlete spending the rest of his or her career in fighting off the condition, especially when he or she increases the volume or intensity of his or her training sessions.

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