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Damn You Jumper’s Knee. So Painfully Ironic.

September 1, 2013, By: Jon Boldireff

The blog returns! I’m sorry about the inconsistency in my blogging this summer. My time has been bogarted by my charity endeavour. A quick update about the Tops-Off Trainers charity event that was held on August 24th:

– 70 registrants.

– 10 guest (shirtless) trainers.

– Sponsors included: NAIT, Moxie’s, Sabor Divino, Stella and Dot, Jasper Park Lodge, Muscle Matters, Braithwaite Boyle, Deloitte.

– Lunch by S’WICH food truck.

– Raised $2800 for Kidsport Alberta.

Overall a great success for year one. I look forward to raising even more money next year. I’m thinking hitting the $10,000 mark.

So, my injury streak continues. My thumb is fine, elbow is 95%, but the dreaded jumper’s knee has returned since I’ve started playing basketball again. The irony is that I’m really not that athletic compared to other basketball players. I definitely don’t jump very high. What is jumper’s knee? Let me outline what it is and what you can do if you think you have it. (this will be a mini jumper’s knee report. I’ll add some links for more in depth info)

What is it?

Jumper’s Knee (Patellar Tendonitis) is pain in the tendon which attaches to the kneecap (patella) to the shin bone (tibia).

knee - pateller tendon inflammation

What causes it?

It’s usually an overuse injury from repeated eccentric contractions of the quad muscles. Jumping sports such as basketball or volleyball, running or any kind of activity where your quads aren’t strong enough to deccelerate your body weight could result in pain just below your knee.

How do I fix it?

Jumping repeatedly won’t necessarily result in jumper’s knee. It happens if your muscles are imbalanced and then you apply a force which the knee can’t handle. First of all, you should see an athletic therapist if you think you have jumper’s knee. They can tell you have bad it is. If it’s pretty far gone, you might need to take some serious time off from any running/jumping/lower body workouts. We’re talking a few weeks to several months off. I know, it sucks. Once you have an idea of how bad it is then you can start rehabbing. Foam rolling will be your best friend. You need to loosen up your quads (especially vastus lateralis), glutes (piriformis), IT band, calves, peroneals and maybe your hamstrings.

Muslces that will need work and strengthening are your glute medius, tibialis anterior and possibly your vastus medialus oblique. Eventually, you’ll want to work on the eccentric strength of your quadriceps (ie the down phase of a squat). Increasing hip, spine, knee and ankle mobility will also be important for full recovery.

Icing after activity will help with the pain, but won’t do much in terms of helping recovery. Heating for 20 minutes a day may help speed up the healing process.

I developed jumper’s knee last summer when I got a little over zealous doing weighted squat jumps. Not a smart move for a trainer. I always say I was a dumb athlete before I became a smart trainer. Sometimes the dumb athlete comes out. I stopped running and jumping for several weeks, got treatement, foam rolled and it got much better. For some reason it’s returned this summer and I REALLY don’t want to take time off at the beginning for the upcoming basketball season. We’ll see if dumb athlete prevails again. MY advice to YOU if you have this pain. Take the time to fix it 100% so that it doesn’t become a nagging injury like mine. Here are a few links for more specific info:

http://www.fix-knee-pain.com/injuries/patellar-tendonitis-knee-tendonitis/

http://www.sportsinjuryclinic.net/sport-injuries/knee-pain/jumpers-knee

And here’s a photo from the Tops-Off Charity event:

Jen topsofftrainers

Hope to see you all there next year if you missed it!

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