A common overuse ailment often seen in athletes, knee tendonitis can be quite painful. Fortunately, Footsmart has joined forces with The Podiatry Institute to bring you information on knee tendonitis and how to relieve and prevent knee tendonitis to effectively move in comfort once again.

Defining Knee Tendonitis

Knee tendonitis is the term used to describe the inflammation of the tendons in your quadriceps, the large four-part muscles located at the front of the thighs. (A tendon is the white glistening structure that attaches muscle to bone.) The quadriceps muscles pass over the patella bone (knee cap) and attach to the top of the tibia (bigger lower leg bone). In most cases of knee tendonitis, the sufferer will develop a series of small tears in the quadriceps muscles, which accounts for the inflammation.

People with knee tendonitis, also called jumper’s knee or patellar tendinitis, will develop specific symptoms:

Swelling due to fluid accumulation and inflammation will be present if you have knee tendonitis.
Increase warmth due to inflammation will result if you have knee tendonitis.
Localized tenderness will be present and will increase with movement if you have knee tendonitis.
Pain when you move your knee – due to friction as the tendon moves over the patella – could be an indication that you have knee tendonitis.

Causes of Knee Tendonitis

It’s important to understand why you have developed knee tendonitis in the first place. Knee tendonitis may be due to rheumatoid arthritis or osteoarthritis, but knee tendonitis is typically caused by the following factors:

Repeated trauma can cause knee tendonitis.
Strain can contribute to your development of knee tendonitis.
Excessive exercise can result in knee tendonitis.

For these reasons, many athletes – especially those playing football, basketball, volleyball and soccer – often develop knee tendonitis.

Treating Knee Tendonitis

The best course of treatment for symptoms of knee tendonitis involves the RICE treatment: Rest, Ice, Compression, Elevation. You can also try these methods to relieve knee tendonitis pain and swelling and help prevent the development of knee tendonitis in the future:

Apply heat before stretching and exercise and ice afterward to help relieve and prevent knee tendonitis symptoms.
Compress and stabilize the joint with a knee splint to help treat and prevent knee tendonitis.
Take oral anti-inflammatory agents, such as aspirin, ibuprophen, naproxen and glucosamine, to help ease symptoms of knee tendonitis. (FootSmart sells glucosamine right here at FootSmart.com for knee tendonitis relief.)
Strengthen the quadriceps and stretch the hamstrings effectively to help treat and prevent knee tendonitis.
If you feel any pain, rest the knee joint for a few days to help prevent knee tendonitis.

If you have already developed knee tendonitis, you can gradually return to activities with gentle strengthening and stretching of the knee joint:

Do knee extension exercises to strengthen the quadriceps muscle.
Do knee flexion to stretch the quadriceps muscle and patella tendon.

Products for Knee Tendonitis

FootSmart sells a variety of products used to treat knee tendonitis, including knee braces, knee sleeves, knee straps and other knee supports. Learn more about knee tendonitis products here.

Information on foot, leg and lower body health conditions like knee tendonitis provided by The Podiatry Institute, dedicated to advancing the standard of care in podiatric medicine and its effects on musculoskeletal health.