Your joints move by the power of your muscles. The muscles attach to your joints through tissues called tendons. The tendons transfer the force from your muscle across the joint and cause it to move.
Sometimes this tendon becomes inflamed because it was injured (such as a direct blow to the thigh) or overused (such as biking up hills).
When the tendon is inflamed, doctors add the ending “itis,” and thus, we call this Tendonitis/Tendonosis.
Chronic cases are called tendonosis, indicating chronic inflammation. In some cases, the tendon actually tears in half, and this is called a tendon rupture. If you can’t straighten your knee because of pain over your tendons, seek immediate medical treatment.
Tendonitis/Tendonosis pain is usually described as an ache that can be sharp with exiting from a chair or with squatting. The pain is usually improved with rest. Usually the patellar tendon in the front of your knee is most involved. This is called “patellar Tendonitis/Tendonosis” or “jumper’s knee.” This syndrome is frequently caused by imbalances of the knee muscles and hip muscles causing the knee cap to “track” incorrectly. Further, biomechanical issues in the foot can be a contributing factor. This pain is usually located over the front of your knee and is described as a deep aching pain. It is sometimes associated with swelling and is usually worse when your knee is bent for long periods of time such sitting in a car or bus.
The pain is also worse with such activities as running, biking, squatting, kneeling or stair climbing (either up or down stairs).
It is sometimes associated with mild or moderate swelling of the knee and some people report a grinding feeling in their kneecap. It is more common in younger females especially after a growth spurt where the knee must carry more weight.
This causes irritation and inflammation on the undersurface of the knee cap and ultimately cartilage degeneration.
Identifying the causes of the pain and inflammation and directing functional treatment have very good outcomes for these conditions.