Quadricep tendonitis? :(

kristiannanw

Hi everyone. Im hoping anyone with a background in medicine/physical therapy and/or first hand experience can help me.

I have had knee pain in my right knee for the last year. At first I couldn't pin exactly where the pain was. I saw a doctor..had an MRI. I was told that the MRI was clear and that my pain was most likely from my cartilage breaking down beneath the knee cap. I was told I could still exercise as much as tolerated as my main concern was permanent damage.

My pain is mostly managed by ibuprofen. I wake up everyday and have to take between 4-600 mg ibuprofen and sometimes before I go to bed too. I know that is not healthy.
After a few hours the pain is mostly gone And I can even work out minus any deep lunges or jumps that involve twisting. I even jog a little.

I experienced a really bad flare up of pain a few months ago and realize the pain is almost certainly quadricep tendonitis. My quad will get painful right down that tendon. If I push right above my knee cap it hurts alot. It now often times wakes me up in the middle of the night if my knee is in one position too long.

Here's the thing... it seems like there more I rest and don't work out the worse it gets. Is that possible? Any time I back off my workouts to less than 3 a week I notice my knee gets worse.

Can anyone tell me if they think this is quad tendonitis and any recommendations or exercises to help? Ive started working out wirh a brace but i notice no difference. I recently bought KT tape and am going to Try that next. I really really don't want to stop exercising all together. Over the summer I backed off cardio and was just walking for several months but it didn't really make a difference.

Thank you!

JoeyTheWanderer

I would suggest getting a second opinion from another doctor. You might need a steroid shot for inflammation.

Cherimoose

kristiannanw wrote: »

Here's the thing... it seems like there more I rest and don't work out the worse it gets.
It now often times wakes me up in the middle of the night if my knee is in one position too long.

Degeneration can do that (tendinosis) as opposed to inflammation, which is worse with exercise. Tendons require frequent movement to stay healthy, since they lack blood vessels.. so if you can't see another doctor soon, try this: Several times an hour, move your knee through a large range of motion, preferably under load, like a few slow bodyweight squats, or go up & down a flight of stairs. If you must sit, bend & straighten your knee 10 times. Set a reminder app to do this every 15 minutes when you're awake.
Post an update in a couple weeks.
By the way, there's evidence that ibuprofen delays healing of tendon issues, so try to avoid it: (source).

Do you take any other medication?

kristiannanw

Cherimoose wrote: »

kristiannanw wrote: »

Here's the thing... it seems like there more I rest and don't work out the worse it gets.
It now often times wakes me up in the middle of the night if my knee is in one position too long.

Degeneration can do that (tendinosis) as opposed to inflammation, which is worse with exercise. Tendons require frequent movement to stay healthy, since they lack blood vessels.. so if you can't see another doctor soon, try this: Several times an hour, move your knee through a large range of motion, preferably under load, like a few slow bodyweight squats, or go up & down a flight of stairs. If you must sit, bend & straighten your knee 10 times. Set a reminder app to do this every 15 minutes when you're awake.
Post an update in a couple weeks.
By the way, there's evidence that ibuprofen delays healing of tendon issues, so try to avoid it: (source).

Do you take any other medication?

Thank you I'll try that. I don't take anything else. Should I try naproxen or tylenol? I know naproxen is anti inflammatory med too. I really would be in rough shape without something.

Chieflrg

kristiannanw wrote: »

I was told I could still exercise as much as tolerated as my main concern was permanent damage.

My pain is mostly managed by ibuprofen.

Here's the thing... it seems like there more I rest and don't work out the worse it gets. Is that possible? Any time I back off my workouts to less than 3 a week I notice my knee gets worse.

Can anyone tell me if they think this is quad tendonitis and any recommendations or exercises to help?

Yep MRI can show damage. Though damage outside of trama doesn't always equate to pain. This is where many people misunderstand the complexity of the pain response. Plenty of people with a MRI showing damage have zero pain as well as no damage in a MRI with seemingly lots of pain. So your doctor is correct, more than likely it could be the cause but the solution is still the same. You should do what you can tolerate.

I wouldn't be concerned with permanent damage if you do exactly that...something you can tolerate with the understanding that sometimes quad tendonitis can take a very long time to reside but rest assure, it will. I've never had anybody not improve under a watchful eye and proper load management with the most stubborn case taking 9-10 months to subside.

One of the problems with ibuprofen is that it actually blocks the inflammation we need from our immune system to not only heal but achieve a hypertrophic response. Inflammation is a good thing once you understand it's purpose from the body. Personally I deal with this on a daily basis as Ibuprofen is currently the only means I have to deal with pain 24/7 throughout my entire body the last decade or so. I'm constant trying to prevent atrophy from NSAIDS & achieve hypertrophy from training on some level. You might benefit from pain relievers that are not considered NSAIDS.

Yes it is very possible. I hate to use myself as a example but my training is the very reason how I treat all my tendonitis and as well as lower pain in my joints as well as others that suffer from tendinitis or progressive autoimmune disease.

It it very well documented that it is better to resistance train than not. This is strongly suggested.

Since I don't know your means of training I will be very general.

You want to perform resistance training to the point you can tolerate the pain. This might be we change the movement, range of motion, load(be that volume or intensity).

We do this for a period of time that we can tolerate the pain and eventually we can hopefully perform full range of motion. We might discover certain movements aggravate the symptoms more than others. We might change our exercise selection.

Basically be more aware and acceptable of what you can do. Practice patience and good load management.

DancingMoosie

I did some research (Google searches) when mine was bothering me. I learned some stretches and tried lowering my weights for squats and did more deadlifts. I also read that it is better to keep working out, you just have to be careful.

Silkysausage

Look into trigger point therapy (self administered) of the medial and lateral head of the gastrocnemius, adductor brevis and longus, sartorius and rectus femoris and vastus medialis. I recommend 'The Concise Book of Trigger Points' by Simeon Niel-Asher.