Complaints that may point to Osgood Schlatter
- a painful bump at the front below the knee, where the patellar tendon attaches to the lower leg
- knee pain during or after exercise
- pain when climbing stairs
- pain when extending the knee
- knee pain when squatting or sitting on the knees
How the complaint arises
During the growth of the skeleton, all muscles and tendons must grow along with it. If the patellar tendon pulls hard on the growing shin bone, the attachment can become overloaded. This causes pain and swelling in the area.
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The swelling that patients often have is bone that has started to grow in response to the tendon problem. This swelling can be very painful, especially if something bumps into it or if the patient kneels.
How We Treat Knee Pain by Osgood Schlatter
Osgood Schlatter's pain is often provoked by sports, especially running and jumping. In most cases it is recommended to rest and discontinue sporting activity until the skeleton has matured. The complaints disappear when the skeleton stops growing, but in some cases this can take a long time.
Other treatments include taking painkillers or anti-inflammatories, doing stretches to stretch the thigh muscle and wearing a knee brace.
Prolotherapy for the painful tendon
If the above treatments do not provide enough relief, we recommend treating the painful tendon with prolotherapy.
Prolotherapy strengthens the attachment of the patellar tendon below the knee to the shin bone. That's where the pain comes from. The treatment also stimulates other ligaments of the knee to recover, if we find instability there.
We provoke the body's own healing response by injecting glucose. This ensures better blood flow and attracts repair cells to repair the painful tendon. Once the patellar tendon has recovered and returned to normal strength, the patient can return to their previous activity level.
It has been scientifically proven that with this treatment we can help the young athlete recover faster than with rest, physiotherapy or a wait-and-see policy.
The treatment is safe and well tolerated by most patients. Every patient is different: recovery can vary from a few weeks to a few months.
Recognizable symptoms
- A painful bump in the front below the knee
- Knee pain during or after exercise
- Pain when climbing stairs
- Pain when extending the knee
- Knee pain when squatting or sitting on your knees
Scientific references (2)
- Sanderson LM, Bryant A. Effectiveness and safety of prolotherapy injections for management of lower limb tendinopathy and fasciopathy: a systematic review. J Foot Ankle Res. 2015 Oct 20;8:57. doi: 10.1186/s13047-015-0114-5. eCollection 2015. Erratum in: J Foot Ankle Res. 2015;8:60. PubMed PMID: 26500703; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC4617485.
- Topol GA, Podesta LA, Reeves KD, Raya MF, Fullerton BD, Yeh HW. Hyperosmolar dextrose injection for recalcitrant Osgood-Schlatter disease. Pediatrics. 2011 Nov;128(5):e1121-8. doi: 10.1542/peds.2010-1931. Epub 2011 Oct 3. PubMed PMID: 21969284.
