What is it?
Osgood-Schlatter is named after Dr. Robert Osgood and Dr. Carl Schlatter, who defined the disease in 1903. Osgood-Schlatter (oz-good shlot-ter) is one of the most common causes of knee pain in adolescents. During a growth spurt, a child’s bones grow rapidly. If your child participates in activities that involve a lot of running, jumping and bending, there is repeated stress on the top of the tibia (the big bone in the lower leg) at the point where the tendon of the kneecap) inserts. With these “overuse” activities, the quadriceps muscle can pull or tug on the band of tissue that connects the knee to the tibia, called the patellar tendon. The patellar tendon may then begin to pull away from the raised area on the tibia where it attaches, which causes pain and swelling. Osgood-Schlatter occurs most often in kids who are participating in athletics, affecting as many as one in five adolescent athletes. It commonly occurs in boys’ ages 13 to 14 and in girls’ ages 11 to 12 and is more common in boys. It generally occurs in one knee, but can occur in both.
Symptoms
Most parents will describe their child’s symptoms as “growing pains”. Most patients will describe:
- knee pain that worsens with activity but improves with rest
- swelling
- tenderness below the kneecap
Treatment
Osgood-Schlatter can be very frustrating to an active adolescent, but it is temporary and as their bones finish growing, the symptoms should go away. This generally occurs around age 14 for girls and age 16 for boys.
Treatment is aimed at reducing pain and swelling. Your physician will discuss with you if he wants your child to take a medication such as Advil or Ibuprofen. Your physician may suggest using a strap across the patellar tendon during high impact activities to help lessen the stress on the area where the patellar tendon inserts. Icing immediately following activity for 15-20 minutes can help with pain and swelling. In some cases, your physician may recommend that your child stop participating in certain sports until the pain has been gone for 2-4 months.
Prevention
Tight quadriceps muscles cause a “pulling” stress on the patellar tendon where it inserts in the tibia, so stretching exercises for the quadriceps, hamstrings and calf muscles are important. These stretching exercises should be performed both before and after trainings and competition. Your physician may feel that your child could benefit from short-term physical therapy. It is important that adolescent athletes not try to mask their symptoms or “play through the pain”, as they will likely only aggravate their symptoms and not be able to perform at their peak ability. The goal is to support your child through this temporary, challenging stage so that they may return to the activities they love stronger than ever!
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