At Blackberry Clinic we specialise in painful joints and muscles as well as back pain. We have a team of practitioners who are experts in diagnosis and treatment of many painful musculoskeletal conditions, including knee pain. There are many conditions that can cause knee pain. One of these is quadriceps tendinopathy, where the pain is felt above the knee cap, rather than below the knee cap. Here are some questions and answers about this painful knee condition. Come and see us if you are suffering from painful joints, we aim to get you back to full fitness with accurate diagnosis and expert treatment and advice. There are injections available for this condition if manual therapy does not have the answer.
What is Quadriceps Tendinopathy?
The quadriceps tendon attaches your quadriceps muscles to your kneecap (patella). It works to straighten your knee and helps you walk, jump, and climb stairs.
If the tendon becomes inflamed, it’s called quadriceps tendinitis (tendonitis) or tendinopathy.
Inflammation of the tendon, or tendinitis, is most common in athletes whose sports involve frequent jumping, but people who don’t play any sport can get quadriceps tendinitis.
Physiotherapy treatment is often very successful but if persistent there are a lot of other treatments available, such as prolotherapy.
What are the causes?
Quadriceps tendinitis is a common overuse injury, caused by repeated stress on your quadriceps tendon. This may be from increased activity, changing sports footwear, and muscle imbalances such as tight hamstrings or quads. The stress results in tiny tears in the tendon. As more tears occur, they cause pain, inflammation and weakening of the tendon. Tendinopathy is the term used if the condition continues for more than a few weeks.
How can I prevent this?
- If your knee hurts stop! – As soon as you notice exercise-related knee pain, ice the area and rest.
- Strengthen your muscles – Strong thigh muscles are better able to handle the stresses that can cause patellar tendinitis.
- Improve your technique – To make sure your technique is good, have some lessons from a professional when taking up a sport or using exercise equipment.
What are the symptoms?
Pain at the front of knee, just above your knee cap, is the first symptom of quadriceps tendinitis. Often it is a dull pain, gradually increasing over several months.The pain may get worse after sitting down for too long or jumping, squatting, and running. Initially, you may only feel pain in your knee as you begin exercising or after vigorous exercise. Over time, the pain may get worse and start to interfere with playing your sport. Eventually, the pain interferes with every day activities such as climbing the stairs, getting up from a chair etc.Swelling or redness around a joint is a red flag symptom and if you have this, please see a doctor as soon as possible.
How is it diagnosed?
Our Blackberry Clinic practitioners and doctors will do a thorough assessment of your knee and how you walk or run, having taken a history of the nature of the pain, how it started, what makes it worse etc. A physical assessment will also help determine where the pain is coming from. The doctor may use ultrasound to see if there are any tears in your quadriceps tendon. There are other diagnostic tests such as MRI or X-ray which can be organised by the doctor if necessary.
Treatments for Quadriceps Tendinopathy
For mild cases, rest and ice can help reduce inflammation, along with physio prescribed specific strengthening exercises and PHITS orthotics if necessary. You may be taught how to tape your knee if playing sport and advised to cut down on training until the pain settles. For more stubborn cases our physios can refer you to one of the doctors for further investigation and treatment. Injection treatments include platelet rich plasma injections and prolotherapy.
