5 Effective Treatments To Cure Jumper’s Knee In Children

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It’s natural for your kid to jump and involve in playing activities like running or kicking. Sometimes such activities of your kid might put excess strain on his kneecap which might cause pain. If your child complains about severe pain near the bottom of his kneecap or has tenderness in this region, it might be owing to jumper’s knee.

What Is A Jumper’s Knee?

This condition is also known as patellar tendinitis as it affects the patellar tendon of your kid and causes irritation. This tendon connects the patella, which is the kneecap of your kid and the shinbone.

This is a common injury among kids who are involved in sports training, as their knee undergoes severe stress.

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What Causes Jumper’s Knee In Kids?

This condition occurs when the knee of your kid is overworked. Especially if your kid is a basketball player, an athlete or a volleyball player he may suffer from Jumper’s Knee.

  • This is because your kid would be asked to perform a lot of activities such as jumping, running, kicking and landing motions which would cause severe stress on his knees.
  • This in turn would cause inflammation of patellar tendinitis.

Different Stages In Jumper’s Knee In Kids:

Here are different stages in Jumper’s knee:

  • First Stage: Your kid will experience pain only after the activity. There will be no impairment in knee functions.
  • Second Stage: Your kid would have pain during and after his playing time. Here the performance of the activities of your kid is not affected.
  • Third Stage: Your kid would experience continuous but tolerable pain, during the games and even after the games. This is the stage when your child may not be able to perform well in the activity, because of the prolonged pain.
  • Fourth Stage: Your kid must not be allowed to indulge in any activity in this stage, as his tendon would be torn and would require surgical procedure.

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What Are The Symptoms For The Patellar Tendinitis?

Keep an eye on the symptoms related to this condition of patellar tendinitis in your kid to diagnose the condition at an early stage. Though this condition has severe pain related to it, it would reduce considerably with treatment. Here are few jumpers knee symptoms:

  • Severe pain in the kneecap area, especially, at the bottom.
  • Swelling in and around the region of your kid’s kneecap (bottom).
  • Intolerable pain, while your kid tries to bend his knee.
  • Increase in pain during activity.

Diagnosis Of Jumper’s Knee:

The doctor will ask about the health history of your kid before examining him. He may advise the following tests:

  • X-Ray: This would help the doctor in finding the area where the bone is affected.
  • Ultrasonography And MRI: If your kid’s stage is a bit advanced, then both ultrasonography and MRI scan would be advised.

How To Cure Jumpers Knee?

You must make sure that your kid follows the instructions of your physician, until he fully recovers from this Jumper’s knee condition.

  1. Your doctor may ask your kid to stop running or jumping and take rest for at least two weeks.
  2. Apply ice to your kid’s knee for three or four times a day and this must be continued for fifteen to twenty minutes. Do not place the ice on the skin directly. You can use an ice bag or frozen peas pack after wrapping in a soft cloth.
  3. Your doctor may prescribe anti-inflammatory drug for your kid to ease the pain.
  4. Your kid has to use crutches, as directed by the doctor.
  5. Your kid might have to use the patellar tendon strap to provide knee support, while doing specifically instructed exercise.

With these jumpers knee treatments, your kid would heal completely. You need not place any restrictions on your kid in using his knee after the treatment.

We hope the information in this article about jumper’s knee or patellar tendinitis results useful for you. Do you want to add more information about jumper’s knee? You can share your views by commenting below.

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