Patella Tendon and all that

[Wushu24]

Just curious if anyone has dealt with this particular problem before. Guess I should give some background info first. I started having knee pain (below the knee and to the side) about 5 months ago in my right knee. After resting it a couple of days and still feeling pain, I went in to see my dr. He said I aggravated my patella & bursella (sp?) tendons and to take 4 weeks off. I couldn't pinpoint what activities caused the pain, since I do running, horseback riding, and of course MA. So I stopped everything except my MA classes. The pain went away, I started everything back up, and lo and behold, the pain came right back. I narrowed it down to whenever I land from a jump on my right leg (wushu jumping front kick, etc) I must be landing wrong and irritating my patella. So I gave up all jumps/jumpkicks that require me to land on my right leg. Pain went away except when I'm required to do them in class.

That was a couple of months ago. Still, I have no pain unless I jump on my right leg. Unfortunately, I'm getting into a lot of kicks/jumps that require landing on the right leg, which I can't practice. I'm taking aleve every day, and I have a neoprene knee support. I'm also back into running & horseback riding, and I try to do squats once a week to strengthen my knees. I do calf raises and standing jumps (landing on both legs) and frog jumps to try and help my landing abilities.

Anyone have had this problem with the patella before? And can anyone recommend other exercises to strengthen that area, or perhaps have a different approach to healing it? Any thoughts on how to land properly (besides absorbing impact, I know that one...)? Thanks!

Whew, man am I long winded.

[mortal]

I had a similar problem. I think it has to do with your initial kick, not the landing. When you lift your leg for the front slap you are pulling your leg up with your knee unintensionally. Probably due to fatigue. I would avoid those type of kicks(crescent, front flex) for a while.

Welcome to the forum!

[Wushu24]

Thanks for the advice, and thanks for the welcome!

[doc]

Bursitis and tendonitis can take quite a while to heal, and exercising as you are (running, etc, anything that puts stress on the knee, which, is most everything) prevents adequate healing. When your doctor said to take it easy, he meant it. Aleve and these other nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory agents, only mask the condition; they diminish the pain, pain, which is acting as a signal for you to "slow it down". They're also no good for your kidneys and your stomach lining.

If you continue to abuse your joints, you might not be surprised to discover that long term knee problems will be in your future. Strengthening the knee is a proper thing to do, once the tendonitis has resolved. I would suggest that, if you want to continue to exercise, but not destroy your knees, get in the water and swim, without a lot of lower leg kicking action. Stop running, slow down on the MA, and stop the squats and jumping things. All that you describe is harmful to you at this stage of the game. If you don't let the tendons and bursae heal, they will continue to remain inflamed; long term chronic irritation is a possibility. Take it easy for a while, you have the rest of your life to exercise. Provided, of course, that you take care of your joints.

[Wushu24]

Ick, looks like another month or more of taking off. Thanks for the advice doc, as much as I don't want to, I'll stop everything I can and get this durned knee healed. It's a little disheartening for me, since in 2002 I finally recovered from an IT band injury that had me out from everything for a year (on the other knee.) One of the reasons in fact I picked back up martial arts, I couldn't run competitively anymore (been a long distance runner for 10 years.) Oh well, as long as it will eventually get better, it's worth it.

[doc]

It's only a month or two. I've had to stop gong fu for the past year and a half because of my lungs. When you think about it, it's only time. We gotta take care of our bodies, as you get older, you'll appreciate the fact that you did.

[Wushu24]

Sorry to hear about your lungs. That really puts things into perspective for me. How can I complain over a few months when someone as dedicated as you to the martial arts has had to give up much more time..

Cheers mate.