Anatomy of the Knee
Muscles, Tendons & Bones
Back View of Knee
Knee Tendonitis is an injury to one of the tendons connecting to the knee. When you see "itis" on any body part, it just means that area is inflamed. So Knee Tendonitis means inflammation in one or more tendons in the knee. In this case the inflammation is caused by damage to the tendon caused by heavy overuse.
You have both tendons and ligaments in the knee. Tendons connect muscles to bone while ligaments connect bone to bone. But they are basically the same thing, and most of the time they are referred to as Knee Tendons. The major tendons of the knee are like a steel cable. Super strong tissue that connects from the muscles of the thigh down to the upper part of the lower leg bone called the tibia. The thigh muscles pull on this "cable" of tendon to straighten the leg.
Knee Tendons can handle enormous forces.
It takes a lot of repetitive stress to injure them.
It usually takes a lot of jumping sports like basketball or volleyball or some similar activity.
Running with a backpack or something of that nature could also cause the kind of stress needed.
But it would not happen immediately.
It takes high amounts of repetitive stress overtime.
The tendons are very strong and can handle very large volumes of light repetitive stress.
But heavy heavy stress for a long period can result in damage to the knee tendons.
Jumping is a prime example of an activity that can lead to Knee Tendonitis.
When you jump it is estimated that you land with 3 to 7 times your bodyweight.
A portion of that energy is absorbed in your knee tendons.
The tendons in the knee can behave kind of like a spring.
They store and recover a little bit of energy when you jump or run.
The tendons do this by flexing.
However, they can only flex a tiny amount.
Usually less than 5 percent of their length.
But, high forces like those caused by jumping can push the tendon beyond it's normal limits.
If the tendon is forced slightly beyond it's normal limit once or twice, then it won't be a problem.
But if it happens repeatedly over time, the ongoing stress can result in micro-tears or bruising.
The end result is an irritated and inflamed tendon.
Doctors will usually call this tendonitis.
Tendonitis in the Knee can be painful and get in the way of your daily routine. It can hurt when you do just about anything. Even walking or just bending and straightening the leg can be painful. The knee may feel weaker or unstable. Walking up stairs can be very difficult when you have Knee Tendonitis. You may feel tightness and swelling in the knee, or tenderness around the kneecap. It's important to get started with a healing plan as soon as you know you have a problem. If a tendon is irritated and inflamed over a very long period it can become degenerative overtime, which ultimately puts you at risk for tendon rupture.
Note: Knee Tendonitis is a general description of a common type of injury where a tendon in the knee is damaged from overuse.
It's helpful to get a specific diagnosis of your knee injury.
A doctor can perform movement tests that will tell them which tendon is injured and they can do an X-ray or MRI if more information is needed.
This can help you focus your treatment.
But ultimately, the healing steps will be the same regardless of diagnosis.
Most of the advice on the web about how to heal this injury will actually prolong it. And some of the suggestions might be helpful but only at the right time. It's important to know the right steps and apply them at the right time.
There are 3 Key Factors:
1. The severity of your injury.
2. The amount of reinjury you do.
3. Proactive treatments you apply.
What people really want to know is, "When will the pain be gone and I can return to normal life?".
That's very different than when your tissue is actually fully healed.
Long before your Knee Tendonitis is fully healed, you will be doing most of what you could do before.
If it's very minor case of Knee Tendonitis then most of the pain can be gone in a few weeks.
It is wise to be careful.
Going right back to the same thing that caused the injury can land you right back where you started.
Ease your way back to normal activities.
If it's moderate case of Knee Tendonitis then it can take 1 to 2 months to heal.
It can be a bit tricky because an irritated and inflamed tendon is easy to reinjure.
You have to get the inflammation down and rest the area.
If you are going back to sports then wait until you are fully healed and then go back gradually.
Going right back to a full day on the basketball court is a great way to reinjure yourself all over again.
Ease back into activities.
For very bad case of Knee Tendonitis, with lots of swelling and inflammation it can take 3 months or more to fully heal.
You can still reduce the pain and inflammation quickly with cold therapy, but it will take longer to get back to normal activity.
More damage in the tendon means it will take longer to heal.
At this point, people want to know what they can do to speed up the process.
There are definitely things you can do to proactively speed the healing process.
You don't have to do them, but athletes and those who want to shorten the healing time as much as possible will use diathermic processes like BFST and Ultrasound.
It will heal on its own, even without those proactive steps.
It will just take longer.
The short-list of things to avoid are to not drive through the pain, avoid using painkillers, and avoid exercising and stretching that can make the situation worse. As long as you are still in the painful stage, stretching is bad, not good. Physiotherapy is also for after you get past the painful period - it's good then, but it can be damaging if started too soon. If you aren't happy with the best-case healing times, don't do things that are going to drag out the injury.
Rest is the first step to healing Knee Tendonitis.
Next, use cold therapy to reduce pain and bring down the inflammation in the painful area.
Cold therapy pulls the pain out of the injury super fast and does not mask the pain.
Caution: There's a big temptation to take a bunch of pain meds for this injury because it hurts quite a bit. Don't do that if you can avoid it. The biggest reason is it does not help the tissues heal at all, and masks the pain, making it more likely that the condition will get worse.
If you use cold therapy regularly, you can reduce the inflammation and give it a chance to heal.
Wearing a cold pack on the area for longer periods of time can help this happen.
You need a type of cold pack that distributes the cold energy evenly and is just the right temperature.
Which is just above freezing.
The pack needs to stay in that safe and effective temperature zone for extended periods.
Ice pack injuries are common.
A proper gel pack, like ColdCure, will take the inflammation and pain right out without risk of "cold burns".
Don't use cold right before activity.
But always use it right after activity, even if it does not hurt at that time.
Any activity will increase inflammation, and the cold will reduce that inflammation.
This way, you can exit the cycle of the swelling, which can lead to more injury.
Next tape the area.
You have to avoid reinjury.
This is critical.
If you reduce the inflammation but don't protect the area from injury you could end up right where you started.
There is a reason pro athletes use tape. It works.
When you tape an injury, you keep the skin under the tape from moving.
This reduces the amount of movement in the injured tissues below the skin.
This works remarkably well for protecting damaged tissues.
It's like armor for your injury.
If you want to take treatments to the next level, get blood flow to the area using diathermy.
Ultrasound is an example of diathermy that can increase blood flow without exercise.
But most people don't have ready access to Ultrasound.
Anyone, though, can use BFST to increase blood flow to damaged tissues.
It's easy and you can do it at home.
With regular BFST treatments at home you can get Knee Tendonitis healing quickly.
There is so much bad advice out there when it comes to Knee Tendonitis. Here is a breakdown of some of the most common things to avoid. This is not a complete list. But you will notice a common theme. You need to let this injury rest. You want to reduce inflammation in a healthy way that does not increase your chance of making the condition worse. And you want to avoid anything that is causing more pain, because pain means you are stopping your body from healing your Knee Tendonitis.
There are a ton of bands, braces, and straps on Amazon and other sites claiming to fix Knee Tendonitis. The idea is that by holding the pressure on the injured tissue it will be protected from moving too much. They also claim it will keep the area from swelling by squeezing the area.
In reality, knee compression bands just make the condition worse. You have an irritated and swollen tendon in your knee so squeezing right on that exact location will increase the irritation. Most compression bands do exactly this. They squeeze right on the injured tissue to supposedly "stabilize" it. But it really just squeezes it tightly. The result is more irritation to the injury and more swelling. And these bands do not reduce inflammation as they claim.
Instead, use cold compression to reduce pain and inflammation. The mild and even compression, combined with cold, will dramatically lower pain levels and inflammation quickly. Then, use tape to protect your knee from further injury. Tape provides just the right amount of restriction of movement in the damaged tissues. Tape does not wrap all the way around the knee, causing excessive restriction and binding of the damaged tissues like a compression band does. Just run a strip of tape right over the painful area. Make an X with the tape right where the pain is and you will be amazed at how much more stable the area feels immediately.
When you stabilize the damaged tissues and reduce movement, you protect the area. This helps give your Knee Tendonitis time to heal. Combining tape and cold therapy is a fantastic way to start reducing inflammation and pain while protecting the area from further injury. Just make sure you use Medical Tape. Not sports tape. Sports tapes are not designed for extended use and you need to keep this area taped up all day while healing. Regular sports tapes often have toxic chemicals in the glue. This is common in many big-name brands.
Once a tendon is damaged it needs blood flow to heal.
But how do you get that blood flow?
Many sites or "experts" will suggest massaging the nearby muscles or even directly massaging the painful spot on the tendon.
But this is applying movement and pressure directly to the exact injured and swollen point on your tendon.
This just adds to the problem.
You really need to let it rest.
That is what will get Knee Tendonitis to start healing.
Cold therapy can reduce the pain and inflammation.
Taping it will help protect it when you have to move around.
Blood flow will help it heal.
And yes, massage does bring blood flow.
But at what cost?
Try an diathermic therapy like BFST instead to bring blood flow without having to move the injured tissues.
The movement of massage and exercise will only create more inflammation and prolong the injury.
Exercise is another super common suggestion that you should avoid until the time is right. Again, the thinking is similar. Somehow a special exercise is supposed to get the irritated and inflamed Knee Tendon to relax. But, exercise puts the already inflamed Knee Tendon through more repetitions of irritating movement. Exercise is good for strengthening muscles in the leg, but that is for after the tendon has healed. First you need to rest the tendon. Give it a chance to heal. Then gradually go back to exercise later on in the healing process.
This is a common idea with lots of injuries.
No matter what kind of injury you have someone will suggest you stretch it.
But does this make sense?
Tendons don't really stretch significantly.
You can stretch the muscles attached to the tendon.
But with Tendonitis of the Knee, you have an inflamed tendon that is bruised and damaged.
If you stretch the muscle attached to that tendon it won't make the tendon better.
It probably won't make it worse.
Let pain be your guide.
If it hurts, stop, and go back to stretching later on in the healing process.
It is ok to take pain medication to sleep. But during the day it is best to use the pain as a reminder signal. It will keep you from adding to your injury. Pain killers mask the pain and don't do anything to address the injury causing that pain. This can cause a false sense of ability that will lead to a worsened condition and much longer recovery time. If you have to take painkillers, try to restrict them to times when you're at rest. Using them when you are active is a recipe for permanent damage.
If you seek help with Knee Tendonitis, there is a remote chance you will be offered some sort of injection.
If you choose any therapy, medication, or treatment that only takes away pain and swelling temporarily then make sure you understand the pros and cons of what you are doing.
The artificial removal of the pain and swelling can lull you into a false sense that you are healed, causing you to do activities you should not do.
Often doctors don't even tell you that you should rest during this time.
They likely won't tell you that you should take other steps to heal.
They will, however, offer you another shot when you still have your Knee Tendonitis later.
Steroids actually thin the tendon tissue over time and make it more vulnerable to reinjury.
This could lead to tendon rupture or the need for surgery in the future.
Protect the area with medical tape.
Athletic tape like KT tape and Rock Tape are only designed to be used for a couple hours at a time.
They have ingredients that irritate and damage your skin long term.
For your Knee Tendonitis you are going to want to tape all day long, every day for a few weeks.
With that kind of use, you should only use medical grade tape.
Don't do any sports, exercise, stretching and take it easy as much as you can at work.
Give your body the time and the break it needs from activities that add stress to the injured tissues.
Just a few weeks of solid rest is probably enough to stabilize your injury, and you can then start to slowly work your way back to your regular routine.
Focus on healing first.
Physiotherapists and doctors recommend stretching and strengthening exercises because it helps to promote blood flow through your injured knee tendon.
When we are injured, we need to reduce our activity, and that leads to a weakening of the muscles called atrophy.
In the early days of recovery, it is only the motion that we need to pump the joint.
We don't need to bear a lot of weight on the knee.
Really, as long as you don't feel pain, whatever activity you are doing is probably okay.
So, in the early days of recovering, the early days of PT, the key is motion, not exercise.
Physiotherapy is also intended to help strengthen the surrounding muscles to rebuild that lost muscle once you are on the mend.
But it can be harmful if heavy stretching and exercises are started too early.
Your injury first needs to stabilize, and in order to stabilize the injury you need to rest.
If you still have significant injury, any physio you do should start off very light.
Our advice is, don't start Physical Therapy until your condition has stabilized. When you start, if you feel pain during or after PT, speak up! Your clinician can't feel what you feel, so it is very important to advocate for yourself during physio. Let them know how it feels at each stage so they can use that as a guide to treat you properly. PT is not supposed to hurt and if it does, you may be re-injuring your Knee Tendon. Never drive through the pain. If your physio recommends you work through the pain you should consider a different therapist.
When you rest, your blood flow slows down which doesn't help your injury heal.
This is why BFST® is so important to start early on in your recovery.
The BFST® will increase blood flow when you can't exercise and stretch aggressively.
This enables exchange of nutrients and waste with the synovial fluid - to promote the healing process.
So, with BFST, you can have increased circulation for hours even though your actual motion of your joint is quite light, and that is invaluable to your knee.
BFST stimulation also helps prevent reinjury when you become more active.
Giving your Knee Tendonitis BFST therapy before any activity triggers the Knee Tendon as though there is significant exercise going on.
Think of it as a warm-up lap for your knee before you actually start the exercise.
That warm-up is invaluable in preventing reinjury, particularly if you were fairly immobile before hand.
Start BFST early. The earlier the better!
Use the BFST® to warm up your leg before PT and before any other heavy activity.
This will help prevent further injury as a result of the PT activity.
At the beginning of your injury, even before the injury has had a chance to stabilize and long before you start physio, the ColdCure® Wraps will help keep the pain and swelling under control.
Cold compression is highly recommended to stabilize a fresh injury.
And when you are active, invariably, you're going to aggravate your condition to some degree.
If you're very active, you may aggravate it a lot!
After any activity where you may have aggravated your injury, use cold compression to minimize the negative impact and stabilize your Knee Tendon.
Always use your ColdCure® wrap after any heavy activity and after PT.
The KB Support Tape™ should be applied every morning and worn all day long to help prevent re-injury, including to PT.
It protects you when you move.
KB Tape is armor for your injury.
For many people, King Brand® products, used in the comfort of your own home, are all that is required without having to attend and pay for Physical Therapy appointments.
Because you don't have to move to use them, the King Brand BFST® and ColdCure® Wraps can be started any time in your recovery process.
There are things you can do to speed up your healing.
Stabilize the injured area and protect from Reinjury with KB Support Tape™.
Use ColdCure® to reduce pain.
Use BFST® to bring blood flow to the area and speed healing.
ColdCure® will take the pain right out of the injured area.
And it will do it without dangerous pain killers and without masking the pain.
KB Support Tape will help protect the injured tissues.
It reduces how much the skin under the tape can move.
This in turn will limit the movement of the damaged tissues below the skin.
It works remarkably well.
Use only high quality medical grade tape.
Not athletic tape.
BFST will help the injured tissue heal by bringing blood flow right where it is needed most.
This way you can get all the benefit of increased blood flow to bring healing nutrients to the injured are without resorting to therapies that can be damaging like exercise or stretching.
For a little while - not forever - it is really helpful to give your Knee Tendon a rest. In many cases, resting your knee for a few weeks will give it time to heal to a point that your body gets ahead of the healing / reinjury cycle. It's important to realize that once the pain and any swelling go away, your underlying injury will not be healed completely, so take it easy. Go back to regular life gradually, once the pain and swelling are gone.
