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By Marc Straus
CWK
Producer
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“Now we’re seeing it more in girls, but I think that’s because they are playing at an earlier age,
with more intensity than they have in the past.“
– Dr. Stephanie Martin, pediatric orthopedic surgeon,
Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta –
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It’s
called Osgood-Schlatter disease, but it isn’t a disease
at all. Rather, it’s a common bone disorder that leaves
many athletic kids limping on the playing field.
Young athletes Virginia Seiler and Lane Siedor know what
it’s like. They’re only 11, but both of them
practice and play in pain. The girls have Osgood-Schlatter,
which primarily affects the bone just below the kneecap.
“When I run, after I run, it feels like a bunch of
needles going in my knee,” says Virginia.
And as Lane tells it, “Just pain on the outer part
of my knee, and then under my kneecap a lot.”
Dr. Stephanie Martin, a pediatric orthopedic surgeon at
Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta, explains, “The
growth plate grows as the child is getting older, that’s
what gives you height. But, when they’re playing sports,
when they have a tremendous amount of tension at that growth
plate, it gets painful. It swells. It can lay down new bone
and there can become a bump on the front of your knee. “
And she says the gender distribution of the condition is
changing. “Now we’re seeing it more in girls,
but I think that’s because they are playing at an earlier
age, with more intensity than they have in the past.”
Although it’s painful, the good news is that Osgood-Schlatter
is easy to treat.
“I will put them on an anti-inflammatory medicine
like ibuprofen,” says Dr. Martin. “I will do
ice massage. I’ll put a kneepad over that bump.”
Dr. Martin says the best way for kids 11 to 14 to avoid
Osgood-Schlatter is to stretch as much as possible — before
and after practice. And, while parents should monitor the
pain, she says that the decision whether to play or sit out
should be left up to the child.
“Everybody has a little bit different [pain] threshold,” explains
Dr. Martin. “I don’t think that there is a point
where it becomes a dangerous problem. It’s an annoying
problem, it hurts like the dickens, but it’s not something
that’s going cause them irreparable harm.” |
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By Larry Eldridge, Jr.
CWK Network, Inc.
Unless you, your child or someone you know has been diagnosed
with Osgood-Schlatter disease, chances are you’ve never
heard of it. However, it is a common affliction that affects
children ages nine through 13. Drs. Robert Meisterling and
Eric Wall provide some answers to common questions:
- What are the symptoms of Osgood-Schlatter disease? If
your child has swelling, tenderness and aching pain beneath
his or her knee joint, it may be Osgood-Schlatter disease.
The pain gets worse when your child is active and better
when he or she rests.
- Is it permanent? It’s temporary, but common,
condition. Osgood-Schlatter is not really a disease. It’s
an overuse syndrome – a set of symptoms that happen
at the same time and with excessive activity.
- Who is susceptible to the disease? Young athletes
usually get Osgood-Schlatter during their rapid growth
years (ages nine to 13). Youths who are extremely active
in sports may be vulnerable. It happens more often in boys,
but girls get it at younger ages.
- What is affected? Usually Osgood-Schlatter affects
only one knee. Look for a slightly swollen, warm and tender
bony bump below your child’s kneecap. The bump hurts
when you press it. It may hurt at night. It also hurts
when you kneel, jump, climb stairs, run, squat, lift weights
or do any activity that bends or fully extends your leg.
- What causes it? The pain comes from repeated
pulling of the kneecap (patellar) tendon. Fast growing
bone is susceptible to the tendon pull. Repetitive, overuse
injuries may make the tendon inflamed at the spot where
it connects to the shinbone (tibia). The tendon may even
tear away, sometimes taking a tiny piece of shinbone with
it.
- What can I do? Don’t ignore the pain! Rest
your knee until it gets better. If you do, Osgood-Schlatter
usually heals itself within six to 18 months. But if you
try to ignore the pain and continue doing the activities
that caused it, your condition may become harder to treat,
and might even come back later in your life. You don’t
necessarily have to stop participating in sports altogether,
just limit your activity. If you are a competitive athlete,
you may need to stop training for two to three months.
Also, you may not achieve your most effective level of
training for six to seven months. While you heal, you can
use a pain reliever like ibuprofen to reduce pain and swelling.
You may also try icing the area after sports and/or using
a protective kneepad. If the pain does not go away, your
doctor may want you to wear a brace or a cast.
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What
Parents Need to Know
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By Larry Eldridge, Jr.
CWK Network, Inc.
Although it may seem tedious, stretching is a very important
part of any physical activity. It provides flexibility and
gives muscles and tendons a chance to warm up and get ready
to perform. Drs. Meisterling and Wall suggest the following
stretches to help prevent Osgood-Schlatter disease. If your
child has already had the disease, these stretches can help
prevent a recurrence.
- Quadriceps stretch – Lie on your stomach
and bend one knee toward your back. Grab your ankle and
try to make your heel touch your backside, if possible.
- Hamstring stretch – Sit with one leg straight
out in front and the other leg bent inward so the bottom
of your foot is sitting parallel to your extended leg.
Lean forward, keeping your knee straight. Reach your arms
in front and try to keep your back straight. You should
feel a stretch in the back of your thigh.
- Straight-leg raises – Lie on the floor
with your back propped up a few inches on your elbows.
Bend your unaffected knee to a comfortable position. Wrap
an ankle weight on the ankle of the affected leg. Start
with a weight you can lift 10 times on the affected leg.
Tighten the thigh muscles and lift the leg about 12 inches,
keeping it straight. Hold for five seconds. Slowly lower
the leg and relax. Do this 10 times at first and work up
to 15. Once you can do 15 repetitions, increase the weight
and go back to 10 reps.
- Short-arc quadriceps exercises – This exercise
is the same as the straight-leg raises, except you have
a couple of rolled-up towels or a blanket under the affected
knee to raise it about six inches from the floor. Tighten
your thigh muscles and straighten the leg until it is about
12 inches from the floor. Hold for five seconds. Slowly
lower the leg and relax. Start with 10 repetitions for
each leg and increase to 15, using the same ankle weight
and repetition progression as for straight-leg raises.
- Wall slides – To do wall slides, or quarter-squats,
stand about a foot from a smooth wall and lean back against
it. Your feet should be shoulder width apart. Holding a
light dumbbell in each hand with your arms straight, bend
your knees and slowly lower your body four to six inches.
(If you feel knee pain, you have squatted too far.) Hold
for five seconds, then rise up quickly. Start with 10 repetitions
and increase to 15, gradually increasing the dumbbell weights
in the same type of progression as for straight-leg raises.
Later you can advance to a single-leg wall slide. Do this
the same way as a standard wall slide, but raise the unaffected
leg about an inch off the floor as you slide, squat and
straighten. Single-leg wall slides allow you to double
the resistance on the affected leg. In place of wall slides,
working each leg individually on a leg-press weight machine
is another way to safely strengthen your quadriceps muscles.
- Jumping
rope – If you’re an athlete, off-season
and preseason jumping exercises can also help. A six-week pre-season
jump-rope program, starting at one minute a day and progressing
by 10 seconds each day to five minutes, will slowly strengthen
the quadriceps muscles.
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American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons
The Physician and Sports Medicine
Virtual
Children’s Hospital
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