Knee pain and teenagers/pre-teens

[hennipenni]

Anybody any experiences of this? DD (12.9) has been suffering intermitantly since the spring, was fine during the six week hols as long as she wasn't to active and cut out all sport. Now she's back at school doing PE it's started up again (not helped by the trampoline we've just bought).

She saw the GP who most helpfully said It's very common, have some anti-inflammatory analgesia, rest it for 10 days and sent us on our merry way! I bought her some tubi-grip which helps. Now,I have made another appointment for a few days time as she at one point this week was crying with the pain. She's very dissapointed as she can't participate as much in her PE lessons.

I was wondering if anybody has experience of this, what treatment helped and what was the outcome. Thankyou.

rushing out
google chondromalaecia patellae

DH had this as a young teen. He was diagnosed with Osgood-Schlatters Disease, but don't panic - it's not serious.

My niece is also due to see the doctor as her athletics coach thinks she may also have it. Maybe make another appointment with your GP - or another one - and ask about this.

I said, "don't panic", because wen FIL brought DH home from doctor and MIL asked what the doctor had said, FILbreezily replied "OH, don't worry, it' just a bone disease." MIL immediately started imagining chemotherapy, operations etc. etc.

when

Have a look at this henni - Osgood-Schlatters.

I suffered knee pain throughout my teens into my 20's, only improving when I got pg - that lax ligaments thing I suppose. I played a lot of netball before the evolution of decent footwear and pretty much hammered my knees.

Anti-inflammatories should help but if she really is in a lot of pain then you could get a referral to orthopaedics. I discovered through them that I have one slightly longer leg. Many people do but combined with the netball and poor footwear I did a bit of damage. There's also a link between joint pain and infection, either viral or Strep.

I think I had this (was never diagnosed back then!). I suffered quite badly when I was about 11 for a couple of years. It isn't serious but it is painful, especially at night. I didn't stop sport but I did lay off it. Going to bed with a hot water bottle really helped. I also think yoga and stretching would have done, had I known about it.

Your poor DD, she has my sympathies as it is uncomfortable.

me me me me!!!!!

There is another condition that teenage girls get other than Osgood Schlatters. Inflamation behind the kneecap.

I had a bit of this - it started at around the same age (coincidentally when periods started....) and continued until my early twenties.

Well, that's not strictly true...I still get it sometimes. HOWEVER, I do have a lower back problem (a malformed sacro-iliac joint which caused/s pain in the knee, ankle and hip joints at varying times, in varying ways.

Sometimes it was so bad I couldnt walk, and yet, a hot water bottle on the lower back was like a miracle cure. Not saying that is what it is, but, I didnt get diagnosed with my problem until AFTER I had DD. (SPD persisted it was diagnosed then). I was 28......

Ditto Bobby. I had to have physio at 16 after years and years of pains and strange clicking noises. Didn't really work though.

I wonder about a link with hormones VVVQV. If pg hormones can make your joints and ligaments lax it's quite likely that the hormone changes during puberty could do something similar don't you think?

oh, i had what bobbygrantycal said...just googled....

Chondromalacia Patellae.

As well as the other stuff.

My point was (albeit lost in my waffling) - dont let GP's and consultants fob you off with "growing pains".

I was told it was something to do with teh long leg bones growing at a different rate to teh patella and causing strain/damage to cartilage or ligaments. Or something [vague emoticon]

Saggar - 100% agree. I've mentioned to GP's and they just mutter and move on.

I've always thought this. So many things seemed to 'go wrong' when my hormones kicked in. Some of those things only got better when I got pg.....(i've realised I was probably depressed in my teens and didnt realise it - again - hormones).

My mums arthritis started after she had my youngest brother. Got really bad (and mood swings were awful). She started HRT and her mobility improved about 80%!!!!! and moods got better too....

when she's running low we always know...she's moody AND 'clicky-kneed'....

I had surgery on my knee and although it improved a little it was being pg which really sorted it.

I used to get really painful knee joints when I was at high school. A chiropracter said I had fallen arches in my feet which then put the rest of my joints out of alignment and stressed my knee joints. The solution was easy... arch supports in my clompy school shoes. My knees only hurt during term time and it was due to the awful leather shoes my Mum made me wear.

I have extremely high arches, my feet are goat-like

I had a double arthroscopy when 16, and single one again when 20/21.

They discovered the patellae thing when I was 20/21.

I had chondromalacia patellae - not diagnosed until my early 20s but spent most of my teens suffering.

There is an excellent strapping you can do for sprot which stops the knee cap grinding and makes it move down the right 'track'.

Will find it for you if that helps.
Get her referred to a physio

and there are exercises that you can do to help

Thankyou for the replies. I will ask GP about both these conditions. I will ask for a orthopod referral as I feeel that she can't go through the rest of her education missing PE every week, also don't want her taking medication long term either.

VVV/saggarsmakers it also coincided with her beginning her periods too, she's long and lanky which I don't suppose helps!

Bobby, could you find the name of the brace for me? Whist tubigrip helps I feel that she could do with more support.

Its not a brace - you tape them in a particular way,,,....

give me a minute

Ah sorry, would she be able to do it herself at school?

here

I used to do it on myself - a phsyip taught me in 5 mins.
You basically have 2 lengths of stretchy tape a bit wider than your knee cap then you align you knee cap correctly and pull the tape on to hold it in place

Thanks may give it a try. Can I ask whether you used to get pain everytime you excercised?

henni, McConnel knee taping is very good at pain relief for patello -femoral joint pain (fairly common in teenage girls), but it's worth getting assessed by a physio first. The tape can be used to alter the tracking of the knee cap as it passes over the groove at the front of the femur, but you can have altered rotation/glide of the patella, so thae taping is slightly different.

What I'm saying is is see a physio first before you start fiddling about with tape. They will be able to tell you straight away if it's osgood schlatters or PFJ dysfunction, and will be able to give DD some specific exercises to help. They will also teach your DD how to tape her own knee caps (if needs be).