Can You Play Sports With Osgood Schlatter?

Can You Play Sports With Osgood Schlatter
Can Teens With Osgood-Schlatter Disease Still Do Sports? – Yes, teens with OSD can usually do their normal activities, including sports, as long as:

The pain is not bad enough to interfere with the activity.The pain gets better within 1 day with rest.

If you play sports, it can help to:

Wear shock-absorbing insoles in your sneakers and cleats.Put a heating pad or warm washcloth on the knee for 15 minutes before sports.Put ice on the knee for 15 minutes after the activity (with a towel between the ice and the skin).Wear protective kneepads, especially for wrestling, basketball, and volleyball, Stretch before and after sports.

What activities should be avoided with Osgood-Schlatter?

1. Select Non-Stressful Sports – Physical activity is vital for good health during adolescence. Experts recommend that kids up to aged 18 get one hour or more of moderate-to-vigorous exercise every day. That said, certain types of exercise can exacerbate Osgood-Schlatter symptoms.

How long should you rest for Osgood Schlatters?

The Recovery Process – It generally takes somewhere between a few weeks and a few months for Osgood Schlatter Disease to settle down completely. Usually, the knee needs total rest from any aggravating activity for about a week. Then training can recommence but with reduced frequency, duration and intensity, to ensure that symptoms don’t return.

If they do, activity levels should be reduced again.
People usually return to normal sporting activities after about a month, but may benefit from wearing a knee strap,
However, sometimes it can take a long time to fully recover, up to 2 years.
Things usually settle down when the bone reaches maturity at around 16 years of age with approximately 9 out of 10 cases of Osgood Schlatters resolving completely.

Occasionally however, people continue to get problems as adults.

Does Osgood-Schlatter affect athletic performance?

See You Later, Osgood-Schlatter! “My knee hurts”. You see your young athlete hobble off the field or court, noticeably limping on one leg. The coach comes over, “I don’t know what happened, they didn’t fall or bump into anybody. It might be a cramp or charley horse.” You take your athlete home, have them shower and put ice on their knees.

It helps some. As the weeks go by, their are good days, but mostly bad days, and the knee pain gets to the point where they can’t run anymore. A trip to orthopedics comes next. After a four minute exam, the orthopedic tells you they have Osgood-Schlatter Disease. Your 30 dollar co-pay gets you the following orders: rest, ice, Tylenol for the pain.

What is Osgood-Schlatter disease? Inflammation that forms on the Tibial Tuberosity (the bump on the top end of the shin bone, just under the knee joint) where the patella tendon attaches to. It is an overuse injury, affecting athletes that do a lot of jumping, hopping and skipping. It usually affects young athletes between the age of 10-15 years old. Generally, when they are in the middle of a prolonged growth spurt. Soccer players, basketball players, field hockey players are the most common athletes affected. It can come on gradually or insidiously.

Now, the question on everyone’s mind: “Can I prevent this from happening?”. Not really. As it presents on the growth plate of the Tibia (growth plates are weaker than fully developed bones), it is hard to predict when or if it will happen. Once diagnosed, if the ice and rest isn’t helping, perhaps your child can benefit from being placed in a comprehensive stretching program.

At Physical Therapy of Woburn, our Osgood-Schlatter athletes have their Lumbar Spine, hips, knees and ankles evaluated to see if there are any muscle imbalances that could be contributing to the injury. Once evaluated, a stretching program will be developed for the athlete to focus on increasing the muscle length of all the hip flexor muscles, hamstrings, lateral thigh muscles and the calves.

We will also use modalities and manual therapies to help reduce the inflammation which will bring the pain levels down.
A strengthening program tailored to the individual sport of the athlete will be gradually introduced.
Traditionally, athletes do about 4 to 8 weeks of physical therapy, depending on the severity of the Osgood-Schlatter condition.

Many of the older athletes like to do the extended program so they can come in and get stretched and taped before their games and also return the day after games for inflammation control and recovery. Upon completion of their program here, the athlete will have a strong grasp of their stretching program and pre-game band warm up for their legs.

They will also have a good base of hip, knee and ankle exercises to carry forward and maintain their strength.
Nothing makes us happier at Physical Therapy of Woburn to have our athletes pop in for quick review of their stretches, or to say hello, or to let us know they made all scholastic! If your athlete is suffering from Osgood-Schlatter or any knee injury, feel free to call us.

If under the care of an orthopedic or Pediatrician for their injuries, request a referral for physical therapy. It could expedite your athlete’s return to the field. : See You Later, Osgood-Schlatter!

Can I still workout with Osgood?

Strength Training Exercises –

It is also important to consider that certain tempo squats and modified lunge variations may be suitable for athletes with Osgood Schlatter’s as long as it does not produce any pain. Reducing range of motion of squats and lunges above 90° of knee flexion may be a suitable alternative for Osgood Schlatter’s athletes.

Is it OK to play football with Osgood Schlatter?

Can Teens With Osgood-Schlatter Disease Still Do Sports? – Yes, teens with OSD can usually do their normal activities, including sports, as long as:

The pain is not bad enough to interfere with the activity.The pain gets better within 1 day with rest.

If you play sports, it can help to:

How bad can Osgood Schlatter get?

Looking Ahead – Long-term effects of OSD usually aren’t serious. Some kids may have a painless bump below the knee that doesn’t go away. Very rarely, doctors will do surgery to remove a painful bump below the knee. Some adults who had OSD as kids or teens have some pain with kneeling.

Does Osgood-Schlatter ever go away?

What are the risk factors and complications of Osgood-Schlatter disease? – Young athletes are most at risk for Osgood-Schlatter disease. It’s most common in those who play sports that involve jumping, running, and landing. Sports that seem to have the highest rate of this knee condition include:

Soccer. Gymnastics. Basketball. Cross-country, track, and distance running.

Children who aren’t athletes can also get Osgood-Schlatter. Doctors diagnose Osgood-Schlatter most often in girls between 8 and 12 and boys between 12 and 15. It lasts between 12 to 24 months and resolves on its own 90% of the time. There are no long-term complications in most cases.

Is it good to massage Osgood-Schlatter?

Massage for Osgood Schlatter disease treatment – Apply deep tissue massage techniques to the quadriceps muscles. Stay well away from the painful area just below the knee. Massage can be applied daily, as long as there is no significant soreness the day after treatment.

Can you make Osgood Schlatters worse?

Symptoms of Osgood-Schlatter disease – Osgood-Schlatter can affect one or both knees. The main symptoms are swelling and pain below the knee and above the shin bone (tibia). Activities that require running, jumping, and climbing may make the pain worse.

Why won’t my Osgood Schlatters go away?

3 reasons why Osgood Schlatter won’t resolve – Osgood Schlatter is a chronic condition, so if it’s left untreated it tends not to go away and there are three main reasons why. The first reason is that it’s not actually Osgood Schlatter, you’ve actually developed something different, like a meniscal tear or a collateral ligament injury.

So it’s important that you get the condition assessed first so that you’re treating the right condition in the correct way.
The second reason for Osgood Schlatter not resolving is that because you have not identified what activity is causing it and taken steps to reduce or stop that activity then it will not resolve.

You’ll just continue to further aggravate and irritate the condition. The third reason is that because people embark on aggressive stretching and rehabilitation in their desperation to resolve Osgood Schlatter they end up causing more damage because the tissues are just not ready for stretching. Can You Play Sports With Osgood Schlatter When the pain starts to reduce and it’s feeling a little bit easier then you can start to rehabilitate those tissues with gentle stretching. The rehabilitation process is gentle and prolonged. It’s a marathon not a sprint and it’s something you have to do over a considerable period of time with patience and dedication so you don’t aggravate it further.

Is Osgood-Schlatter Genetic?

Osgood-Schlatter disease is an osteochondrosis, which is a group of disorders of the growth plates that occur when the child is growing rapidly. Doctors are not sure what causes osteochondrosis, but the disorders do seem to run in families.

Does Osgood-Schlatter limit growth?

This condition happens most often in adolescents who are experiencing growth spurts, when the bone can grow more quickly than the attached tendon. This causes tightness that results in stress on the bone, cartilage or tendons when jumping and running.

Osgood Schlatter disease is also more common in young athletes who participate in sports that require repetitive motion, such as football, basketball, soccer, gymnastics, and ballet. Doctors think that the fast changes in direction that some of these sports require may be a contributing factor. This condition is most commonly diagnosed among boys and girls who are experiencing puberty.

The onset of symptoms is usually gradual and will resolve with rest. In rare cases, Osgood Schlatter can damage to the growth plates of the bone and require surgery.

Is swimming good for Osgood Schlatters?

– Passive rehabilitation is recommended when the brace does not provide complete relief of symptoms. This may be the case in sports such as triple-jump or basketball where there is significant jumping (and landing) involved. Passive rehabilitation may also be necessary if the pain has persisted for more than a month or two or when there is considerable swelling around the tibial tuberosity.

Patients will be required to abstain from ALL sporting activities for between 4 to 6 weeks and it is advisable to wear the brace continuously during this time. Only walking, cycling and swimming are permitted. After this period of rest most patients can then return to the ‘active rehabilitation’ programme described above.

In both active and passive rehabilitations, the physiotherapist will outline various stretching and strengthening routines to assist the recovery. Teenage compliance with both enforced rest and prescribed exercise is questionable at best. For that reason, the difficulty of treating Osgood-Schlatter disease may be overcome by ensuring the patient and parents have a thorough understanding of the condition as well as the potential long term problems that can arise if the condition is not treated properly – patella tendon enthesopathy and patella-femoral syndrome.

Although Osgood-Schlatter condition is simple and cheap to remedy, there is no ‘quick-fix’.
It occurs at a time in a teenager’s life when ‘rest’ is a dirty word.
This can make it a very frustrating condition to treat.
An understanding parent can make the world of difference.
If you have any further questions on this subject, or you would like to contact the physiotherapist best suited to managing your problem please or,

What happens if Osgood goes untreated?

HOW DANGEROUS IS OSGOOD-SCHLATTER CONDITION? Osgood-Schlatter is a common knee problem affecting rapidly growing children between 11 and 14. Although any child can develop the condition, boys have it three times more often than girls do. One or both knees can be affected by this inflammation of the tibial tubercle, a small bump on the front of the shin bone where the kneecap tendon attaches.

The tibial tubercle is also the site of a growth plate, an area of cartilage that grows at the end of a bone. Growth plates are weaker than the underlying bone and the tendons attached to it. This relative weakness makes the growth plate vulnerable to frequent microfractures during physical activities.

Sports involving jumping and cutting such as basketball, volleyball, soccer, figure skating and gymnastics frequently worsen the condition. Children with Osgood-Schlatter often feel pain on the shin 2 to 3 inches below the knee accompanied by swelling and tenderness.

A diagnosis of Osgood-Schlatter condition is usually made after a careful physical examination and X-rays.
Left untreated, Osgood-Schlatter usually goes away as children grow and the tibial tubercle fuses into the shin bone.
However, doctors can treat even the most severe cases.
Treatment can consist of physical therapy, medication, ice and knee wraps.

If necessary, children may have to take a break from sports activities. Any child with constant knee pain should be evaluated by an orthopedist. : HOW DANGEROUS IS OSGOOD-SCHLATTER CONDITION?

What aggravates Osgood-Schlatter?

Discussion – This study aims to quantitatively identify the knee extension moment (i.e., the load on the tibial tubercle) in various motions that may cause Osgood-Schlatter disease and compare the load between different motions. The findings of this study can contribute to protecting many young athletes from the disease and also preventing a decrease of their participation in sports. It is commonly believed that excessive running leads to the development of Osgood–Schlatter disease, but the angular impulse of the knee extension moment greater than or equal to 1.0 Nm/kg measured for running motions were small in this study. Running cannot be viewed as a motion that exerts a large load because there was no statistically significant difference with “Squat Hip” whose angular impulse was the smallest. While there was no statistically significant difference, the peak knee extension moment was greater for “Run Fast” while the angular impulse was greater for “Run Slow”, which was caused largely by a longer period of contact between the foot and the ground due to a slower running speed (“Run Slow”: 2.81±0.28 m/s, “Run Fast”: 5.14±0.23 m/s, p<0.05). As noted before, Osgood–Schlatter disease is likely to develop and aggravate in sports that involve a significant level of running. Running is a motion that occurs frequently in many sports, and excessive running may cause and aggravate Osgood–Schlatter disease to develop regardless of the speed. However, the results from this study suggested that running cannot be viewed as a motion that exerts a large load. Repeated jumps are also believed to cause Osgood–Schlatter disease, Calculated angular impulse of knee extension moment at 1.0 Nm/kg or greater showed that single-legged landing ("Jump Single Leg Landing") was the motion with the largest load among the 14 types of motion assessed in this study. "Jump Single Leg Landing" was significantly greater than "Jump Both Legs Landing" in terms of both peak moment and angular impulse, which suggests that landing with one leg exerts a greater load than landing with both legs. No statistically significant difference was observed in jumping height between the two motions ("Jump Single Leg Landing": 0.40±0.04 m, "Jump Both Legs Landing": 0.45±0.08 m), which shows the jump height was not the reason for a greater load in single legged landing. The findings above suggested that the loan on the tibial tubercle could be mitigated by landing with both legs rather than one when jumping in training sessions. Stops are also thought to provide sustained stress to the knee extension mechanism, Angular impulse of knee extension moment at 1.0 Nm/kg or greater of "Approach Stop" was the fourth largest and significantly greater than 5 other types of motion ("Turn" to "Squat Hip"). "Kick Flexion", the fifth largest, was significantly different from only 3 types of motion ("Run Fast" and both squats), thus "Approach Stop" was deemed to have a greater load than the types of motion ranked below, including "Kick Flexion". However, the load by "Approach Stop" was still smaller than the types of motion ranked higher than "Cutting", since the number of types of motion with which it had a significant difference were fewer than "Cutting" and "Jump Single Leg Landing". The angular impulse of "Approach Stop & Back" was the third largest and significantly greater than 6 other types of motion, thus it was deemed to be a load-intensive motion. Similarly, "Approach Stop & Back" was deemed to have a larger load than "Approach Stop" since the latter was significantly greater than 5 types of motion. The load by "Approach Stop & Back" was not on the same level as "Jump Single Leg Landing" or "Cutting", as it had fewer statistically significant differences from the other types of motion. While there were no significant differences between the 2 types of stop motions, the angular impulse was greater for "Approach Stop & Back" than for "Approach Stop". The running speed immediately before the left foot landed on the force plate was 2.48±0.38 m/s for "Approach Stop & Back" and 3.11±0.29 m/s for "Approach Stop", and no statistically significant difference was observed. Therefore, running speed was not the reason why the angular impulse for "Approach Stop & Back" was greater than it was in "Approach Stop". As opposed to "Approach Stop", in which the test subjects simply stop after running full-speed, test subjects had to kick the ground and apply a significant reaction force to run back after stopping in "Approach Stop & Back", which caused the angular impulse to be large. While stop motions were suspected to have a large load based on the above findings, the results showed that stopping exerts less load than single-legged landing after a jump or a sharp change in direction. Sharp changes in direction are also thought to cause Osgood–Schlatter disease, The angular impulse of knee extension moment at 1.0 Nm/kg or greater of "Cutting" was the second largest and significantly greater than 9 types of motion ("Kick Run" to "Squat Hip"). Since the third-ranked "Approach Stop & Back" was significantly greater than 6 types of motion ("Turn" to "Squat Hip") while "Jump Single Leg Landing" was significantly greater than 10 types of motion, "Cutting" was a motion that exerted less load than "Jump Single Leg Landing", and a greater load than motions ranked below it, including, "Approach Stop & Back". In light of the above, sharp changes in direction ("Cutting") were deemed to be load-intensive on the tibial tubercle, albeit with less load compared to single-legged landing after a jump. Since the load size that develops and aggravates Osgood–Schlatter disease is not known to this day, there may be a more appropriate indicator than moments greater than 1.0 Nm/kg. There is also a possibility that appropriate indicators may vary by age and stage of development of the child. Therefore, in addition to the knee extension moment at 1.0 Nm/kg or greater as an indicator, this study also chose other indicators such as the moment at 1.5 Nm/kg or greater, 2.0 Nm/kg or greater, and 2.5 Nm/kg or greater, and calculated the angular impulse of knee extension moments per indicator. "Cutting", which had the second largest angular impulse of knee extension moment at 1.0 Nm/kg or greater, was the largest at 1.5 Nm/kg or greater, followed by "Jump Single Leg Landing". Based on the number of motions with which statistically significant differences were observed, sharp changes in direction were the most load-intensive motion at 1.5 Nm/kg or greater, and single-legged landing after a jump was the second largest. Of the stop motions that were load-intensive for a moment of 1.0 Nm/kg or greater, "Approach Stop" was the third largest for the moment at 1.5 Nm/kg or greater, and significantly greater than 5 types of motion, suggesting that a sharp stop was a load-intensive motion. "Approach Stop & Back" was the fifth largest with a statistically significant difference only with both types of squats, thus a motion involving a stop followed by a backward run was deemed to be a load-intensive motion for a moment of 1.5 Nm/kg or greater. "Cutting" had the largest angular impulse of the knee extension moment greater than or equal to 2.0 Nm/kg, which was significantly greater than 8 types of motion ranked below, and "Jump Single Leg Landing" was the second largest and significantly greater than 7 types of motion. Based on the number of types of motion with which statistically significant differences were observed, sharp changes in direction were the most load-intensive motion when the moment was 2.0 Nm/kg or greater, and single-legged landing after a jump was the second largest. At 1.0 Nm/kg or greater, stop motions were viewed as load-intensive motions, but they could not be considered as a large load when the moment was at 2.0 Nm/kg or greater. "Cutting" had the largest angular impulse of "knee extension" moment also at 2.5 Nm/kg or greater, followed by "Jump Single Leg Landing". "Cutting" was significantly greater than the 7 types of motion ranked below, while "Jump Single Leg Landing" was significantly greater than the 5 types of motion ranked below. Based on the number of types of motion with which statistically significant differences were observed, sharp changes in direction had a greater load than single-legged landings after a jump. Since statistically significant differences were not observed for "Kick Flexion", ranked third, and other motions ranked below, a sharp change in direction and single-legged landings after a jump were deemed to be motions with a load greater than the other 12 types of motion. Studies have suggested that Osgood–Schlatter disease is caused by an inflammation from repeated friction of the quadriceps on the epiphyseal cartilage in the tibial tubercle during a kinetically weak apophyseal stage, Based on the peak value and angular impulse of the knee extension moment, this study showed that single-legged landing after a jump and a sharp change in direction (cutting) exert the largest load on the tibial tubercle among the 14 types of motion, and therefore possess high risk for onset and aggravation of Osgood–Schlatter disease. Stops were load-intensive and therefore a high risk for the development and aggravation of the disease, albeit to a lesser extent compared to single-legged landing after a jump or a sharp change in direction, but the results also suggested that the stop motion cannot be viewed as high-risk, depending on the indicator. Many studies have cited running as a motion that may cause Osgood–Schlatter disease, but this study identified motions that had a larger load than running and therefore cause a higher risk of developing and aggravation the disease. Loads from squats were small and their risk of causing the disease was low. However, specific values of the load that cause and aggravate Osgood–Schlatter disease is still unknown, and every motion assessed by this study may be a high risk or a low risk for developing the disease. This study also defined indicators as a moment of 1.0 Nm/kg or greater, 1.5 Nm/kg or greater, 2.0 Nm/kg or greater, and 2.5 Nm/kg or greater upon calculating the angular impulse of knee extension moment, but risk assessment varies by indicator in some motions such as stops. Motions with a high risk of developing and aggravating Osgood–Schlatter disease, as well as low risk motions, can be assessed in further detail based on this study if future studies can quantify the load and the number of repetitions that may cause and make worse Osgood–Schlatter disease while taking age and development stage into account. Over 50% of Osgood–Schlatter disease patients have pain in both legs, Both legs make similar movements in running, squats, and jumps (landing with both legs) while movements vary between the left and right legs in jumps (single-legged landing), changes in direction (cutting), stops, and turns. However, there was no need to analyze the load on the tibial tubercle of both legs since it was clear that the load on the right leg was smaller than the left, analyzed by this study. In kicking motions, however, the tibial tubercle in the kicking leg may also incur a large load due to the impact of the ball. This study identified the load on the tibial tubercle in the axial leg during a ball kicking motion, but the load on the kicking leg remains unknown. Hence, there is a need to analyze the load on the tibial tubercle in the kicking leg, including the position of impact. If training regimens that balance the load on the tibial tubercle by scheduling a training day with low-load motions after a day that involved many load-intensive motions, the athletes could be protected from Osgood–Schlatter disease and increase their participation in sports. Motions analyzed by this study include those involved in many sports, including jumping and running. Therefore, Osgood–Schlatter disease may be prevented by preventing continuous load-intensive training sessions across various sports.

What makes Osgood Schlatters worse?

What Are the Signs & Symptoms of Osgood-Schlatter Disease? – OSD typically causes pain and swelling below the kneecap. The pain usually gets worse with running, jumping, going up stairs, and walking up hills. Severe pain may lead to limping. OSD can happen in one or both knees.

What aggravates Osgood-Schlatter disease?

What causes Osgood-Schlatter disease? – Osgood-Schlatter disease is caused by irritation of the bone growth plate. Bones do not grow in the middle, but at the ends near the joint, in an area called the growth plate. While a child is still growing, these areas of growth are made of cartilage instead of bone. The tendon from the kneecap (patella) attaches down to the growth plate in the front of the leg bone (tibia). The thigh muscles (quadriceps) attach to the patella, and when they pull on the patella, this puts tension on the patellar tendon. The patellar tendon then pulls on the tibia, in the area of the growth plate.

Any movements that cause repeated extension of the leg can lead to tenderness at the point where the patellar tendon attaches to the top of the tibia. Activities that put stress on the knee—especially squatting, bending or running uphill (or stadium steps)—cause the tissue around the growth plate to hurt and swell.

It also hurts to hit or bump the tender area. Kneeling can be very painful.

What irritates Osgood-Schlatter?

Osgood-Schlatter disease is a common cause of knee pain in growing adolescents. It is an inflammation of the area just below the knee where the tendon from the kneecap (patellar tendon) attaches to the shinbone (tibia). Osgood-Schlatter disease most often occurs during growth spurts, when bones, muscles, tendons, and other structures are changing rapidly.

Because physical activity puts additional stress on bones and muscles, children who participate in athletics — especially running and jumping sports — are at an increased risk for this condition.
However, less active adolescents may also experience this problem.
In most cases of Osgood-Schlatter disease, simple measures like rest, ice, over-the-counter medication, and stretching and strengthening exercises will relieve pain and allow a return to daily activities.