Help! Osgood Schlatters is very painful!

[kbuhler]

Hello,

I'm wondering if any of your gymnasts have suffered from or am suffering from Osgood Schlatters disease? Its an inflamation of the knees and is quite painful. If you have, can you tell me what you did to endure it? Make it go away? What treatments did you take? Meds? We are particularly interested in pain management and braces for knees. My DD is a level 6. You all helped when she broke her arm. She is now released from PT for her broken wrist. She has suffered from Osgood Schlatters for the past year. She has taken Alleve, Ibuprofen, Dicoflenac etc but nothing seems to take away the pain. She's tried some PT and we are going back to it now. I've asked her if its time to move onto something else but she loves gymnastics and wants to stay. Inasmuch as the season is almost here, we are looking into pain management or reduction. I even ordered an ebook from England! Please give any suggestions. We will take off some time in the summer but for now what did you do for your DD or gymast? What meds, braces, exercises etc helped you? Thanks in advance!!!

 

[coachmolly]

I was diagnosed with Osgood-Schlatters when I was 10 and dealt with it for the remainder of my gymnastics days, BUT it did get significantly less severe after my growth slowed down. Even now, 11 years later, I still have the lump and it hurts like the dickens if I bump it on something and occasionally if I keep it bent for too long.
The most common treatments I have seen are ice, pain killers, and some braces. My orthopedic doctor recommended Aleve (naproxen sodium) which probably worked best. Icing doesn't hurt either. I've seen some gymnasts wear these braces but never tried one myself- Knee Strap, Cho Pat.
The good thing is, it doesn't get worse, you just need to deal with it. Eventually the pain becomes less severe.

 

[BlairBob]

http://drillsandskills.com/article/12http://www.thegympress.net/journal/archive/2008/abstract_pathology_and_rehab_of_OSD.html

There was a recent joke of OSD and Plantar Fasciatis at Congress in 09. OSD= I don't know what is wrong with your knee exactly and PF as in ankle.

Generally, reduced training on hard surfaces such as tumbling on sprung floor and vaulting to tumbling on tumbl-trak and reduced volume in vaulting while the growth spurt is on-going.

Most kids with OSD use the knee straps that strap on below the knee.

NSAIDS are just going to help alleviate the pain but dosages tend to have to be increased over time besides the fact they don't heal the site.

 

[gymfan4ever95]

I have a Osgood Shlatters, and it is very painful! If it is really bad, my coach has me take an ibuprofen before practice to help with the pain. But I also have a knee strap that goes under my knee. Knee Strap, Cho Pat This one isn't the same one that I have...mine is black and a little thicker than this one, but I don't know where to find it online!

 

[AGM78910]

Osgood-Schlatters

My daughter had it at age 11. (She is now 13 and a level 7). She went to a sports medicine doctor and she prescribed physical therapy (stretches) and Flector patches. Flector patches are prescription-strength anti inflammatory patches that go right on the knee. They provide treatment that targets the site of acute (short-term) pain. They helped a lot. The stretches are also very important and you can ask your physical therapist to show you how to do them. She had problems for about 6 months and when she finished her growth spurt, she was over it. Her coaches were good about letting her tumble on the tumble track and rod floor and that helped a lot.

 

[eeyoretumbles]

Hello! I had Osgoods when I was ten years old. I finished up the rest of the season, WITHOUT a brace but sometimes with tape. I was in physical therapy, but the doctors decided it was best to take a year off. Looking back, it was a waste of time. They wanted me to take a year off to let me allow to grow, but obviously a year is not enough (I quit at age 13, it bothered me still at 14, and a little at 15. I'm still growing at 16, but the pain has gone away now.) When I went back I bought bands for both of my knees. This helped A LOT. I got them from my sports pediatrician, get one like this: http://www.knee-braces-store.com/pics/72/pro-band/kneed-it-knee-brace.PRO101.2.250.gif or this: http://www.sammonspreston.com/content/images/SPRProductImages/Regular/550045.JPG but DON'T get one like this : http://www.healthmegamall.com/ProdImages/787601LXL.JPG. The reason why is it doesn't apply enough pressure, and atleast for me it wouldn't have worked.
The physical therapy didn't help me really, the best thing was the bands. The important thing about the bands is once you put them off for the day, DON'T take them off until the end of the practice. When I would take mine off halfway through practice, the pressure from the band would be realeased, and putting it back on afters wouldn't provide the same pressure as the first.
The second best thing is icing, make it your best friend. Ice before AND after practice (about 30 minutes before). It's really important, if you run out time do it while in the car. I would get one of the doctor ice packs, the ones that mold to your body and get really cold (so cold that if you leave it on longer than 30 minutes there could be a risk of frostbite?). http://www.countrysideveterinaryhospital.com/ice_packs.jpg The square black one is similar to the one I have.

Also, the physical therapist has you do the ice in the cup type. Take a small dixie cup that you can throw away, and fill it with water. Ice it overnight, and the next day peel the first layer of the cup off, like this: http://www.my-physical-therapy-coach.com/images/ice-cup.gif. For 30 minutes ice directly on the osgood bump. It will hurt! I remember I hated it when the phsyical therapist made me do it, but afterwards it feels sooo good! At first it will just be really cold, then it should get this kinda hot achey feeling, then it will sting really bad, then you'll have a numbness.
I hope this all helps, for me it was really more just taking care of my knee. Try being very light on the tumbling and vault, I sat out often and iced. It's very important not to push yourself too far. Because I kept pushing through for a year without bands and taking care of it correctly, the doctor said I had one of the worst cases she'd ever seen (which is even more uncommon in girls). So be careful! But really ice ice ice. I understand how painful the knee can be, but ice will be your bestfriend Best wishes and sorry for the long post!

 

[coachinkal]

I previously posted about my son and this condition.

He has now had physio for about 3 months and we have been doing a variety of home exercises but there has been minimal improvement.

After the last visit to the physio (Thursday) it was discovered that his legs are actually different lengths. This is probably due to his growth spurt. He has some stiffness in one hip and also in his back as a result. This can cause referred pain to knees.

We are now off to podiatrist because he also has flat feet. We are hoping that orthotics will improve the situation. He has subluxing patellas, and pain under kneecap.

No harm in asking physio to look into leg length variations and flat feet as orthotics can assist with this by improving the alignment of the whole body. This can assist with undue stress on knees. Obviously can't wear orthotics during gym class but can wear them for the rest of the day.

Appears there is no quick fix for these growth type conditions. Physio said looking at up to two years or more until condition resolved.

In the meantime lots of ice.

 

[kbuhler]

Thank you for responding

Thank you for your advice. I went to get some samples of the patches. She has had the cho patch and went to the kneed it brace. Now we are trying another one from painrelievers.com. I'm going to look at all of your links. Thanks so much!!! This site is amazing.