Most patellar tendonitis happens at the inferior pole of the patella, in adolescence they get Osgood Schlatter s disease which is a traction epiphysitis at the insertion site. These immature patient s get these traction injuries because of the issue of what s strongest in their bodies, tendons and ligaments tend to be stronger than bone, so they pull off the tendon from the bone and Bursitis, multiple bursas throughout the knee, the prepatellar bursa, the infrapatellar bursa, you have bursas around the ITB pes tendons on the medial side, they are gastroc and semi-tendinosis. Bursas are fluid filled sacs, they are there to minimize friction, they can get inflamed, they can get septic, more commonly, the reason for sepsis is usually that there has been intervention, either with a needle or a puncture wound from an abrasion. Patient s usually present with swelling, erythema, tenderness to The other issue that we get into with these sports related activities is lower leg pain, the classic triad of lower leg pain that becomes a diagnostic dilemma sometimes has a differential between compartment syndrome, shin splints and stress fractures. They happen in healthy, middle aged active people.
Compartment syndromes are the most devastating, they are the ones that can cause most of the damage.
What we see Most runners will have them, shin splints is a periostitis, it s where the periosteum is being pulled off the bone. They usually have pain posterior medial of the tibia, they describe it as a dull, achiness or a soreness. It can be sharp or severe later on. It is usually diffuse, it s not point specific, that s how this sort of differentiates itself from stress fractures, in that it is diffuse. The tenderness is Stress fractures, these tend to be related to multifactorial.