Osgood-Schlatter Syndrome

By Miles Pershad

What is it?

Osgood–Schlatter syndrome is an irritation of the patellar tendon at the tibial tuberosity.

Patellar tendon is the tendon in you knee cap.Tibial tuberosity is the area just below your knee cap.

What is it mainly caused by?

It occurs mostly to active boys and girls (but mainly boys) between the age of 9-16.It affects about 20 percent of the adolescents who participate in sports.It is caused by stress on the patellar tendon.Sometimes this stress can lead to an avulsion fracture, which will lead to excess bone growth in the tuberosity.

What are it’s main symptoms?

• The most obvious symptom is intense knee pain that occurs during physical activities such as running.

• Another symptom may be that you see a lump on your knee, the area below your knee feeling tender, or your knee becomes enflamed after exercise.

• Tightness of the surrounding muscles especially the thigh muscles.

What ways can you treat it?

• Treatment is conservative with rest, RICE, and painkillers.

• The condition usually resolves in a few months.

• Some people wear knee supports to enforce joint immobilization.

• Surgery may be required very rarely, but mainly on older patients.

What should you do when diagnosed?

• The patient should rest for 3 days.• The patient should not undergo physical

activities for at least 1-2 weeks.• If the patient cannot move the joint then they

must seek medical advice immediately.

Famous Examples

• Paul Scholes was a footballer who recovered from this condition.

• Gael Monfils is a french tennis player who still has this condition and wears knee supports in order to provide comfort to himself.

• Steven Gerrard suffered from this condition when he was young.