What Do Professional Basketball Players Do With Jumper's Knee?
Professional basketball players compete in 82 games during the regular season and their knees take a tremendous amount of abuse over the course of the year. When a player's patellar tendon swells from jumping or falling, it causes a condition referred to as jumper's knee or patellar tendinitis. Patellar tendinitis is one of the several possible diagnosis of anterior knee pain 2. Symptons can include discomfort and tenderness in the patellar tendon when the knee is extended and the quadriceps relaxed. Without proper care, this condition can worsen leading to a tear or degeneration of the tendon.
Warm Up Prior to Workouts
Never go out on the court and start practicing or playing without warming up. Do a light jog for at least five minutes to get started. After that, you need to do some dynamic stretching of the hips, quads, knees, calf muscles and hamstrings. Warming up properly will help you cut down on your chances of developing a serious case of jumper's knee.
- Never go out on the court and start practicing or playing without warming up.
- After that, you need to do some dynamic stretching of the hips, quads, knees, calf muscles and hamstrings.
Off-the-Court Strengthening
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A professional basketball player must train off the court as well as improve his skills on the court. Proper strength-training exercises include leg curls, the leg press, lunges and calf raises. When you build strength in the muscles that support the knee, you have a better chance of avoiding patellar tendinitis.
Protecting Your Knees
If you have patellar tendinitis, or if knee injury happens during practice or a game, apply the RICE method -- rest, ice, compression and elevation -- to help reduce the pain and swelling. To prevent jumper's knee and other knee injuries, wear appropriate protective equipment such as knee pads and shin guards during practices and competition.
Medical Treatment
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You have to be honest with yourself, your team trainer and the team's physician. When you are feeling pain as you move up and down the court and the pain does not abate, you should not be on the court. Rest can help your recovery, but continuing to play with jumper's knee can lead to more significant problems. Ligament, tendon and cartilage damage are more likely to develop when players with jumper's knee don't rest. Players should not try to play through the pain. They need to take time off and seek medical treatment.
- You have to be honest with yourself, your team trainer and the team's physician.
- Rest can help your recovery, but continuing to play with jumper's knee can lead to more significant problems.
Related Articles
References
- Indiana Journal of Orthopaedics: Clinical Signs and Anatomical Correlation of Patellar Tendinitis
- Reinking MF. Current concepts in the treatment of patellar tendinopathy. Int J Sports Phys Ther. 2016;11(6):854–866.
- Cleveland Clinic. Patellar tendonitis.
- Brockmeyer M, Haupert A, Kohn D, Lorbach O. Surgical technique: jumper's knee-arthroscopic treatment of chronic tendinosis of the patellar tendon. Arthrosc Tech. 2016;5(6):e1419-e1424. doi:10.1016/j.eats.2016.08.010
- Michener LA, Kulig K. Not all tendons are created equal: implications for differing treatment approaches. J Orthop Sports Phys Ther. 2015;45(11):829-832. doi:10.2519/jospt.2015.0114
- Unlu MC, Kivrak A, Kayaalp ME, Birsel O, Akgun I. Peritendinous injection of platelet-rich plasma to treat tendinopathy: A retrospective review. Acta Orthop Traumatol Turc. 2017;51(6):482–487. doi:10.1016/j.aott.2017.10.003
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Writer Bio
Steve Silverman is an award-winning writer, covering sports since 1980. Silverman authored The Minnesota Vikings: The Good, The Bad and The Ugly and Who's Better, Who's Best in Football -- The Top 60 Players of All-Time, among others, and placed in the Pro Football Writers of America awards three times. Silverman holds a Master of Science in journalism from the Medill School of Journalism.