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Had Osgood-Schlatter after popping 7"in 6 months at 13 years old.  Extremely tender and painful.  That growth took all of the tendons and ligaments my knees and stretched them to the breaking point like rubber bands.

Dr. advised against competitive athletic activity for 6 months because any solid contact including falls or banging knees had the potential to cause multiple ruptures.  Did a lot of swimming and no running during that time.  Tendonitis on the other hand is generally soreness from overuse or stress.  Not a lot of fun but in my view not as serious a condition a Osgood-Schlatter since truly serious injury is probably not in the equation unless the continued overuse or stress causes a breakdown.

I am not a Dr. and these are 40+year ago memories.  No doubt medicine has changed and my experience might not match today's treatment.

I haven't talked about Osgood-Schlatter since the '80s - thanks for the trip down memory lane.

 

Thanks. My son had Osgood-Schlatter last spring as an 8th grader. Worse, he's a catcher. Basically, he had to ice all the time, took motrin, stretched, etc. But, he played through the season and was doing much better with it by the summer.

Now, as a freshmen, he's really hurting in one knee. Everyone is saying it is patellar tendinitis. But, I'm wondering if it can be Osgood-Schlatter because he's still growing like a weed. Every morning he seems taller than the day before...at least to me. Can someone have Osgood-Schlatter in just one knee? When he was hurting last year, it was both knees.

Last edited by Francis7
Francis7 posted:

Which is worse and is there a clear cut way to differentiate between the two?

A Doctor differentiates the two and I think it doesn't matter which is worse because if you have it you can't change it anyway.

Go to see the doctor if it doesn't go away with a week of rest.

And don't play through severe pain, it could hurt you long term. I know a week off sucks but better than long term damage. Give it a rest (complete rest, no pitching, no lifting , no running or hitting) and then go to the doctor if not better.

Last edited by Dominik85

Penny wise is pound foolish.

Find a competent sports medicine doc, get a second opinion, then follow the wisdom to the T.

Unless your son's entire goal was making the varsity in ninth grade, a kid is playing with fire in playing through any injury. What's the point in getting that extra game in if the potential risk is six months off.

For non-athletes, fighting through the pain of tendonitis may risk little; for the athlete, whose body will "adjust" by changing mechanics to avoid the pain, there is much at risk.

I believe it was one of the Dean brothers (either Daffy or Dizzy) who had been struck on the toe by a line drive and attempted to pitch through it; that changed his throwing motion and caused the shoulder injury which ended his career. (wikipedia)

Injuries are part of the game and kids going through growth spurts are especially vulnerable. Combine that with an environment where kids are "weak" for not gutting it out and a recipe for disaster is served. If college ball is a goal, the process is a marathon; play it like a marathon; dont play it as a sprint AND a marathon.

My 15 year old son had a similar experience last summer into this fall. He catches and grew 7 inches and gained 40 pounds in 2018.  Lots of extra weight for a catcher! My 85 year old dad diagnosed him with Osgood-Schlatter--wrong!

We actually went through about 4 months of PT this fall and he was good to go by the start of his high school season. Our PT guy fortunately has a sports background. He worked with him on gaining strength to support the added weight. Also, he did some analysis on how he sets up to catch that was putting stress on his knee. Pleased to report, nothing new since the season started!

 

Now pretty sure it wasn't Osgood-Schlatter for my son. We found ground zero. He was fine. Coach had them left weights immediately following a game a week ago. Next day he said his knee was killing him. It had to happen during that post game thing. I think he had him doing sleds? And, that was after catching half a game.

"Coach had them left weights immediately following a game a week ago."

Any coach who makes a 14 yr old to lift weights after a game is suspect. (True, pro players will lift after a bull pen (as opposed to before); but, they are full grown.) Any coach who makes an entire HS team lift after a game had better ensure that his 20+ players have the proper supervision - tired players are prone to shortcuts on form; bad lifting form is asking for trouble.

Sounds like a punishment. Does the varsity lift after every game?

PS. With pregame, game, after game clean up, plus lifting, the time commitment for a single game approaches 4 - 5 hours. Way too long. How does a kid get his school work in?

 

Last edited by Goosegg

I’m not sure what the logic was?  It wasn’t the whole team, as far as I know.  I think it was just pitchers and catchers.  And, it’s not something that they have normally been doing.  For what it’s worth, the head coach seems like a really good guy with impeccable intentions.  He also seems pretty astute too – from my view which is one thousand miles away.  (Most of what I know about him is what I hear from others who know him better.)  In any event, if asked, I would say that we’re lucky to have him.  He’s putting in a ton of time with the team and seems – again, from my FAR view – to be making decisions with the intent to win games.  For all I know, maybe, it could have been an assistant’s decision to have them lift after a game?  I don’t know.  I try not to ask my kid much and all he offered (when he was late that day coming out to the parking lot) was that “coach wanted us to get some lifting in after the game.”

I have Osgood Schlatter's; to the best of my knowledge there is no outward sign of patellar tendonitis.  However, Osgood Schlatter's does have a sign. About an inch below my knee cap it looks like I have a marble under my skin.  There is a HUGE bump.  It makes kneeling a nightmare to this day.  I technically had it in both knees but my right knee marble is huge!  My left knee, it's more like a tic-tac.

 

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