Health Fitness

Knee pain and chondromalia of the patella in girls lacrosse players

Knees! Knees! Knees!

Do not run? The lacrosse player? RIGHT!

I recently heard from one of my players that she has had knee pain. She didn’t know that she had been working with this kind of thing since she was in college. If he had known she had the problem, he could have helped her with it. Instead: he had gone to his GP and had been told “Don’t kneel, don’t run!” The doctor didn’t even give him a diagnosis! It was such a simple problem, and she could have done so much to help herself! Instead, he suffered!

I have no problem seeing a GP for a problem. But I’m interested in simple solutions, and if you want to keep your daughter in the field, you should be too. If your daughter has complained of knee pain, maybe you should read on.

Chondromalacia patella or patellar tendinitis …

Chondromalacia patellae / tendinitis is very common in young athletes and, in particular, in girls. It is the wear or softening of the cartilage behind the kneecap. There are several theories as to why this happens: 1. When bones grow rapidly, they change in shape or length, and muscles and tendons sometimes do not grow as fast. 2. Everything we do involves the lateral (or outer quadriceps). This leads to overdevelopment of that muscle. This causes the kneecap to move up and out when the quads contract. This takes it out of its normal track and causes it to wear out faster than it should. 3. There may be some misalignment of the hip that causes external rotation of the hip and therefore the femur, resulting in an alteration of the Q angle in the knee. This also changes the tracking.

What can we do for our children that is easy, cheap and drug free?

Seeing your family doctor is a good idea, just to make sure there is nothing orthopedic wrong – no ACL, MCL, or meniscus tears. Or you can ask me to take a quick look at it and I can tell you what I think. (I’m a sports medicine doctor, you know!) It’s funny, I always forget to tell parents that I’ve been working with sports injuries for 20 years. And most of them have been young athletes. I guess I get so intense with coaching that I forget what I do for a living. Maybe that’s the way it should be …

Once we know that the joint tissues are intact, there are things you need to do for them so they can train through this injury! I want to keep them all IN THE field! We don’t have time for injuries!

Break the inflammatory process:

Pot Cup frosting:

  • 2-6 times a day. In the morning and at night at least. The more the better.
  • Allow at least 20 minutes between frosting.
  • Go to the store and get a box of Dixie glasses. Fill about 12 with water and freeze. When you’re ready to make ice, scoop one out, remove the top of the cup so you can hold the cup at the bottom, and the ice cube is above the torn edge.
  • Raise your leg so that it is almost straight and with a towel behind it. This gives the water a place to drain.
  • Set a timer for exactly 5 minutes. Put that ice cube directly on the skin. Circle the kneecap over the surrounding soft tissue. Focus on the area just below the kneecap where swelling tends to accumulate. Keep circling until the timer goes off: 5 minutes. Stop.
  • You will feel cold first, then pain, and then numbness. Don’t stop until 5 minutes have passed!

Traumeel:

  • Use it every time you apply ice.
  • This is a homeopathic cream / gel remedy that I use for inflammation and sports injuries. Look it up on the net. My patients swear by it. I don’t sell it, so they get it online, and they say there are great deals!
  • Use the same amount as if it were toothpaste, and you really enjoyed the taste of it. Rub it all over your knee, kneecap, and joint. Do not wash it.
  • Put more on before you go to bed! That is 2-3 times a day!
  • You can keep this in your lacrosse bag during the season. It works really well!

Rebuild cartilage:

  • Take glucoseamine sulfate. 1200 mg / day.
  • There was a book written on this subject called “The Arthritis Cure”. Read it if you want. He says studies show it works and has no side effects. Let’s face it, young or old, arthritis and cartilage wear is the same.
  • No, you cannot get enough GAS from a normal, healthy diet. Keep taking it even after you feel better.
  • Don’t buy Glucoseamine HCL. Studies show it does NOT work.
  • Don’t bother with chondroitin sulfate. It works for some, but there are no double-blind placebo studies to show that it works. There are testimonials and anecdotal “evidence”. NOT GOOD ENOUGH for me.

Change patella tracking:

  • Ride a bike 3 times a week for 20 minutes on flat terrain. The seat should be high enough so that the knee is straight in the down position. Keep moving your feet all the time.
  • Using an exercise bike is even better. Use light tension.
  • Follow with frosting and traumeel

Once you start to feel a little better, lift your leg:

  • Lie on your back with your legs straight. Rotate the toe of the injured leg outward and lift the straight leg up until your leg comes up 75% of the way (about 25% down from pointing to the ceiling).
  • Do this with just the weight of your leg at first. Next, put 2 cans of soup in 2 tube socks and tie the top ends, wrap them around your ankle and use as resistance.
  • Start with 2 sets of 10 reps and work up to 4 sets of 20.

If you are old enough to go to the gym, then:

Leg extensions in the last 15 degrees of extension.

  • This works the medial quadruple. This can change the tracking problem very quickly!
  • Start with your leg straight. Fold Go from slightly bent to slightly straight and vice versa. Don’t force it into hyperextension!
  • Start with a relatively light weight (10-20 pounds) and only progress to a medium-light weight (30-40 pounds).
  • Start with 2 sets, 1 minute rest in between. Do 10 reps.
  • You can work up to 6 sets, with 1 minute rest between them.

Feeling better!

Until then, play more lacrosse! See you on the field!

Coach Jen

www.girlslax.org

www.triplethreatlax.com

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