Dealing with Patellar Tendinitis

[mlentzner]

Rip,

I've been suffering with patellar tendinitis in my left knee for my entire lifting career. It doesn't stop me from training, but it is a pain in the ass. I've had other nagging pains that have eventually gone away, but this one is like a bad penny.

I've become strong enough that if my form isn't perfect - the slightest bobble - in my back squat it acts up. Push pressing and jerking cause me all sorts of problems as well. I've found that continuing to train when it's sore is counter-productive since the pain becomes bad enough that my form gets even worse because I have to constantly fight my body to keep from guarding it. So it's just a constant drag on my progress.

I know there are "chopat" straps that people wear for this condition. Any opinion on these? Any other suggestions are appreciated as well.

I don't know how treatable this will be for me since I already have a lot of bony deposits on my kneecap.

Thanks,

Matt

[Mark Rippetoe]

My advice, having the same problem myself, is to wear wraps (light-gauge powerlifting knee wraps), and stop doing push presses, jerks, and power cleans until it heals. Naprosyn helps, but the sharp bouncing is the problem. You should be able to squat through this if your form is good. Never front squat again.

[Randle McMurphy]

I had this, and for me, those blue rehband knee sleeves resolved it, i had a bit of quad tendinitis, and it solved that too.

knee straps helped too, but don't give the same warmth as rehbands knee sleeves.