Re: Osgood Schlaters knee

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My 14 year old son has Osgood Schlaters knee. He is starting to get in shape for baseball season. I am hoping we can avoid some of the pain he has by preparing better. He also just got over a broken arm from football season. He missed basketball but became the manager for the team, because he couldn't play. He never stops!Thanks

-- Patricia Andrews (pandr23368@aol.com), January 19, 2000

Answers

I too have a 13 year old son who is into athletics and has Osgood Schlaters. He is wanting to compete Nationally and Internationally but the pain is causing him to have to rest his knees. Have you found any answers to this pain, that you are able to help me with,

Thank you

-- Patti Hardy (jhardy@vianet.net.au), January 16, 2001.


im 13 i had it a few months ago. all you need to do is stay off it for a few months. while staying off it avoid running ,jumping ,or all sports with your legs. the reason is when you are doing this it erritats you knee and doesnt get better.

-- matt main (sk8ermatt714@aol.com), February 22, 2001.

I'm now 22 and I was diagnosed with Osgood Schlater's at the age of 12.. yep...10 years ago....it has caused me so much knee pain that I could never begin to describe...and now finally...i have found a good doctor how is going to operate...in one week actually...I'm not even really afraid of the pain I'll feel afterwards compared to the 10 years of pain that i've alread suffered...

-- Paula Treadwell (ptreadwell@hotmail.com), May 13, 2001.

I am a 14 year old female. I am active in basketball and lately some soccer. I am 5'11" and my father is 6'7". I have a 16 year olf brother who is 16. He is 6'5" and also suffered from this disease. So the tallness and disease run in my family.

I was diagnosed with Osgood Schlaters about 6 months ago. I first started having pain when I was smack dab in the middle of basketball season. My doctor, a very good doctor, informed me that once I stopped growing that the pain would cease and that in order to help that along to avoid "over-activeness". So far this has worked for me. Let me know if you have heard any differently. Thanks --

-- Savannah Nix (DrSavy24@aol.com), June 17, 2001.


I am now 19 but was diagnosed with Osgoods Schlatters in the middle of my basketball season at the age of 17. Anti-inflammetories did help keep the pain at bay but also it helps if you are not too "over-active". If you are growing then the pain is likely to be there until growth is stopped. This is to do with the fusion of the tendon and bone in the knee. So avoid being extra active and anti-inflammetories will help.

-- Dunkin Ord (dunkin82@hotmail.com), July 12, 2001.


Hi im 14 years and i was ditected of these disease about 3 monts ago i play soccer and i had future in these im so afraid because i have now 3 monts resting my knees i dont know how to do to stop that i go to a very good doctor he says to me if it dont be better i goig to be operate and this could change all my life .

-- Emmanuel Lagunez (soccerstarztb@starmedia.com), July 20, 2001.

i got told i had osgood when i was 12, i managed to endure the pain while playing football (soccer) for 4 years but after stopping for 3 years and starting again recently the pain has got 1000 times worse, all the doctor keeps telling me is that i will grow out of it!!!!! i'm 6'3 i don't think im going to GROW anymore

-- Paul Mowat (paul@brocher.co.uk), September 06, 2001.

Hi, I am 15 Years Old and was diagnosed with Osgood Schlaters right in the middle of the basketball season 3 years ago. I had to sit out most of the remainding season and wear... almost a cast. It got better but everytime i started to be active again. after a month or two of activeness, the bone would seperate again below the knee. When i had a physical 3 years ago the doctor told me if i ever got it again i would never be able to play ball again, basketball is my life and i would die to play. I have gotten it every year at least two times a year. I try to hide the limping but cannot, i am scared to tell anyone about it because of the consequences. I have found that resting it for 2 or 3 months will fully heal it. At least until you start to be active again.

-- Mitch Ward (mitchster33@hotmail.com), September 24, 2001.

I've had this condition since about my freshman year in highschool, I'm now 18 almost 19. I've played soccer all my life. The pain used to be really bad, like after practice my knee would swell up from running and putting so much stress on it, also then, and even now if I bump it even the slightest bit it hurts. Example, I was playing in a game and colided head on with another opponent. My knee made solid contact with her knee and I almost had to come off the field. I kept playing, it did take a while for the pain to completely subside though. The only thing that I've found to help me with the pain is ice when my knee swells and Ibuprofen, that's what I do. Tell your son to keep it up and don't quit.

-- Dan Burford (dantheman_76@hotmail.com), November 28, 2001.

Hi I read with interest all your symptoms, around OSD. I am a 30 year old English guy who has suffered from OSD since the age of 10. I used to represent my county in both football (soccer) and athletics. I was in training for professional soccer until the age of 17 where i took a severe blow to my right knee. I had Physio for most of my sporting life due to being gifted when it came to sports. However one thing i was never told was to REST IT, STRAP IT, ICE / HEAT IT etc. I lost my football career due to my knee (i was playing along side players like David Beckham and David Seaman)(any USA people out there into soccer will know who they are!!). I had sergory at the age of 19 to remove the build up of calcium that i had below the patella. I had an ARTHEROSCOPY with sergory to remove most of the lump.

I then gave up competitive team sports, period. I then started my professional career as a sports centre manager, during which time i discovered TRIATHLON. I took part in many races and chose to ignore the ever increasing pain in my knee. I took part in IRONMAN NEWZELAND 2001 and managed to finish it. On November this year i did a 300mile charity bike ride. 200 miles in my knee gave out completly. I have in the last month had MRI scans and will be having more surgory to tidy the mess up.

My advice to anybody with OSD is if you are young rest it until you have stopped growing, or minimul strap it. Do not take from any medical professional 'THAT IT WILL GO AWAY IN TIME' or 'YOU WILL GROW OUT OF IT' you wont. It needs a lot of care. I did not look after mine as i was not advised to, and 20years down the line after missing my true destiny i am in need of surgory again. It would be great to hear from anybody that is suffering or would like personnel (non Medical advice) I am what we call in the UK ' a Good of been'

By the way David Beckham is married to Posh SPice and earns about £30000 per week!! now.

Tony Knudger Neville

-- Tony Neville (knudger@tneville.freeserve.co.uk), December 30, 2001.



Hello im 11 years old and i got osgood... last year. i discovered it while in class i bumped my leg on the desk and i didnt think much of it but then it kept happeneing or when i fell it would hurst so i went to the doctor for it and they said i had osgood schlaters im like what? nas they said yes.and iam a dancer so i was mad and my recitel was coming up and i was doing a solo and there was a part when i was the ground and it killed and + i had to skip a few classes but my doctor said to try to stay off it so this yr. im nto taking im mad about that! y doctor said to also take advil and but ice on it of coursse. if you have qustions feel free to e-mail me!

-- Brittany (flirt488@hotmail.com), January 02, 2002.

i was diagnosed with osd when i was 11 or 12. i had fallen from a piece of playground equiptment years before, and i landed on my knee. when i started growing and participaitng in sports, it got worse. i was never told to stay off of it or even apply ice, my dr at the time (in 1982!!) said i would grow out of it. i eventually did, even though i never really gave up participating in sports. by my freshman year in high school(when i stopped growing?) it felt normal and continued to be normal until i took a direct blow to it just 2 years ago. i've never heard of it re-occuring but after 2 months of immobility, 1 month in a cast and pain ever since, i believe its possible. I wrap mine now before participating in sports, and my dr advised a moist heating pad when the pain becomes unbearable. both seem to work fairly well. I don't think preparation will help your son all that much since most dr's now advise resting the knee to relieve the pain. he could try wrapping or they sell some sort of knee band in baseball supply catelogs. i never tried those, but in my personal experience, a slight amount of pressure on the outside of my "bump" makes it feel better. Good luck to him in his sports career!!

-- kris lesh (kris25lesh@hotmail.com), January 14, 2002.

I'm a guy just-turned 16 and was diagnosed 3-4 years ago. My doctor said my knees hadn't grown together right and I was suffering from Osgood-Schlaters. I haven't played sports in school, but I try to stay active. Now I am trying to get in shape to join the military after High School. Are there any special excersises to do to strengthen my knees? Thanks for any answers, bye.

-- Brian Beck (mstngsrck2003@yahoo.com), March 13, 2002.

I am a skatboarder and i have skated for 4 years the pain started not so bad but then it got worse. my doc. says skatboarding is not helping it at all. i had it x rayed but they say it was just growing pains. all i can do now is rest it and not skat for a few months

-- Harrison (sLipknotACE1@37.com), April 22, 2002.

Don't drive a stick shift if you already have this knee problem! I'm 24 now but developed osgood schlaters when I was much younger from intense ballet training. When I stopped doing the ballet it did get better but now my clutch has my left knee inflamed. I know it sounds crazy but I do alot of city driving in heavy traffic. The precision that it takes the properly let a clutch out multiple times (sometimes 100s of times in just a few hours) will cause inflamation, and more scar tissue. I am no fan of surgery until it is completly nessasary because I see doctors that just want to probe around in as many people as possible and all this does is make more scar tissue. Persistent physical theropy, mixed with rest can achive wonders. Non the less my next car will be automatic.

-- Rick Bedel (rickbedel@yahoo.com), May 08, 2002.


hi guys.

Have some sessions of deep tissue massage ( sports massage is also good) to your quads (muscles on the front of your leg) to release any possible spasm, or clear scar tissue that could prevent you from using it properly. This will allow the muscle to have greater range of movement, and also lengthen it a little so that there is less tension through the patellar ligament that sits just below the knee cap, which is where it pulls on the top of the bone in your leg (tibia) and causes the pain that is classed as Osgood's. A good regime of stretching the quads, psoas, and hamstrings twice a day, and staying off major exercise's that would cause inflammation is also very important. And finally, lots and lots of ice after doing exercise on the knee to reduce any inflammation.

hope that helps.

regards.

Poora.

-- Poora Singh (rather_not_leave_an_address@public.com), September 09, 2002.


Hi I am 11 years old, and have been running cross-country for the past 4 years. I have won team and county medals, this summer I took up Gaelic Football, I had a fall at school and landed on my knee, I have had trouble with it since, and had noticed a lump appearing below my knee cap, and the pain during training was terrible. I went to see my doctor yesterday and he told me straight away that I had Osgood Schlaters Disease, and that I would have to rest my leg completely for four weeks, or end up in a cast for three months.

-- Siobhan Dunbar (eamonndunbar1@eicom.net), September 14, 2002.

I'm 11 years old and im a female and had osgoodschlaters for 3 years now.when I first got it it realy hurt alot!I had to ice my knees alot and have to stop running.It does not keep me away frome sports.I am still very active.I have done a school project on osgoodschlaters for health.My health teacher didnt even know what it was!No body i know,know what it is.the only way to get rid of it is to rest,rest,rest and ice your knees ALOT!!

-- Casey P. (ZEKE0123@aol.com), September 27, 2002.

i am 17 years old and my osgoods is sooooo bad that i can barely walk, i was not good at sports but i loved them! i was the only girl on a rec hockey league ever since i was 6 years old because i simply wanted to play the game so playing with my brother and his friends didnt bother for a second i was diagnosed with osgoods when i was about 9 or10 years old the doctor told me a funny name and told me it would be gone in a year and a half. i just had to be carefull not to hit it or bang it and try to avaoid running up and down stairs as much as i could. two years went by and it was still not gone he didnt tell me much when i went back, just to take ibuprophen to minmizethe pain, it was getting worse so i went back a few more times,"ice it","stay off it","give up sports", "give up long distance walking", it was all they would ever tell me. By the time i was 14 years old i was imune to almost every type of pain killer including every brand of ibuprofen on the market and it was messing my stomache up so bad that i was gettting pains when i ate. i switched doctors she didn't even seem to know what osgoods was she just gave me a prescription for a new kind of pain killers. they cost an arm and a leg, my parents could barely afford them and they didnt work i went back and got a different perscription the samething happened. i had had enough of getting the usual brush offs so i went in there and said flat out "i am sixteen and i barely walk! there is something wrong and i cant afford these pain killers that DON"T WORK!!!!" finally she refered me to a surgeon after over a year and over $300 worth of medication that did nothing. he looked a an x-ray and poked my knee and then told me he was going to sing me up for physio therapy so i could learn excersises to strengthen the muscles in my leg and help to relieve the pain. six months later i finaly got my therapy apointments we in creased them to about 2 or three times a week i did my excersises as i was told right to the "T" i was getting a sort of shock therapy and after a while it did help a little, at first but i guess the osgoods was getting worse, after 5 months or so i gave up, it was doing nothing so i gave up my spot to some one else,i was just going to have to live my life in constant states of cautious ness but the theraaapy did help a little because even though the pain was still getting more intense it didnot last very long anymore, i could still do a few things i could skate a efw times a week for a few hours as long as i took it easy, it drove me nuts i wanted to play hockey again so bad! evry time i pulled on my skates, i would get a lil sad, then one night while i was playing a game with all the younger kids from my home town laughing cheering happy one child was trying to tag me and there were two very small children infront of me i had no choice but to wipe out and that i did straight down on both knee's i held back the screams of agony and the tears that were just pusing to stream,i didn't want them to scared or anything... they were just little and wouldn't understand, i went back to see the surgeon i had two very painful very purple very swollen knees one much more painfullthan the other, he schedlued me for arthoscopic surgery thinking i had cracked my cartilage, when i asked about the osgoods he told me he wasnt sure there was anything he could do about it but we would get this fixed first, i have been waitingfor a long time all spring all summer now it is early october and my surgery is still three weeks away it hurts so bad i can barely walk it doesnt matter if i rest it for a few months, i spent my entire ssummer when i was sixteen with my knee laid straight out and pilled with ice packs and it did NOT go away! i did not grow out of it it only grew worse, and though i don't know much about it, the physio therapist i had told me that is you push your knee too much and ovcer work out something inside will slip out and may not be reparable. so my advice to you poeple all of you is to keep pusing your doctors not your selves too many people suffer from this it is a disease and though some times poeple do grow out of it. so many of us don't.do not over work you're knee's because if something does slip out you may never be able to walk normally again. and that is alot more worse than just giving up the sport you love. but don't give up hope! there has to be a cure a better form of relief but this is so common! don't push your selves, push the doctors! it is their jobs to help us they took an oath!

-- Sara McManes (silly_ho101@hotmail.com), October 05, 2002.

Stay off the knee. Add ice to the knee. Elevate the knee and go visit a doctor and try to get some medicine. If it is swollen put and ACE Bandage to it and for 20-30 minutes a day for 3-4 hours a day. Do that for about a week or more if needed. I have figured out that osgood-schlater is caused by extremely fast growing of the body. Your body is growing so fast that your bones can't keep up with it. If you want more information either email me or IM me @k9dog2k2. Thank You.

-- Kev (jbkbmb@bellsouth.net), October 05, 2002.

Im 14 year old male, i play basketball and volleyball, i have been feeling pain since i was 11 and it was just diagnosed as OSD i find that wearing a knee braces and iceing them alot works

-- David Poirier (poirier9@hotmail.com), November 04, 2002.

I came to this forum searching for answers myself. I was diagnosed with the disease about 10 years ago. I never grew out of the problem, I just put up with the pain. Then I injured my knee again wrestling. The pain was amost unbearable at times. I had knee surgery this past summer. My knee is now worse off than before. I am going to the doctor once again to see what is next.

-- donnie morgan (wrestler149@yahoo.com), November 26, 2002.

Hi. I heard about your son's problem, and i know a lot about the Osgood Schlaters Disease, and i have the same problem too. You see, if he keeps on playing a lot of sports especially contact sports, it will get worse. And the knee is going to hurt. But if he HAS to play, he should put ALOT of ice on the spot that hurts. But the best thing to do, is that he should rest his knees for atleast 6 months, but if it is really bad, he should rest for a year and a half. But if he is going to rest his knees, he should drink a lot of milk, so the bone thats below the knee cap (Tibia) would get enough calcium, so it can heal fast. I personally love basketball, but im not playing this year, but im drinking a lot of milk. ANd it is helping. goodluck.

-- Hesham Sharif (heshamsharif@hotmail.com), December 15, 2002.

Reading these posts were very informative. My son Alex is 12 - has been in pain for a few yrs. Dr. told us to use brace on knee. the kind with the little whole in the front. If it does not get better in 6 months, we have to go back to see him. He is still playing Basketball. I am thinking about keeping him out of sports for a while. Although I feel at his age it is very important to be active.Can't stand seeing him just laying or sitting there.I appreciate these posts. learned alot and see that my son is not the only one with this pain. Good luck to you all..

-- Martha Katker (momkatker@aol.com), March 19, 2003.

Hi,

Reading all these notes of suffering has made me wonder why the treatment I received for OSD has not been continued. My left leg was put in a plaster cast from thigh to ankle and left tyhat way for 8 weeks. An absolute pain for a 14 year old, but at the end of that time (and after a month or so learning how to bend my knee again) I have had absolutely no trouble from this particular joint for the past 36 years.

My daughter has 'possible' OSD', tho' I am not confident of the diagnosis ; having read the list of problems posted on this site, I pray she is spared this condition: present-day medics don't seem to have an answer to the problem. Does anyone know why the earlier, effective treatment was abandoned?

Keith Laidler

Dr Keityh Laidler

-- Dr Keith Laidler (keith@panda-trust.org.uk), March 29, 2003.


OSD frikien' SUCKS Owwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww

-- Troy Arbar (o3sk8er777@aol.com), April 17, 2004.

No, I mean it REALLY SUCKS!!! I cant go sk8 with my friends cuz of this stupid B.S.

-- Troy Arbar (o3sk8er@aol.com), April 17, 2004.

I'm barely 11 years old and I was diagnosed with OSD when I was 9, It's still noticable when I sit down, but I barely notice it because it never seems to cause me pain. I still do all the things I used to, like play netball and tennis, It only causes the tiniest bit of pain when i run into something (eg, a table) with my leg bent so you can see it.... I hadn't realised it affected people so bad until I read this forum.... I'm grateful now that it hasn't affected me so bad.

-- Kirsty Backhausen (kirsty1994@hotmail.com), March 05, 2005.

My 11yr son was first told at 9 he had OS, stay off you leg and take motrin. Now he has a larg lump right below his knee cap the size of a lemon. He is very active in football, basketball and baseball. He wishes to make a career out of baseball. How can I help him with all these doctors saying just to stay off you leg when he did that from 9 to 10. Their must be more that can be done. How do you tell a growing boy he may not play sports? Their must be a cure some where out there. What can I do?

-- Julie Colon (Jeuls923@aol.com), March 09, 2005.

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