What do you know about Tendonitis?

As you may know I have been having pain on and off for about a year now. Actually, thanks to this little blog I have been able to look back through the archives and determine exactly when the pain started and what the symptoms were. So for that reason alone, I am glad to have documented my pain! Not only do I want to continue to document my condition but I am also putting it out there in case this information helps anyone else. Also, if you've been in a similar situation, I'd love to hear how you handled it. The first onset of pain actually started last January at this time. Since then I have seen a chiropractor, a physical therapist, a general practitioner, a physicians assistant, and an orthopedic surgeon. 

The Chiro and PT both suggested a set of exercises.

The General Practitioner said I had bursitis in the hips and gave me cortisone shots. This actually gave me the most relief but he also suggested I made an appointment with the Ortho.

I couldn't get into Ortho until 2 months later. When I finally did, he took an MRI of my pelvis to make sure something was not misaligned which would be causing me to have pain in my leg.
The end result was that he found nothing and so he went ahead and gave me more cortisone shots.

The Cortisone seemed to being doing the trick so before Rock n Roll VA Beach, I went back to the general practitioner but saw his P.A.  She gave me the shots but also diagnosed me with Greater Trochanter Syndrome.  The cure was to continue doing the stretches I was already doing.

After Rock n Roll Vegas in November I started feeling the pain again. Not to the extent that I had been feeling it earlier in the year but it was enough to stop me from running for more than a few minutes without taking a walk break. I wanted to cure this right away because I knew the marathon would be coming up.  On New Years eve I saw the PA again and after finally convincing her to give me the shot she recommended that I get an MRI done. I had that MRI yesterday and the result came back that it is Tendonitis of the knee. When I researched tendonitis of the knee I didn't think it sounded at all like the pain I am experiencing but I did find that there are several types of knee tendonitis and the PA said mine was lateral. My pain is on the outside of my knee and behind the knee. When I run it feels like I have pinching in this area. She also said I had a ganglion cyst which is from over use.  Every time I ask the PA about treatment she always tells me it is from over use and has no other suggestions on what I can do for pain relief. I had asked her about straps or bands and again was told they would not help.

Before I found out it was tendonitis I had gone to the pharmacy and bought this knee strap. I was hoping to find an IT band strap but this is the only one they had. Funnily enough, it is for knee tendonitis. It is meant to be worn under the knee cap but I tried it there and it just fell off. I have seen runners wearing the IT band strap above their knee so I tried it there too. It ended up that it actually stopped some of my pain. I ended up being able to do a short run just to test it out and it was okay. 

I'm keeping my fingers crossed that I can make it through marathon weekend. Maybe the folks at the KT tape booth will have some suggestions for me!

Have you ever had lateral tendonitis in your knee?

14 comments:

  1. This sounds really frustrating and while I have never had that kind on injury I do know how it feels to go to a million different doctors and not get any straight answers. I hope that you can be on your way to a recovery...and hopefully some KT tape can help support it and speed up healing!

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  2. I don't know much about it specifically, but I know about foot pain. I lived with it for a long time and the only thing that helped me - after seeing a foot doctor, cortisone shots, etc. - was acupuncture. I'm a big fan and advocate for people trying it for both, pain management and healing. I hope you find relief.

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  3. Gosh, I can't imagine how frustrated you must be over this. I can feel your pain! I went through a big ordeal with my ankle and Achilles several years ago. Ugh. Some Orthos are not sympathetic with runners (mine wasn't). There is a PT group here that caters to runners and helping them achieve their goals. How refreshing!

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  4. That would be so irritating to just have them tell you it's overuse and not give you anything you can do about it. I've never had such a long running injury, but it has got to be so frustrating! I hope the strap helps get you through the weekend so you can still enjoy it!

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  5. I have tendonitis in my foot but never my knee. I really hope your knee feels okay for you this weekend so you can enjoy your time in Disney. I would definitely go to the KT booth and have them tape it for you!

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  6. I had tendonitis in my knees in high school. I'd use pre-wrap to create those knee bands under my knee cap and then just rest after the season was over.

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  7. I feel bad for you with this - it's frustrating to not get any real help. I swear, if your doctor isn't an athlete, they just say "rest" and think that will fix everything. We can't rest - we have races to do!!! I have tendonitis in my Achilles, and my chiro helps with that. But while I'm still training for halfs (thankfully will be done in a couple weeks), it keeps coming back.

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  8. That is so frustrating that all they can say is over use but not provide anything specific to make it better :( I'm glad the strap and the shot are working for now. I have my fingers crossed for you!

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  9. Tendonitis is such a "general" term. Did she give you more specifics about where in your knee you have the issue? You might want to consider going back to the PT so she can hone in on that area and give you stuff to do at home. And I didn't see anything about a foam roller--have you been doing that too?

    Tendonitis is really frustrating because sure, taking time off will calm it down but unless you figure out the cause of the problem, it will just come right back when you start running again. Been there...

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  10. I suffered with tendonitis for two years. It got so bad, my knee would swell and make my feet go numb. It seemed like every time I got it partly healed, I would kick something or slip and it would hurt again. I finally started using a combo of ice and heat back to back to get it healed even though all the doctors said not to. Good luck!

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  11. Those people at the KT Tape booths know how to work miracles!!
    Sadly, I know ALL ABOUT freaking tendonitis... but mine is in my shoulder. I know it sucks. Royally.

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  12. Ugh I feel for you. I've had tendonitis in my calf before and honestly the best thing is rest. Hoping for a speedy recovery for you!

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  13. I've never had tendinitis in my knee. But I bet the taping could help!

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  14. so frustrating. i'm going to second the person who said to see if you can find a PT that is manned by athletes/ runners - my one PT experience was with a runner and i feel like it made all the difference!

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