Osgood-Schlatter disease (knee pain)

If your child has swelling, tenderness and aching pain beneath his or her knee joint, it may be Osgood-Schlatter disease. The pain gets worse when your child is active and better when he or she rests. It’s a common and temporary condition. Osgood-Schlatter is not really a disease. It’s an overuse syndrome -- a set of symptoms that happen at the same time and with excessive activity.

Young athletes usually get Osgood-Schlatter during their rapid growth years (ages 9-13). Youths who are extremely active in sports may be vulnerable. It happens more often in boys, but girls get it at younger ages.

Usually Osgood-Schlatter affects only one knee. Look for a slightly swollen, warm and tender bony bump below your child’s kneecap. The bump hurts when you press it. It may hurt at night. It also hurts when you kneel, jump, climb stairs, run, squat, lift weights or do any activity that bends or fully extends your leg.

The pain comes from repeated pulling of the kneecap (patellar) tendon. Repetitive, overuse injuries may make the tendon inflamed at the spot where it connects to the shinbone (tibia). Fast growing bone is susceptible where the tendon pulls on it. The tendon may get inflamed or even tear away, sometimes taking a tiny piece of shinbone with it.

Treatment

Don’t ignore the pain! Rest your knee until it gets better. If you do, Osgood-Schlatter usually heals itself within 6 to 18 months. But if you try to ignore the pain and continue doing the activities that caused it, your condition may become harder to treat… and might even come back again later in your life.

You don’t necessarily have to stop participating in sports altogether. You should limit your activity. If you are a competitive athlete, you may need to stop training for 2 to 3 months. Also, you may not achieve your most effective level of training for 6 to 7 months.

While you heal, you can use a pain reliever like ibuprofen to reduce pain and swelling. You may also try icing the area after sports and/or using a protective knee pad. If the pain does not go away, your doctor may want you to wear a brace or a cast.

Once the pain is completely gone, you may slowly return to your old level of activity. Your doctor may recommend certain stretching and strengthening exercises to help avoid developing the Osgood-Schlatter condition again in the future.

This page was last updated on 01/07/05