question about osgood-schlatter's that just won't go away?

Question

i was diagnosed with osgood-schlatter's in my left knee when i was 13, stemming from gymnastics. they said it would go away in a few years or when i hit puberty, but now i'm 22 and it still hasnt' gone away. i stopped doing competitive gymnastics long ago, but the problem keeps getting worse.

this is not a mild case; you can see the bump in my knee from a few feet away it's so big. and it hurts all the time. i have a desk job and if i don't stretch my legs out every hour or so i'm in excrutiating pain. also, i had to stop running because that hurt it as well. i'm a very active person, so not being able to exercise like this is really bothering me.

i went to my family doctor, but he said there was nothing that could be done about it and i was pretty much stuck with it. he said i should switch to swimming if i want to stay in shape, but i don't have access to a pool.

does anyone else have the same problem? does it ever go away? can you get surgery? what helps with the pain?

Answer 1

The problem is pain and the pain is due to inflammation. Outside of resting up, or going swimming, you will always be putting the knee under undue pressure which will cause the inflammation and that will cause the pain. Several things you could try to reduce the inflammation, hot/cold packs, wear a knee support while exercising and always warm up and cool down.