Pain just below the kneecap that often flares with running, hills, sprinting, or explosive movements.
Easy running is sometimes acceptable if tendon pain remains low and the tendon is not worse the next morning. Faster running, hills, and plyometric work usually need a longer runway and often need to be reduced first.
Mild cases may continue modified running, but tendon rehab commonly takes 6 to 12 weeks before confidence returns. In many cases, it can take several months before the tendon feels fully robust again.
Patellar Tendinopathy is an overload injury of the tendon below the kneecap.
It’s often associated with jumping sports, but runners get it too, especially when speed work, hills, plyometrics, and gym loading all rise together.
Rather than being a sudden dramatic injury, this is usually a case of the tendon being asked to handle more force and more repeated loading than it is currently prepared for.
Weekly mileage
Speed work
Hills
Long Runs
Running Frequency
This may sound familiar if:
A common clue with Jumper’s Knee is that it often behaves more like a load-sensitive tendon than a random knee injury.
This usually shows up when load quietly outruns tendon capacity.
Common reasons include:
Most of the time, this is not because the tendon is “damaged beyond repair”, it’s because it is overloaded and underprepared for the demands being placed on it.
It’s worth getting help if:
Get help sooner if you have:
