DD9 has a knee problem

[mudnuri]

DD9 has started running to 'train' for a 5K race. She is in a group at school called "girls on the run" they have been meeting tues/thurs since late March. Occasionally since this start she has come home and said her knee hurts. She puts ice on it and it goes away.

Tuesday after GOTR she said it hurt more than normal, so she took a shower, did the ice thing and again it went away. Last night she was at her dads, and sent me a text message asking me if I could make her a doctors appt. I said yup would call this morning and try to get her in with the doc.

asked her exactly where it hurt- left knee, right bellow the knee cap, sort of hurts 'under the knee cap' hurts when you stand, hurts when you jump, hurts when you run, and now it hurts when she's not doing anything.

She doesnt walk funny- she doesnt favor the leg...HOWEVER!!!

Now- here's the part that concerns me. My brother has osgood slaughter in both knee's. When he was about DD's age, he started complaining about his knee's- docs always said it was growing pains- until of course he was playing highschool football and the damage really began.

When I was a sophmore in highschool I blew out my ACL playing field hockey- surgery and about 6 months of PT got me back to where I could play with a full brace and double hinge...missed basketball and softball of that season and spent a ton of time swimming in the summer to strenghten the leg...to this day- if I run, I have to wear a brace

Her symptoms are Osgood- textbook symptoms. Generally with this you use the RICE - well....of course her 5k is saturday...In her perfect world- she would get in the docs tomorrow- get a brace and run on Saturday...lol course I told her thats more than likely not going to happen, I can probably get her in tomorrow- but I doubtt she will be running Saturday...

Anyone have experience with kids being treated for osgood slaughter???

Thanks
Brandy

 

[Sleepy]

Has she been placed on a treadmill to be observed? My son was having the same problem you describe and it was quickly discovered that he was landing on one foot wrong and it was causing stress to the knee. Maybe a tip to physical therapy is needed?

 

[mudnuri]

Nothing has been done yet- other than the RICE....I have an appt today for myself at the docs so I will ask then when I make her appt if she needs to see either an ortho or a PT....Never thought she could be landing wrong- thanks for that point!

Brandy

 

[golfgal]

Is she wearing good running shoes? That could be the problem too. She shoud be in a good quality running shoe that isn't too old. Check into Asics, great running shoe.

As for the Osgood-Schlatters, that occurs when a child's bones grow rapidly and the muscles/ligaments start tearing away from the bone because they can't keep up with the growth. You will get calcification where the tears occur and that is painful. Stretching your muscles well a few times a day will help minimize this but there isn't much you can do if your child goes through a huge growth spurt.

 

[PlutoPony]

DH had Osgood-Schlatter's from a major growth spurt in high school. No permanent damage and he kept playing sports with some pain, but learned the appropriate stretching exercises which helped. 9 seems a bit young for OS but I'm certainly not an expert on it.

It might be time to find DD a good sports-medicine doctor, especially one who works with kids. They're so used to seeing recurring injuries and should be able to tell you how to handle it, and what to expect in the future so as not to do any long term damage. Some peds are good too but not all seem to take this as seriously as the sports med guys.

 

[pirateofthecarolinas]

As for the Osgood-Schlatters, that occurs when a child's bones grow rapidly and the muscles/ligaments start tearing away from the bone because they can't keep up with the growth. You will get calcification where the tears occur and that is painful. Stretching your muscles well a few times a day will help minimize this but there isn't much you can do if your child goes through a huge growth spurt.

You just described my DS12. He is growing so fast. He wanted Tylenol this morning for his knee. He said he didn't remember hitting it on anything. We'll try stretching this afternoon. Thanks!

Lori

 

[Evil Queen]

DS10 doesn't have Osgood-Schlatter's, but does have Sever's Disease, which some Dr's lumped together in the same category.

SD and OS article

He has plates he has to wear in his shoes. He will get x-rayed once a year (he's been diagnoised just at a year now) and be fitted for new plates at the same time. Doctor says it very rarely cause problems as an adult, he should outgrow it in his late teens/young adult years.

There's not much else they can do for him. He can still do sports, but must ice his heel and take a Motrin or Aleve.

He does favor that leg and foot, and like I said above he does still play flag football. It's a double edge sword for him, sports and hard playing aggravate it, but he has to watch his weight because of it, and no exercise goes against him.

I am curious though, he's tall for his age, does that seem to be a problem for anyone who has one of these two conditions?

Let us know what the Dr. says.

 

[Tigger&Belle]

Anyone have experience with kids being treated for osgood slaughter???

Thanks
Brandy

A couple kids on my son's baseball team have OS. I don't know that they've had to do anything special and it's supposed to be something that they outgrow. My son had a similar heel problem (Severe's Disease) and he basically had to outgrow it. He had exercises to do, was supposed to ice it after baseball, but other than that he just had to wait. Good luck with your DD! I would go to a sports medicine dr, which is what we did with our son and his heel problems.

 

[PlutoPony]

DS10 doesn't have Osgood-Schlatter's, but does have Sever's Disease, which some Dr's lumped together in the same category....

I am curious though, he's tall for his age, does that seem to be a problem for anyone who has one of these two conditions?

DS was diagnosed with Sever's at 9. Not a severe "case" but a recurring problem. We think it came from doing a LOT of running for sports, and wearing soccer shoes with minimal padding. He was given exercises to stretch the achilles before running and that did seem to help, as well as adding padded inserts in his soccer cleats. He's 11.5 now and hasn't had a problem with it in over a year. He is average height with a lanky build (like his dad who is tall), and hasn't had a major growth spurt yet. I expect more visits to the sports med doctor (who was really good) before he's finished growing, assuming he continues to play every sport he can!

 

[Tigger&Belle]

My son at SD for less than a year. I was surprised that when he had a major growing spurt recently that he didn't have any issues with OS or SD. He grew over an inch in 10 days, so that was a real test.

 

[RadioNate]

I just wanted to urge you to see a good sports medicine dr. I had back pain throughout HS. My mom took me to the ped, who dx me with sciatica. I was up to 2 Motrin3, 3x a day to manage the pain.

After a year (and ulcers from all the motrin) I saw a sports medicine Dr because my back wasn't getting better at all. 1 look at the Xray and he dx'd me with spondylolysis and spondylolisthesis, which is the slipping and stress fracture of the vertibrae.

Since the problem is new with running, she could be having a problem with landing or form. I think with O-S there is ususally chronic pain not just after activity.

 

[Evil Queen]

DS was diagnosed with Sever's at 9. Not a severe "case" but a recurring problem. We think it came from doing a LOT of running for sports, and wearing soccer shoes with minimal padding. He was given exercises to stretch the achilles before running and that did seem to help, as well as adding padded inserts in his soccer cleats. He's 11.5 now and hasn't had a problem with it in over a year. He is average height with a lanky build (like his dad who is tall), and hasn't had a major growth spurt yet. I expect more visits to the sports med doctor (who was really good) before he's finished growing, assuming he continues to play every sport he can!

Thanks. DS is 5'4"- 5'5" (depending who is measuring) now at 10. That's why I was curious about kids being tall and having one of these two conditions. Even though they appear more often after starting a sport (be it the first time or when a new season rolls around). His Dr's. project he will be 6' 8" to 6"10" as an adult, so let's see hopefully just another 1' 5" to go and we can quit worrying about.

I had to go to his Dr. about my ankle, and DS went with me. He was showing DS my x-rays and said "That's what a heel w/o Severe's looks like". His "fracture" is very noticable on the x-ray.

 

[PlutoPony]

His Dr's. project he will be 6' 8" to 6"10" as an adult, so let's see hopefully just another 1' 5" to go and we can quit worrying about.

OMG! You do have a while before you're in the clear... good luck! DH grew something like 10 inches in < 2 years and ended up at 6'2". His OS wasn't surprising considering that growth spurt. Hoping to avoid that with DS but he seems to have his father's build so who knows. We're probably both in for more adventures at the doctors' offices though

 

[mudnuri]

We're back

Anterior Patella Fibular ligament. Thats whats wrong....short term fix- motrin 1-3x a day and ice 3x a day- and no running or activity that irritates.

We go back next Friday for a check- and if not doing better, she will be referred to the PT...and sent for films etc.

She's bummin about the 5K saturday- but the doc explained - sit this one out and you'll be better to run more- run this one, and you may not ever be able to run another!...that was what she needed to hear, from the doc- not mom!

Brandy

 

[Evil Queen]

I can imagine she's bummed about the race.

Make sure she heeds the Dr's advice. DS10, when 1st diagnosed with the SD, was told for 6 weeks, no PE, no sports. He wanted him to rest it for that time, then wanted him to go back to those things, but the pain from the heel was to determine how much.

The PE teacher would not let him participate, like it should be, but he tells me he was picking up football games after school with his buds.

So when we went back to get his plates that we ordered, I informed the Dr., that he was not following his rules completely. Dr. told him, let me hear it again and I'll put you in a boot/cast and make it rest for 6 weeks. Now that got his attention, because he didn't want that going into summer time.

 

[Tigger&Belle]

Evil Queen, when my son was diagnosed with SD his sports medicine dr didn't restrict the activities at all, but did have him ice it after baseball. He gave him the exercises to do, but did say that they would help with the pain, but if he didn't do them it wouldn't cause lasting harm (would just make it less painful). Zach had a hard time running since that hurt, but at least was able to continue with his sports. Now there's no lasting problems at all. Interesting that the drs don't even agree on the treatment.

 

[Jpgirl]

A round of PT would be good and I would follow that up with a few sessions with an athletic trainer or personal trainer who specializes in running. Make sure her shoes are the right ones for her. With so many running shoes on the market you really don't want to have her in a shoe that exacerbates the problem. I'm not sure the rule of thumb for runners on how often to buy shoes but as a trainer and an aerobics instructor-I change my aerobic shoes every 2-3 months when I teach. You can't believe how many people show up to class wearing really old shoes and then complain about foot/ankle/knee/hip pain that can be attributed to shoes. Good luck to your dd may she have many running days in front of her

 

[Evil Queen]

Evil Queen, when my son was diagnosed with SD his sports medicine dr didn't restrict the activities at all, but did have him ice it after baseball. He gave him the exercises to do, but did say that they would help with the pain, but if he didn't do them it wouldn't cause lasting harm (would just make it less painful). Zach had a hard time running since that hurt, but at least was able to continue with his sports. Now there's no lasting problems at all. Interesting that the drs don't even agree on the treatment.

Yeah Gordon has a hard time with running. I feel kind of bad for him when he plays football, he's always got that little limp going too. He says it really doesn't bother him while using it, it's after.

 

[Virgo10]

I have OS and I've got to say the minute I saw the title of your post that's what came to mind. Looking back I would say I was around your daughter's age when it first started to bother me. I can remember getting yelled at in church because I couldn't kneel during the service!

Way back in the 1950's they didn't do anything about it or at least that was my case. The worst of the pain was while I was growing during my teen years. Now all I've got is a bump on my left knee. Thank goodness I finally stopped growing! BTW, I'm 6'1" and at least 5 of those inches came during the time I was developing OS.

Certainly have her checked out especially because she's a runner. Best wishes for your daughter!