bad knee!
Well it’d be much more convenient for you to get there than most of us aussies 
I’ve never attended this festival, but it is commonly talked about.
But a trampoline and a diving board launch to spring off of??? crazy.
That’s one big dive…
Well it’d be much more convenient for you to get there than most of us aussies
I may find myself in West VA during that weekend and then I would go… but I doubt I would head there just to go.
I like the state of WV it is beautiful and the people are nice. It gets a bad reputation for many stereotypes of people being jobless and uneducated, poor, and racist - rednecks. I tend to disagree… of course stereotypes dont just create themselves, but the state of WV is beautiful and has a lot to do if you enjoy the outdoors.
I find myself in WV quite often when going out to do something fun for a weekend, winter or summer.
Where there are lots of people there are bound to people who could come close to stereotypes.
I myself have never been to WV or anywhere close.
But if you come to Aus, Melb is the place to be.
Sorry jer, but i’ve been to sydney and i was bored shit.
Maybe if i go back now being “18” and all then things might be a bit different 
A bit biased but I say Melbourne > Sydney. Sydney always rains when I go there.
Ok so Ive had a dodgy knee for about 5 years now, and it is such a pain (no pun intended) in the arse! I think it has always affected my riding style as I tend to favour my strong leg/knee.
I recently saw a specialist who (with the help of an MRI scan) diagnosed it as patella tendinitis. I have done research on the net but I was hoping Becky or anyone else might be able to give me some advice or particular exercises or anything that might help.
A bit of background - it originally started getting sore when i got into skateboarding, but playnig soccer all my life probably didnt help either. It soon became quite painful and only then did I stop pushing myself during sport (i havent played soccer in a few years and skate like once a year). I have seen a physio several times and he originally thought it was chondromalacea patella with maltracking (knee cap wasnt gliding properly and damaging the cartellage). He gave me exercises to strengthen the muscles around the knee and stretches for felxibility. The muscle near the knee cap on the inner part of my quads (sorry not sure what its called) is very weak and I have trouble engaging and building that muscle. I have been doing exercises for a few years now with some results but its still a problem. I can genrally play most sports without compromissing my performance too much, but its particualrly prone to pain when Im not fully warmed up. I will be seeing the physio again next week ( for the first time since finding out its patella tendinitis) so hopefully he has some specific exercsies.
to add frustration I recently started going to the gym more and working on generally pretty light exercises to build the leg muscles before I head to NZ (in a week). I had a real positive attitude and was going to do everything I could to get rid of the problem. Unfortuantely I have re-aggrevated (and damaged I assume) the tendon and it is even is a bit sore jsut walking. Absolute worst timing!! Obviously now I can only rest it up and hope it will be ok for boarding in a week + time…
It is beyond frustration - as I said Ive had it for about 5 years so any advice would be much apprecited. Any questions, please ask.
Cheers
Hey Dan,
Sorry for the late response. Ive been overseas on a soccer tournament.
Sounds like you have everything under control with your exercises, pain management etc.
If you need any further advice, Im back on the forums,
Cheers, Becky.
Hi Dan
sorry I’m late to the party on this one. The MRI would have indicated some damage/derangement of the patellar tendon (and i assume they mean the part from your kneecap to your quad muscle, not the patellar ligament that goes from the knee cap to the tibia) but the question remains, why? If there wasn’t a specified mechanism of injury (MOI) it would be considered an overuse or chronic strain type of injury
You may very well have the correct diagnosis of a tracking issue, or possible overpronation like bangabain said, but in essence that is a moot point as the therapy for various strain/sprains/overuse problems are similar.
What i think your issue might be is that the tendon has never healed properly. Most tendons have limited blood supplies and even though you are endeavoring to correct the issues that may have started the problem, the tendon hasn’t healed. That is why it is reaggravated
In someone like a runner, who exercises a specific amount we recommend they decrease the amount of exercise they do, (which is not as easy when its recreational activities like skating with ill defined episodes but you should try to cut back for a while), that they ice the area for 10- 15 minutes after the exercise, and get some therapy to the tendon. Physiotherapists will often apply ultrasound and high voltage galvanic stimulation which is designed to kick start the healing, at our office we may use Active Release Therapy. Graston Therapy or ESWT/RSWT shockwave therapy.
If you have any questions about these therapies please ask.
Hi guys, thanks for the responses.
Jason, the specialist pinpointed the problem with the tendon as directly below the kneecap. After he looked at the MRI he applied pressure on that area and I felt some pain. The strange thing is that of late (actually stretching back several months now) the frequent source of pain is directly left of the middle of the patella about 1cm from the patella (its my right leg so on the inner part of my knee). Is this likely to be part of the tendon, or is the tendon only above and below the patella?
My knee was a little sore last week after my first proper net session for cricket. And following a period of mild pain I generally felt a little weak in the knee. This is all too common when I overdo it a bit too much. Today I went back to the gym after several days break. It was ok, but slight pain as I described in the above para.
In regards to resting my knee, interestingly, I was sick for about a month (5 months ago) and during that time I didnt do any exercises. Initially I thought that having a rest may be a positive, but I soon noticed the knee feeling weaker and more susceptible to pain. Since I have concsistently been doing the rehab exercises/stretches I mentioned in the previous posts there has definitely been an improvement.
The point you make about most knee problems having similar therapy is a good one and I see that as a positive.
When the tendon below the kneecap was particularly bad from overding it at the gym (as I described in my original post) I was using ice in the evenings, I think it helped. BTW this particular source of pain has not been a problem of late, largely I think because I have not been overdoing the rehab exerises.
Very briefly, what are the forms of therapy you mentioned (i.e. Active Release Therapy. Graston Therapy or ESWT/RSWT shockwave therapy)
Thanks again everyone for all the help.
we generally refer to the area you’re describing as the patellar ligament but some authorities call it a tendon. the area to the left isn’t really part of the tendon althouhg the fibers sort of fan off in that directiona bit, the pain could be in the muscle insertion or the joint capsule of the meniscus, maybe a seperate but related issue.
here is some info about the therapies
ART:
http://www.activerelease.com/what_patients.asp
Graston:
http://www.grastontechnique.com/faq.html#faq1
Shockwave:
http://www.shockwavetherapy.ca/about_eswt.htm#What is ESWT0
ART/Graston is widely used by Chiropractors and should be overly expensive, but Shockwave is harder to find and can be prohibitively expensive at this point in time