Patellar (knee) tendon tears can happen to anyone. But other than athletes, seniors aged 65 and above are especially prone to this injury due to tendon degeneration.
What is a patellar tendon tear?
The patellar tendon connects the bottom of your knee cap to your shin bone. You may experience a partial tear or complete rupture in your patellar tendon. In a partial tear, the tendon is damage. But remains grossly intact. A complete rupture would result in a severed tendon and an unattached knee cap. In such cases, you would not be able to straighten your knee.
What are the symptoms of a patellar tendon tear?
Pain, tenderness and swelling of the knee are common symptoms of a ruptured patellar tendon. As the tendon becomes more damaged, the pain and inflammation get progressively worse. In complete ruptures, you may hear a ‘pop’ at the time you sustained the injury. Experience extreme difficulty and instability in walking, and your knee cap may move into your thigh as it is no longer attached to your shin bone.
What makes patellar tendon tears worse?
Delaying treatment
A delay of more than 6 weeks after โปรโมชั่นพิเศษจาก UFABET สมัครตอนนี้ รับโบนัสทันที sustaining the injury would complicate its treatment. The longer you delay treatment after injury, the more difficult it is to repair the tendon. In some cases. It will necessitate tendon reconstruction instead of a repair. Which may reduce the likelihood of you making a full recovery.
How is a patellar tendon tear treat?
Minor tears
Smaller tears may not require surgery. Your orthopaedic specialist may put your knee in a brace for 4 – 8 weeks, and prescribe you painkillers, anti-inflammatory medicine and physiotherapy.
Severe tears and ruptures
In such cases, immediate surgical repair of the patellar tendon is usually recommended. For some cases, it is not possible to repair the torn patellar tendon and a reconstruction is needed. This procedure may involve replacing your damaged tendon with tendons from other parts of your body or from a donor.