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Does knee pain make it hard to do everyday activities like walking, running, or even standing up? If so, you might be dealing with quadriceps tendonitis. It is a common condition caused by overuse or strain on the quadriceps tendon. This condition can make simple movements painful and limit your ability to stay active. But what exactly causes this, and how can you recover? By understanding the root problem, you can manage this condition.
ANF Therapy®️ is an innovative and highly effective treatment for quadriceps inflammation. This therapy uses small ANF Devices placed on the affected areas of the body, working with the body’s natural healing system aiming to reduce inflammation and relieve pain. Start your treatment today and take the first step towards a pain-free life.
What is quadriceps tendonitis?
Quadriceps tendonitis is an inflammatory condition that affects the quadriceps tendon. This tendon connects the quadriceps muscle (located at the front of the thigh) to the patella (kneecap).
It helps the knee move, especially during activities like walking, running, jumping, and climbing stairs. Quadriceps tendonitis causes pain, tenderness, and decreased knee function, usually due to overuse or strain.
What does quadriceps tendonitis feel like?
People with quadriceps tendonitis experience dull pain in the front of the knee, just above the kneecap. This pain usually:
- Develops gradually over time
- It may worsen after prolonged sitting, jumping, squatting, or running
- Can sometimes improve during activity but return when movement stops
Some other symptoms of quadriceps tendonitis include:
- Stiffness, particularly in the morning or after physical activity
- Tenderness when touching the area above the kneecap
- Swelling around the affected area
- Poor mobility
- Warmth and burning sensation in the affected area
What are the causes of quadriceps tendonitis?
The primary cause of quadriceps tendonitis is overuse. This occurs when the quadriceps tendon experiences repetitive movements, putting it under constant stress. Activities like running, jumping, and squatting can lead to small tears in the tendon over time.
These tears can become problematic because the body may not have enough time to heal fully before the tendon is subjected to further strain. As a result, inflammation develops, causing pain and discomfort.
Common activities that contribute to this condition include:
- High-impact sports such as running, volleyball, and soccer involve sudden starts, stops, and jumping
- Excessive training where the frequency, intensity, or duration of workouts
- Improper technique during sports or exercises
- Inappropriate footwear
- Poor flexibility
What are the risk factors of quadriceps tendonitis?
While anyone can develop quadriceps tendonitis, certain people are at higher risk, including:
- Athletes: People who play sports that involve jumping or running on hard surfaces are especially at risk. Repeated movements can lead to injuries in the quadriceps tendon.
- Inadequate warm-up: Exercising without adequately warming up increases the chances of injury.
- Insufficient recovery: If you don’t give your body enough time to rest between workouts, you can end up with overuse injuries.
- Gender: Males are more prone to quadriceps tendonitis, with a male-to-female ratio of 8:1.
- Age: People older than 40 are more at risk. Since tendons become less flexible as people age, they become more prone to inflammation and injury.
- Obesity: Excess body weight contributes to increased stress on the tendons, which can cause wear and tear over time.
- Chronic diseases: Certain diseases like diabetes, lupus, rheumatoid arthritis, and chronic kidney disease can weaken tendons and reduce blood flow to them. This makes the tendons more likely to get injured and inflamed.
- Medications: Fluoroquinolones, corticosteroids, and anabolic steroids may also increase risk. Even articular injections increase the risk by 20 to 33%.
- Muscle tightness: Tight muscles in the hamstrings and quadriceps can also add pressure to the tendon. When the muscles are not flexible, they can pull on the tendon more than usual, causing irritation and injury.
- Alignment issues: If your joints or bones aren’t aligned properly, one leg might take on more stress than the other. This imbalance can lead to tendonitis and other injuries.
Management of quadricep tendonitis with ANF Therapy®️:
Your ANF Therapist will take a detailed history and do your clinical examination above and below your knees to confirm the diagnoses. The main aim of ANF Therapy is to reduce inflammation and alleviate your symptoms.
History:
In history, your ANF Therapists will ask you questions regarding your disease, including:
- What are your active complaints?
- Which site of your leg is involved?
- How much pain do you have?
- Does this pain affect your daily lifestyle activities?
- Do you have any history of previous surgery or trauma?
- History of previous medical illness
- Occupational history
Physical examination:
Your ANF Therapists will assess your quadriceps muscle to check for inflammation, pain, and dysfunction. During the examination, they will also examine your quadriceps muscles, nerves, and lymph nodes. This is a crucial step in targeting the right location of pain.
Application of ANF Devices:
After the examination, they will apply different types of ANF Devices to the affected areas of your body. These include anti-inflammatory devices applied on both sides of your muscles with positive and negative charges and help remove inflammation from your body. Antioxidant devices also remove oxidative stress and kill free radicals that can affect your muscles and tissue. These ANF Devices aim to remove inflammation, strengthen your quadriceps muscles and nerve signals, improve blood circulation, and promote natural healing.
Expected outcome:
According to Dr. Mikel H-G Hoff, most patients feel immediate relief soon after applying ANF Devices. Still, it can vary from person to person, depending on the severity of the disease.
Follow-up:
You will need to change ANF Devices after 72 hours. Your therapist will create a personalised treatment plan for you and educate you about these changes.
Regular follow-ups are essential in treating back pain and checking the efficacy of ANF Devices. Your ANF Therapist will guide you on the number of follow-up sessions and treatment duration.
Start your journey with ANF Therapy®️:
ANF Therapy®️ offers an innovative and the most effective treatment for managing quadriceps inflammation. This non-pharmacological therapy provides a safe and effective approach that improves disease outcomes by targeting the root cause. If you’re suffering from quadriceps inflammation, consult an ANF Practitioner or find an ANF Therapist at https://www.anftherapy.com/find-clinic/ to start your treatment with ANF Therapy®️ today!
If you’re a healthcare practitioner and want to enhance your clinical skills with frequency medicine, learn more about the ANF Therapy®️ and ANF Clinical education program by visiting www.anfacademy.com.
What are the complications of quadriceps tendonitis?
Complications of quadriceps tendonitis include:
- Stiffness
- Weakness, with 33% to 50% of patients experiencing a noticeable reduction in strength
- Functional impairment, where up to 50% of individuals may not return to their previous level of activity or sports
- Persistent pain or hypersensitivity around the patella or near the scar from injury or surgery
These complications can affect daily activities and sports participation.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
How long can quadriceps tendonitis last?
Quadriceps tendonitis can last anywhere from a few weeks to several months, depending on the severity of the condition. In most cases, recovery takes about 2 to 4 weeks. However, if the damage is more serious, it may take 6 to 12 weeks to heal. For those requiring surgery, recovery could take 6 to 9 months.
What can be mistaken for quad tendonitis?
Quadriceps tendonitis can be confused with other knee conditions, such as patellar tendonitis, synovial plicae, chondromalacia, patellofemoral subluxation, fat pad impingement (Hoffa’s syndrome), or patellofemoral arthritis. These conditions also cause pain in the front of the knee and can lead to misdiagnosis.
What does an inflamed quad feel like?
Quadriceps inflammation pain occurs during physical activity or when you straighten your legs and is characterised by warmth, tenderness, and swelling in the affected joint.
About ANF Therapy®️
ANF Therapy®️ uses circular ANF Devices, which are applied directly on the skin after palpation and assessment by a trained ANF Therapist following the ANF Therapy®️ Method, Patented Model no. U202030252, ES1259974.
The ANF Therapy®️ purpose is the alleviation of injury and pain within minutes.
Our aim is that the patient experiences a reduction of pain and swelling, an increase in range of motion, and an improvement in quality of life related to health. Non-transdermal, non-invasive device, NO needles or chemicals are used.
Do you need help with your health issues? Have you been experiencing symptoms of quadriceps tendonitis?
Contact us, and we will explain how we can help you!
