Adolescence and Tendon Pain
Have you ever wondered why adolescence end up with patellar tendon injuries? Achilles tendon injuries? Hamstring tendon injuries? Why does jumping and/or sprinting hurt some young athlete’s knees so much?
According to research, the muscle development in young athletic groups occurs at a faster rate than tendon development. Muscle strength can increase simply by increasing neural activity, whereas structural properties need to change for a tendon to get strong… and this takes time. This “mismatch” of strength can, therefore, lead to tendon strain overload, and potentially to injury.
If you have a young athlete that has tendon pain, check out this article and blog posted on Tendinopathy Rehabilitation. Three clinical suggestions are posted here to help athletes adapt and work with this mismatch of muscle to tendon strength as they grow.
If your young athlete is having tendon pain, please have them visit Head Athletic Therapist, Brady Greening, in the Edge School Sport Therapy clinic. She will be able to assess if their pain is indeed tendon pain and help them to adapt their training to this mismatch of strength. Specific exercises will be prescribed to rehabilitate injured tendons, as well as soft tissue therapy to help decrease pain and imbalances within the muscle group.
Contact Brady at bgreening@edgeschool.com or book an appointment at the Edge School Sport Therapy clinic today!
Ross is an exercise and sport enthusiast who is passionate about human performance and development. He has been in the athlete development field for the past 14 years. Ross holds an MSc Kinesiology from AT Still University and a BSc Kinesiology from Dalhousie University.