We all love kids being active – but there comes a time during puberty when they can hit a growth spurt. This can be when they start noticing more pain than before – and if it’s in active kids, it’s likely that they’ll be experiencing some form of knee pain.

Osgood-Schlatter’s (OGS) is a bone inflammation condition as the site of the tibial tuberosity (that knobbly bit on your shin underneath your kneecap!).  OGS is an overuse injury rather than being due to a traumatic incident. It occurs in young active children & adolescents and whilst not too common, can be quite painful and debilitating

It typically occurs in girls between the ages of 8 and 12 and with boys between 10-14 years old – this is not always the case, and the age when it occurs can vary. It occurs due to a period where the child has experienced a sudden growth spurt, combined with a high volume of sporting activity

In children – muscle develops much more quickly than bone (realistically bone growth won’t stop until people are in their 20’s!) and in active children in high impact activities, like running, football, basketball etc, will develop a very strong set of quadriceps muscles. These quads attach onto the knobbly bit of your shin via the patella tendon under your kneecap. Whilst your quads are nice and strong, the top bit of your shin is still growing and just is not strong enough to withstand repeated strain. The quads will pull on the patellar tendon which in turn will pull on the knobbly bit of bone (tibial tuberosity). In some children, this repetitive strain leads to pain and inflammation and the knobbly bit of bone may be a bit more knobbly!

Treatments

So how would we treat knee pain, or in fact any growth-related pains? Well, every person is different, and every treatment is tailored specifically to that individual. Normally, we would look at a combination of activity modification, soft tissue therapy, rehabilitation using a combination of strengthening and stretching.

If you think your child may be suffering from this or have any other injury queries, get in contact and we can advise!

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