Are there any solutions to patella tendonitis that work and R not unrealistic solutions or 2 invasive?

I have had to stop running since 1995 when I was diagnosed with patella tendonitis. I really want to run again without the pain associated with pat.tendonitis. The solutions given me by physical therapist were ridiculous and unrealistic, and didnt work. Never used knee braces or straps...these too look like a simplistic money making scheme, though I am open to hearing from people who have found relief from these supports.

1. Strengthen the muscles on either side of your knee... quads, hamstrings and calf muscles. This will give better stability for your knee. So that your strong muscles can compensate for your week tendons.
2. Get properly fitted for a good pair of orthotics for your running shoes. This will give support and stability and, most importantly, will deal with the cause of your PT. NB- not all orthotics are created equally. Since you have a chronic problem, you need a good pair.

I built up my quads by walking up a flight of stairs several times a night for a year to pick up a crying baby and feed her a bottle. This strengthening somehow prevented my pt from coming back. My situation was like yours and that helped. There are probably other ways to build up those quads, but that's how I did it.

try some herbs: boswellia, devil's claw - they have cool anti-inflammatory properties and are frequently used by people with complaints such as yours. and see an orthopedist - a shot of cortisone might clear it right up. and try swimming or bike riding instead. you hurt yourself running -if you hit yourself with a hammer, would you do it twice because it felt so good the first time?

wow! patellar tendinitis is very easy to treat.

Personally I don't like PT's but mostly because I'm an AT and despite our jobs being pretty much the same, AT's actually know the reason behind our treatments.

Get a roll of pre-wrap and wrap under your involved knee 10-15 times. Roll that wrap up and make sure it covers the soft spot below your knee on the front side. This will relieve the tension and other pressures on the tendon. Remember to take an anti-inflammatory (ibuprofen) before you exercise.

After exercise, apply a bag of ice below your knee 15-25 min or until you feel pain or nothing at all from the ice.

You can also change your running shoes to ones that will help support your arches. With better arches, the chances of getting patellar tendinitis again will decrease greatly. Strengthening your quads will also lessen the chances of it coming back.

The athletic trainer who responded (who sounded pretty close-minded to me, and who clearly doesn't know JACK about physical therapy) is missing one important piece to the puzzle here: he is assuming that you actually have patellar tendonitis.

A 12 year-long case of an acute inflammation, in the absence of a preturbing stimulus? Let's think creatively instead here.

You may well have had patellar tendonitis 12 years ago, but time marches on. If you have not been active since 1995, you may have soft tissue restrictions or scarring that impacts the free movement of the patella. You likely have some quad weakness. And, if you have weakness of the muscles that stabilize the hip, your trainer can wrap that knee until the cows come home and the knee will still not function in a correct biomechanical fashion.

It has been long enough, it's time to get serious about this thing. Go to APTA.org, click on "find a PT", and search for someone in your area who is board-certified in either Orthopedic or Sports PT (OCS or SCS after their name). Spend some time talking with them, decide if what they propose makes sense, and go for it. (If previous proposals were "ridiculous" and "unrealistic" in your view, I doubt you really bought into them/followed through with them. Make sure you are in a situation where you can trust the PT, and that what they are telling you makes sense.)

Good luck!