Osgood Schlatter stretching exercises are an important step in resolving this painful condition.

Osgood Schlatter is a repetitive strain injury and it tends to be caused by growth spurts in youngsters. When the femur bones lengthen they put heavy load on the point where the quadriceps muscles insert onto the tibia below the knee.

Some people manage to treat their Osgood Schlatter conservatively with a bit of stretching and ice but then for whatever reason it always seems to return. Treating Osgood Schlatter effectively is a game of two halves. The first half is about identifying the source of the irritation, which might be a particular sport or activity and you will need to stop that immediately. Then with ice and rest the pain will start to reduce and feel better.

Expert advice for stretching Osgood Schlatter

The second half of treatment is about rehabilitation exercises and stretching. If you don’t stretch the quadriceps muscles out or relieve the tension on the tibial tuberosity (the point where those muscles insert), then whenever you load those muscles again during sport you will just irritate it and the condition will return.

So effective rehabilitation is all about conservative care, with gentle reduction of the scar tissue and any adhesions that might be located in the tendon itself. It’s about stretching the quadriceps and the muscles they work in association with.

Muscles have an agonist and an opposite muscle called an antagonist, which in the case of the quadriceps is the hamstrings. To really get on top of Osgood Schlatter you must stretch the hamstrings and the quadriceps together. If you only treat one half of the muscle group then this condition will always be likely to return.

Treatment for Osgood Schlatter

If you want more information on Osgood Schlatter stretching exercises then get your symptoms assessed first with our pain assessment tool.

Once you’ve identified the likely cause you’ll be able to download a treatment guide. It will tell you everything you need to know about Osgood Schlatter and it will help you to manage the pain effectively.

Start your Pain Assessment Get the Treatment Guide

Other resources

Osgood Schlatter Disease Exercises
Exercise Program for Osgood-Schlatter Disease