The athlete who presents with a high level of kinetic chain

dysfunction, regardless of pain level, will take considerable time (6 to 12 months) to recover both muscle and tendon capacity. This is complicated if the athlete aspires to return to a high level of performance, for example an elite high jumper will require much more rehabilitation than a recreational football player, as the jumping demands differ greatly.58 Even within elite sport there are levels of loading for the patellar tendon, a volleyball player will jump and land much more than a basketball player and will also require greater rehabilitation time. Regardless, impatience with rehabilitation creates a poorer prognosis; time, proper rehabilitation and appropriate graded return to sports are an effective treatment. Pain in tendinopathies is poorly understood, however, there is emerging evidence in support of an element of central sensitisation GDC-0068 research buy or pathophysiological up-regulation of the central nervous system.59 and 60 A small study has demonstrated that athletes with patellar tendinopathy have a lower mechanical pain threshold and greater sensitivity to vibration disappearance than

non-injured athletes.61 Local pathology, such as neovascularisation, lacks evidence as the primary pain driver,62 which is yet to be determined. More research is required to fully understand how a tendon fails in adaptive capacity and pathology develops, and what causes the pain in the tendons Mephenoxalone that is so specific to loading. Intervention studies to clarify an optimal loading program, as well as the eventual development of a prevention program would also be STI571 nmr beneficial. Research has increased our understanding of patellar tendinopathy and pathology but there is still more to discover. Currently, the most important factors in managing athletes with patellar tendinopathy are to educate them about how to modify loading according to symptoms, to ensure that they understand how to increase or decrease loading appropriately, and to assess and modify intrinsic and extrinsic factors that may be contributing to overload. Ethics

approval: Nil Competing interests: Nil Source(s) of support: Professor Cook is supported by the Australian Centre for Research into Sports Injury and its Prevention, which is one of the International Research Centres for Prevention of Injury and Protection of Athlete Health supported by the International Olympic Committee (IOC). Prof. Cook is supported by a NHMRC practitioner fellowship (1058493). Acknowledgements: We thank SI Docking for the supply of the tendon ultrasound figures. Correspondence: Aliza Rudavsky, Department of Physiotherapy, Monash University, Australia. Email: [email protected] “
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