We’ve all heard of tennis elbow, but tennis knee is a much quieter problem. Like every injury, it’s easy to attain this on the court– but it can be a little harder to get rid of. But what is tennis knee, how do you treat it, and more importantly, how do you avoid it?

Stress Injuries Are All The Same

Tennis knee- or, more commonly, jumper’s knee- is a stress injury like any other. It commonly occurs when the muscles behind your knee become overused, through too much jumping, running, and pivoting. If left unchecked, tennis knee can cause permanent tendon damage- but it’s very likely that you’ll notice the symptoms of pain, swelling, and soreness before any of that happens. 

Treating Tennis Knee

While tennis knee happens to be one of the most common leg injuries for a player to experience, but that doesn’t mean it’s hard to treat. If you think you’ve already got it, it’s not a bad idea to pay a visit to a doctor. You may have to take a month or two off from your game to ensure it heals properly, or your physician may prescribe you some anti-inflammation medicine. During this time, it’s a great idea to stretch and carefully keep your muscles toned. Don’t do anything strenuous or even extensive– instead, just make sure that you’re moving often and not letting the muscles sit for an extended period of time.

Preventing Tennis Knee

If you aren’t afflicted by the dreaded tennis knee just yet, you can do several things to prevent it from happening to you. Warming up and cooling down before you play are some of the easiest options, and you don’t even have to take very much time out of your busy life to do it. Just walk in place or institute some static stretches to get your muscles ready to move. If that’s not cutting it, make sure you’re wearing the right shoes while on the court. Wearing improper footwear while playing can make your knees take some pretty big shocks, which contribute to your risk of tennis knee.

Staying Safe On The Court

While tennis knee might be a prevalent courtside injury, that doesn’t mean you have to pause your life to worry about it. Instead, take preventative measures, and always make sure you warm up before exercising. You don’t have to be hypervigilant of stress injuries– instead, you just have to ensure that you’re treating your body right while you’re on the court.