Dr. Timothy K. Durnin - 2/3/2009

Question
I have what I am pretty sure is tendonitis in my knee. I am a dancer and the pain is aggravated when i dance a lot or run. It is my left knee which takes a majority of the stress when I turn or jump. It is kind of off and on pain that seems to be aggravated at certain times. Running( I run 2 miles a day) also seems to bother it. The pain is on the inside of my knee and it feels a lot like soreness. It also sometimes feels stiff. When it acts up I have a brace I wear on it and will take some advil if I need to. This usually takes care of it. Is there anything else I can do to help it heal? I will be done with dance season in 2 months and I will have most of the summer to let it heal but is there anything I can do before then?

Answer
Hi Mel,

The best anti-inflammatory is ice, then I would rest it as much as possible. When using ice, take a warm moist towel and wrap it around a ziplock bag filled with ice to mitigate the shock and keep it on the effected area for 10 minutes every hour after exercise as tolerated. This will mitigate the swelling, redness, heat and inflammation. These things take time and the sooner you rest and ice it, the faster it will heal.

Sincerely,

Dr. Timothy Durnin