Osgood-Schlatter could cause knee pain in athletic teens

“When I was 12 or 13 I first noticed that I couldn’t kneel down directly on my knees. The pain was unbearable. It was constant,” wrote a 38-year-old woman on Medicinenet.com’s website. “I was often crying with the pain and unable to sleep at night. Just below my knees I had these unsightly boney lumps, and still do.

“I was referred to a specialist and was put in a plaster cast for six weeks. I was not able to do any physical education lessons at all. I went to physiotherapy twice a week. None of that helped. The pain eventually stopped when I was around 19.”

This woman suffered from Osgood-Schlatter disease. Really more a syndrome than a disease, it was named in 1903 for Robert Osgood a U.S. orthopedic surgeon and Carl Schlatter, a Swiss surgeon who concurrently described this condition.

For the rest of the story, see the print edition of the Bonner County Daily Bee or subscribe to our e-edition.