Exercise Program for Osgood-Schlatter Disease

When your child has Osgood-Schlatter disease, exercises may be prescribed as part of a physical therapy (PT) program. This knee inflammation is often linked with overuse in high-impact sports like running, so PT can help your child get back to normal activity levels.

This article outlines the types of Osgood-Schlatter exercises that might help your child improve flexibility, strength, and balance, and take pressure off the knee. Keep in mind that if your child has Osgood-Schlatter disease, your healthcare provider needs to complete an evaluation and approve this or any other exercise program.

Quadriceps Stretching

Standing quad stretch

Verywell / Ben Goldstein

Research indicates that a reduced ability to bend your knee, likely due to tight quadriceps, may be one cause of Osgood-Schlatter disease.

Stretching the quads, the muscles in front of your thighs, can help take pressure off structures in the knee. This includes the area of the patellar tendon, which connects the kneecap and shinbone, and the tibial tubercle, a bony bump at the end of the shinbone.

An easy exercise for children to do is the towel quad stretch. You can do this stretch either standing or laying on your stomach while using a towel around your ankle.

To perform the standing stretch:

  • Stand on one leg.
  • Bend the other leg at the knee.
  • Grasp the leg by the foot.
  • Gently pull the leg back and up to stretch the quadriceps.

To perform the stretch while lying down:

  • Lie on your stomach.
  • Bend your knee up as far as possible.
  • Loop a towel around your ankle.
  • Grasp the towel to gently pull your knee up further.

You should feel a stretch in the front of your thigh. Hold the stretch for 15 seconds, and then release slowly. Repeat three times.

Hamstring Stretches

The Towel Hamstring Stretch

Verywell / Ben Goldstein

The hamstring muscles are located along the back of your thighs from your hip to just behind your knees. Tightness here may create excessive tension in the knee when your child is straightening it.

Stretching your hamstrings can be an important part of your Osgood-Schlatter exercise plan. Performing the towel hamstring stretch or a standing hamstring stretch are simple ways to improve the flexibility of these muscles.

For a standing hamstring stretch:

  • Extend one leg out, as far as you can without pain.
  • Keep your back straight.
  • Bend from your hip joints to bring your chest toward your thigh.
  • The opposite leg will bend at the knee.

If necessary, hold onto a chair or wall to help keep your balance while stretching.

For a towel hamstring stretch:

  • Lie on your back.
  • Place the towel behind the ankle of the leg you're stretching.
  • Bring the leg straight up, stretching as far as possible without pain.

Hold each stretch for 15 seconds and repeat three times for each stretch.

Calf Stretches

Calf stretch

Verywell / Ben Goldstein

Osgood-Schlatter exercises can help with tightness in your calf muscles, which can lead to changes in the way your knee moves when walking and running. This may place increased stress through your patellar tendon in the knee, leading to Osgood-Schlatter disease.

Working on calf stretches can help improve the flexibility of your lower legs, leading to a decrease in knee pain while running. You can try to:

  • Sit on the floor with your knees straight.
  • Loop a towel around the front of your foot.
  • Use it to pull your foot to a totally flexed position.
  • Keep your legs flat on the floor.

Be sure to hold your stretches for about 15 seconds and repeat each one three times. Stretches should be done slowly and gently and should be stopped if pain is felt.

Strengthening Exercises

Verywell / Ben Goldstein

Osgood-Schlatter disease is mainly thought to be a problem that comes with rapid growth in a child. A lack of muscle flexibility is considered the main cause of the knee pain that comes with the diagnosis. Does that mean that strengthening should be ignored? Not at all.

Keeping your leg muscles strong can help keep stress and strain to a minimum at the painful areas in the front of your knees. Your physical therapist will work with you on which exercises you should do. These may include:

Most people benefit from doing 10 to 15 repetitions of each exercise a few times a week.

Balance and Coordination

Woman doing T stance exercise (or warrior III from yoga)

fizkes / Getty Images

Some with Osgood-Schlatter disease may exhibit problems with balance or proprioception, which is awareness of the position of your body.

This may place excessive strain on the knees, especially during high-level sports and activities. Keeping balance in tip-top shape may help lessen the pain that your child feels in his or her knees.

Balance exercises may include:

  • The single-leg stance, in which you stand on one foot
  • The T-stance, where you stand on one foot and lean forward with your leg extended behind you and arms outstretched
  • The BAPS board, an irregularly shaped disc that's unsteady when you stand on it

Proprioception exercises require situations where you feel off-balance, so safety is important at all times. Check with your physical therapist to find the best way to accomplish this task.

Summary

Osgood-Schlatter exercises can help to improve balance, strength, and flexibility, as physical therapy helps to relieve symptoms of the disease.

A physical therapist can help your child to develop an individualized exercise plan. Some of the exercises may include stretching the quadriceps, hamstrings, and calf muscles. They may also include exercises to strengthen leg muscles and work on balance.

The therapist will work with your child to make sure these exercises are done in a correct and safe manner, to help your child get back to normal activities.

5 Sources
Verywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read our editorial process to learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.
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  2. Tzalach, A, etal. The correlation between knee flexion lower range of motion and Osgood-Schlatter's syndrome among adolescent soccer players. BJMMR. 2016;11(2):1-10. doi:10.9734/BJMMR/2016/20753

  3. Ladenhauf HN, Seitlinger G, Green DW. Osgood-Schlatter disease: a 2020 update of a common knee condition in children. Curr Opin Pediatr. 2020 Feb;32(1):107-112. doi:10.1097/MOP.0000000000000842.

  4. Siddiq MAB. Osgood-Schlatter disease unveiled under high-frequency ultrasonogramCureus. 2018;10(10):e3411. doi:10.7759/cureus.3411

  5. Kaya DO, Toprak U, Baltaci G, Yosmaoglu B, Ozer H. Long-term functional and sonographic outcomes in Osgood-Schlatter disease. Knee Surg Sports Traumatol Arthrosc. 2013;21(5):1131-9. doi:10.1007/s00167-012-2116-1

Brett Sears, PT

By Brett Sears, PT
Brett Sears, PT, MDT, is a physical therapist with over 20 years of experience in orthopedic and hospital-based therapy.