Jumper’s Knee: Hoffa’s Fat Pad (Fix Patellar Tendon Pain)

[@MrWillis1960]

Luv the non-drama and to the point information. Great information for myself, 62 yoa cyclist who has a history of knee pain and now experiencing it as I have recently upped my intensity.

[@realblackmilky]

incredibly resourceful video. I wish all videos were this efficient

[@r.louisconcepts8342]

Incredible information! I’ve dealt with this incredible knee pain for so long and just doing a few test based off of this video has given me answers to my dilemma. I literally just did a few squats (on my toes lol) to test the incline theory in the video and my right knee didn’t buckle due to pain… I can’t believe it… thank you, thank you, thank you from a vet with serious knee issues.

[@jake_tuura]

Awesome

[@wanpakudanpu]

I just heard of this a few weeks ago when Kyle Hamilton at Notre Dame injured his fat pad. Good thing Jake was here to fill me in!

[@ankitrajput-yo7xy]

Thankyou dr. , i finally trigger my pain after 2 year , now I will such exercise to heel my fat pad issue

[@JourneyJoe]

Thank you for this video! This definitely eased some of my anxiety around this✊🏼

[@Reysekai]

Shit happened to me in Jiujitsu, I heard a loud as pop and my knee locked up then clicked and unlocked. Swelled up for 2 weeks. The slightest touch to my knee made me want to vomit. 7-8 months later pure resting, 1 year later (got injured August 2022) got my diagnosis and am currently doing rehab and it’s going well. Planning on going back to mma this March Stick it out for those that have it.

[@rcrdtsv]

One of the best videos about it! Thanks!

[@ibrahimasadh633]

can you explain pericruciate fat pad impingement?

[@roy6419]

I'm like 6 months dealing with this and just got steroid injections into both knees which has relieved a lot of the pain but it is still kind of there. Definitely the worst injury I've gone through

[@jake_tuura]

Wow

[@jacintoguzman8737]

Hey, is the injury still there? Or has it healed over time?

[@roy6419]

@@jacintoguzman8737 ended up being something else as well so going to a knee specialist to sort it out

[@kislay6666]

Hey, sorry to hear that, what was it eventually? I am also in similar situation right now but not sure about the injection

[@roy6419]

@@kislay6666 doctor thinks it's a fat pad problem and the injection is okay at dealing with it but if isn't fixed I'll get a surgery to cut the issue away

[@boyce887]

Unfortunately I struggle from chronic fat pad impingement. I had a knee scoop in June and the symptoms of impingement and the pain caused by it came back today.

[@Leonidas-eu9bb]

I'm not sure if a have this or just PT pain or both. The pain is definitley in a more extended position. I can't 'fully' straighten my knee. The VMO isn't working as it should in terminal knee extension. This probalby result in bad patella tracking and pain wich further inhibits the VMO nerve. It's a downward cycle.

[@jake_tuura]

Idk for sure but that's a negative outlook to have. Wouldn't recommend it.

[@Scream-Theory]

Im in PT school and I’ve been dealing with this for years. We never went over this in my orthopedic courses but I learned about it when I was in Athletic Training school. I always thought this was patellar tendonitis and I have been treating it as such for years but sometimes I would take an impact or do something that would give me 10/10 pain like a really acute flair up and it never presented how I would expect patellar tendonitis. Tonight I was training (im a parkour athlete) and I decided to hang upside down to stretch out my back like I usually do. My knees are usually in hyper extension when doing this. afterwards I stood up and had the same pain but times 1000. it literally felt as if someone took an knife and tried to excise my patella with bending and straightening my knee. the pain so bad it was almost like numbing and lancinating feeling at the same time. today I just considered maybe its hoffa’s syndrome and it makes sense. My knees have about 3-4 degrees of hyperextension. I used to get it in both knees but after my ACL reconstruction I don’t get it in my right knee anymore, most likely because the surgery reduced the hyperextension in my right knee and it only goes to neutral now.

[@OneSmellyTaco]

Dealing with this right now. Had scar tissue cleanup. Everything was going well and then 5 weeks into it I got a sudden rush of fluid to the knee when I overdid my rehab one day (it was a lot of overdoing btw. Talk about stupid). Got the fluid drained and my fat pad was on fire. Figured I'd be fine so I kept working out as usual. Last week I got the most excruciating pain. Couldn't even walk. Mri was done and my fat pad is super inflamed. Now I'm icing 30 mins on, 1hr in between and on high anti inflammatory meds. Hoping to stop the swelling to begin rehab. Doctor is treating this very gently (thankfully) and is putting me on a similar rehab to acl recon early weeks (which I just had a recon last yr fml). Haven't had a PT assessment yet so I'm hesitant to start any rehab. It's been 1 year that I've been dealing with acl rehab, scar tissue cleanup, now this shit. I wish you all well

[@medicalfieldiscrookedandev4447]

Same and it’s HELL. Sadly my dr won’t listen. Heck my therapist does but he thinks therapist are stupid.

[@deepanshumarwah8335]

Hey just wanna ask is grinding and popping of knee when bending happen in Hoffas fat pad ? Cause my mri shows hoffas fat pad but there’s a annoying grinding and popping of knee

[@OneSmellyTaco]

@@deepanshumarwah8335 I'm no doctor. It can be from multiple things. But don't get surgery if you're ever thinking about it. You're knees will thank you later.

[@jake_tuura]

Grinding and popping is unrelated to Hoffa’s to my knowledge

[@rcrdtsv]

Hi there! Very similar situation here since my acl surgery 1 year ago. How are you doing?

[@eliaslindback6816]

Had a meniscus arthroscopic surgery. Over did activity on it most likely 8 weeks after surgery. Hurts where I had the incision. What does it mean to recondition the knee exactly?

[@jake_tuura]

Start where you are and gradually build back up. Like rehab for anything.

[@AnnudeepKaur-x8u]

Can this cause heel pain too? I’m 22 and first I only had patella Alta in my right knee and hoffas fat pad and now both of my knees hurt and it causes heel pain when I stand for to long. It’s been a year and I haven’t gotten any proper answers or treatment options and I really don’t want to opt for steroid injections since I heard it can damage your cartilage. My hips and ankles crack a lot maybe it could be connected to that?

[@LAMBOMETS]

I think I have the hoffa fad pad issue. I had a knee hyperextension injury and I have pain standing and walking. I don't understand why leg extensions would solve the fat pad issue for alex cortez as this exercise would just cause more impingement.

[@jake_tuura]

Because it’s pain and pain is always individual.

[@yannickbolasie7362]

Both of my knees got pain. But one knee responds better to isometrics and pain decreases. But the other knee is a lot more painful after isometrics. Why do you think this is?

[@jake_tuura]

Could be many things. Usually it’s Patellofemoral pain, I have a video on distinguishing the two. In general, if you don’t respond to the exercise with less pain and more function (strength, coordination, etc.), you need to change the exercise, load, angle, or other factors so that it helps and doesn’t hurt you.

[@jake_tuura]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/qmS8YYOMhZ6amsU

[@yannickbolasie7362]

@@jake_tuura thanks man I’ll go watch it now. From what I’ve heard from you PT is generally a load tolerance issue and occurs with top level athletes. Also that PFP cases generally occur in older people? What other cases does PFP occur? I’m 18 and play elite ⚽️. I wanna know if it’s PT or PFP

[@yannickbolasie7362]

@@jake_tuura so I had PT in one knee. After a while the other knee started becoming painful too (From over compensating). Can PFP be caused from something like this? Could you possibly make a video on the instances where PFP occurs?

[@nickfranco7977]

I have deep dull pain, walking or standing makes it worse, no pain with hoffa's test, mechanics are good, any idea?

[@CoachSpilo]

Do you have a video or guideline for Patellorfemoral recovery? I saw you talked on it but didn’t have a lot of detail. Also, does your four step process potentially help other knee pain causes besides tendiopathy (like Femoral)? Thank you so much!

[@jake_tuura]

Very similar rehab. If you start where you are and work towards where you want to be, a patellar tendon and patellofemoral program will not look much different. It’s the anterior knee and the functional deficits will be somewhat the same between the two.

[@audreydugan9668]

wow!! Great informative video...in fact I will watch it again.

[@katherinechristen7921]

Thanks for the info. I fell directly on my knee 3 years ago and I’m still dealing with a dull ache in my fat pad. MRI confirmed it was strictly just swelling in my fat pad causing the ache but I’m so confused why it still flares up from time to time. Super curious about the jump rope, I think I’ve babied the injury so much that my knee is just weak at this point….So you’re saying active recovery is best here ? Thanks again!

[@jake_tuura]

Offloading it to get it to settle is best then you grade the exposure back to what you need to do

[@shiraz2475]

Mine hurts when extending or jumping burpees when locking knee straight. Xray and ultrasound found nothing. Hoffa pad makes sense.slight swelling and sharp pain when doing things like tuck jumps. I thought it was patella tendonitis. Nothing on ultrasound. No more jumping or burpees for me. However i do karate and kicking is ok so far.

[@lukasrollenhagen]

Yes, those are the exact symptoms, and only an mri will pick it up, not a xray.

[@dimitriss3635]

I started jump training around 4-5 years ago and ofcourse i got patellar tendon pain. Since i had to do my army training, after long hours of standing, i started to get a mild pain in my knee, like a soreness lets say. My knee started to get aggrevated even after an hour of standing or walking.I am currently working a job where i am standing for 8-9 hours. The serious pain comes if i try to shoot a soccer with power (full knee ektension) or some times in standing vertical jumps. It kinda sound like i have an issue with the fat pad or it may be related to the quad tendon?

[@matanrozen8853]

Hi, great video! I don't quite understand how Jump ropes help because it seems like an exercise that requires a lot of shock absorption, do you mind enlighting me please? Thanks for this video.

[@jake_tuura]

It’s a progression back into jumping. If it hurts, don’t do it. Simple.

[@matanrozen8853]

@@jake_tuura Oh you mean getting the knee back to intense exercises, I see... I have another question for you because you seem like you know something in regards to knees - would you say that such exercises increase blood flow to the Fat pad which heals it? I don't understand how it works because it's not a tendon nor a muscle. Thanks for replying by the way.

[@jake_tuura]

@@matanrozen8853 idk exactly how the fat pad heals. Seems you just leave it alone when it’s aggravated then you slowly go back into your normal activities. I don’t think it’s something that needs healing. It just needs to settle down once it’s aggravated.

[@matanrozen8853]

@@jake_tuura Very interesting, never thought of it this way

[@maheshchowdhary3354]

Fluid in the hoffa's hot pad....what should I do to get it cured?...

[@jake_tuura]

Idk if that’s a thing. It would probably just be inflamed and you would have to settle it with what I said in the video

[@maheshchowdhary3354]

@@jake_tuura yes inflammation/edematous......

[@maheshchowdhary3354]

and also grade 2 LCL injury and low level osteochondral injury....😒

[@jake_tuura]

@@maheshchowdhary3354 use advice from medical professional

[@nicolofurlan2278]

Amazing! Always great content man! Thank you for all this, you're making a huge difference for me. Jake I've seen you posted on IG something about the night regeneration of patellar tissues. I usually floss band my knee before training and I perform 20 hell elevated squat. It works just fine. What do you think about doing this before sleep to boost the recovery? Let me know your thoughts

[@jake_tuura]

It wouldn’t boost recovery any more than if you did it another time of day but what’s most concerning to me are these “hell elevated squats”. You require purification.

[@nicolofurlan2278]

@@jake_tuura lmfao. I mean heel elevated squat hahahah

[@adriano1130]

@@nicolofurlan2278 Hi. I am wondering if Im gonna buy floss band. I can see this comment is 10 months old. Any update on your injury? I am struggling with the same:(

[@nicolofurlan2278]

@@adriano1130 i suggest you to buy Jake's protocol. Nothing works better. Floss band helped but didn't solve the issue. Follow Jake's protocol, heavy load and iso etc.. believe me 90% of the issue we have its because we are weak and / or we don't train the right way.

[@magne3899]

What's a good place to start, to prevent jumpers knee from coming in the future? Im 22, and I feel it will hit me pretty soon after having a desk-job 8 hours a day. Any start videoes of yours? Ty

[@jake_tuura]

You don’t. If you’ve never had it, don’t worry about it. You can’t predict it so you can’t prevent it.

[@lucanlobban9732]

Very informative and helpful, thank you!!!

[@jake_tuura]

Cheers

[@joaohenrique-lx1sx]

Great video, information. Great.

[@bigdaddy7601]

Hello jake please answer me I have so much pain under the patella im still wondering if it s hoffa s fat pad or something else When the pain started maybe a year ago i have now the hypertension too I have visited 7 doctors and deal with so many treatment with nothing change and none of them have told me about this hoffa s fat pad Ps the symptoms in the video almost the same i suffer from Ps i have done MRI but it was clear The miniscus good and everything Please answer me pleasee i feel so much pain right now

[@jake_tuura]

Idk what exactly you want… if you’re trying to confirm and you have these symptoms, make sure with Hoffa’s test. Look it up. And look into Claire Robertson’s work.

[@bigdaddy7601]

Yes im trying to confirm if it s really hoffa s fat pad or not ! Thank u so much for ur info brother

[@MC-xv1lo]

Hi Jake, thanks for your videos they have helped me loads during my rehab process. I just had a question regarding single-leg squats on a decline board. I can perform a single leg press for a 5rm with 2/10 pain, however whenever I perform sets of single-leg decline squats my tendon flares up slightly the next day. Do you think I should stop with the decline squats?

[@jake_tuura]

No. Get them to a point where you don’t experience that pain by scaling back a bit and progressing slowly.

[@Amedust]

Hello. I have been diagnosed with Hoffa’s. Can I still sign in for gym? And do exercises like leg curl? Or it is going to make my situation worse? Thank you

[@jake_tuura]

Work based on pain and don’t push through it. You should probably be able to do a lot of things.

[@deepanshumarwah8335]

Hey jake is grinding and popping/clicking of knee is common in Hoffas fat pad ?

[@jake_tuura]

No

[@jake_tuura]

Maybe Plica

[@deepanshumarwah8335]

@@jake_tuura I have knee grinding and pop while bending the knee and mri report shows Hoffas fat pad

[@nsrana02]

@@deepanshumarwah8335 my mri also shows hoffas fat pad, but the left knee pops when i fully extend it. Did you find anything related to it or any cure for it?

[@Mikeleangelo40]

What about pes anserine? Will isometrics exercise help too? You surely did a lot of videos on patelar tendon exercises but idk if it will target pes anserine too. Thanks for all knowledge you sharing!

[@DeeKay1301]

Hi Jake, I've noticed that you don't mention cross friction message into the painful area, which many therapist suggest. Is this not important in your opinion, or is there even evidence that it might be counterproductive. Thanks for your work.

[@jake_tuura]

Fat pad, that won’t do anything to my knowledge. For other knee issues, and if you use your knees in sport, it’s more about active interventions than it is passive… but if you want to do passive things like massage to acutely decrease pain and allow you to do the active things like load the area, go ahead.

[@moochhound8358]

Feels very much like i have done my fat pad. I play a lot of squash can be as much as 8 - 10 hours per week, depending on how many local leauges and comps are running. For the past month I've felt the pain become more and more intense just below my knee cap on the inside of my left knee. It hurts to extend but this also seems to ease the pain, once the initial shooting pain has gone. Having watch your video I am sure that even without it being tested this is the problem the location and explanation of the pain matches to what I have. The questions are - Do I try to correct this through rest ? or through stretches / exercises ? or do I need to go down the medical route ? Taking any time of of playing is going to be very hard for me, but this pain is different to just usual wear and tear on the body. Whats your thoughts ?

[@jake_tuura]

Do your best to let it settle. Common sense. Doesn’t seem that the medical route would do anything different. You should look further into Claire’s work to better understand rehab for it. Here’s a podcast I did with her: jackedathlete.com/podcast-56-patellofemoral-pain-and-hoffas-fat-pad-with-claire-robertson/

[@moochhound8358]

@@jake_tuura Many thanks. What is a typical rehab time for a knackered 49 year old ?? 😛

[@jake_tuura]

@@moochhound8358 no clue, there is never a set time frame on these things

[@Jrswisher43]

I’m 21 years old and have suffered a fat pad inpindgment, will I ever be able to play basketball again….?

[@jake_tuura]

Yes

[@Mr9Inchez3]

Hey Jake I’ve been sticking to the program and progressing in weight slowly over the past months Quick question, have you ever experienced a weird popping sensation in the tendinopathy knee. Almost feels like there is a lump right above the knee cap during bending. Just started encountering this during heavier lifts.

[@jake_tuura]

No. Haven’t heard of it. Sometimes people get a bump where the tendinopathy is but I don’t think it’s anything to worry about.

[@musicmeister1313]

god bless you man

[@anthonyot14]

Being doing your program mate, I have fat pad issues. Squats on a slant boards actually causes quite a bit of pain. Any recommendations on what I should do?

[@jake_tuura]

Find things that don’t aggravate it and use those.

[@anthonyot14]

Pretty much everything does mate, any specific exercises or rehabilitation to combat this you would recommend?

[@jake_tuura]

@@anthonyot14 use the advice listed here to offload the fat pad or consult with Claire Robertson to better sort it out

[@lionelinx7]

My nigga. I needed this

[@Gerardoegan]

Fat Pad

[@jake_tuura]

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