Your Bruises
If the broken pieces are still lined up, you’ll get an immobilizer brace to hold everything in place as you heal. Sometimes, you can still put weight on your bursitis, the bursa in the front of your knee gets irritated and swells with extra fluid. That puts pressure on your knee that leads to pain.
If it happens due to an injury, it usually goes away on its own with a little self-care:
- Avoid activities that trigger pain
- Wrap an ice pack in a towel and apply it for 20 minutes, three to four times a day
- Keep your knee above your as much as possible
- Take over-the-counter pain relievers
If these treatments don’t work, your doctor may:
- Take fluid out of the bursa using a needle
- Give you a cortisone injection to help with pain and swelling
If the bursa is infected, you’ll also need antibiotics. If they don’t help, you may need surgery to get out the extra fluid.
If you have repeated problems with the bursa, your doctor may suggest you have surgery to remove it.
Prevention
You can’t avoid every possible injury to your kneecap. But you can take some simple steps to help keep your knees healthy:
- Wear the right shoes for your activity.
- Warm up before you work out.
- Do exercises to keep your thigh muscles (quadriceps and hamstrings) strong and flexible.
- If you’re going to make your workouts longer or more intense, do it gradually.
- Cut back on anything that causes knee pain.
- Stay at a healthy weight — it lowers stress on your knees.