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Understanding Knee Pain During Sporting Development

Ringwood East, Australia – July 23, 2026 / The Heel Centre Ringwood East /

Supporting Active Young People

Knee pain during periods of rapid growth can make it difficult for children and teenagers to stay involved in the sports and activities they enjoy. While discomfort around the knee is relatively common among active young people, ongoing symptoms should not be ignored. The Heel Centre has published a new educational blog to help parents better understand Osgood-Schlatter disease, including its common signs, contributing factors, and practical approaches to managing symptoms during growth. The article encourages families to recognise when further assessment may be appropriate and highlights the importance of individualised care based on each child’s needs and activity levels. By consulting a Podiatrist Ringwood East, parents can gain informed guidance to support their child’s mobility, comfort, and continued participation in sport where appropriate.

Understanding Osgood-Schlatter Disease In Active Children

Your child comes off the football field wincing, rubbing just below the kneecap, and admits it’s been sore for weeks because they didn’t want to miss the game. There’s a bump under the skin now that wasn’t there last year. For a lot of families we see at our Ringwood East clinic, this is exactly how Osgood-Schlatter disease gets noticed: not through one bad knock, but through a pattern of activity-related knee pain in an otherwise healthy, sporty kid.

Many parents land here after searching for growing pains and knee symptoms in an active child, and Osgood-Schlatter disease is one of the most common explanations. It isn’t dangerous, but it’s uncomfortable, and parents are often unsure whether to pull their child from sport, push through it, or book an assessment. Here’s what’s actually going on, and what tends to help.

What Is Osgood-Schlatter Disease, Exactly?

Osgood-Schlatter disease affects the growth plate at the top of the shin bone, right where the patellar tendon attaches just below the kneecap. During a growth spurt, bones can lengthen faster than the muscles and tendons around them can adjust to. Every time your child runs, jumps, or kicks, the patellar tendon tugs on that growth plate, and in some kids the repeated tension leads to localised inflammation, swelling, and a tender or visibly raised bump beneath the knee.

It’s named after two surgeons, Robert Osgood and Carl Schlatter, who independently described the condition in 1903. The name has stuck for over a century, even though the explanation has more to do with biomechanics and growth timing than anything either of them could see on an X-ray back then.

What Causes Osgood-Schlatter Disease in Active Kids

Most of the children we see with this condition at The Heel Centre are between 9 and 14, right in the middle of a growth spurt, and most play sport involving repetitive jumping or sprinting: football, basketball, netball, athletics, gymnastics. Boys are affected somewhat more often than girls, though that gap has narrowed as more girls compete in running and jumping sports.

A few factors tend to increase the load on that growth plate. Tight quadriceps or hamstrings make the patellar tendon pull harder with every stride. A sudden jump in training volume, common at the start of a new season, asks more of the growth plate before it’s had time to adapt. Biomechanical quirks in how a child’s knee tracks during running can also concentrate strain in one spot rather than spreading it out evenly. None of these cause Osgood-Schlatter disease by themselves, but together they explain why some kids in the same training squad develop symptoms and others don’t.

Osgood-Schlatter Disease Symptoms Parents Notice First

Osgood-Schlatter disease symptoms are usually easy to spot once you know what to look for. The main one is pain directly below the kneecap, worse during or right after activity and easing with rest. Parents often notice it first as a limp after training, or a child who stops mid-game to rub one knee.

Common signs include:

pain or tenderness over the bony bump below the kneecap
swelling that comes and goes depending on activity levels
a visible lump that wasn’t there before, sometimes on one side only
discomfort kneeling, squatting, or using stairs
pain that flares during a specific movement, like jumping for a mark or sprinting off the line

It’s usually a one-sided complaint, though some children develop symptoms in both knees over time as training continues. Pain tends to build gradually over weeks rather than appearing after a single incident, which is one of the clues that points away from an acute injury.

Podiatrist Ringwood East | Osgood-Schlatter Disease in Young Athletes

How a Podiatrist Assesses Osgood-Schlatter Disease

Osgood-Schlatter disease is usually diagnosed from the history and a physical examination rather than imaging. A podiatrist will check exactly where the pain sits, how the knee responds to resisted extension, and how the rest of the lower limb is loading during gait, since foot and ankle mechanics further down the chain can change how much strain ends up at the knee.

At The Heel Centre, this forms part of a broader infant and children’s foot assessment, which also reviews how your child’s feet, ankles, and gait are developing more generally. That wider picture matters, because Osgood-Schlatter rarely turns up in isolation from other growth-related changes happening in a child’s lower limb at the same time.

Imaging isn’t usually needed to confirm the diagnosis. An X-ray may be requested if the presentation is unusual, such as pain following a specific fall or a knee that’s hot, swollen all over, or unable to bear weight at all. Those presentations point toward something else and warrant a same-day GP review, not a routine podiatry booking.

Osgood-Schlatter Disease Treatment and Management

Osgood-Schlatter disease treatment centres on managing load, not necessarily stopping sport altogether. Cutting out training entirely is rarely needed; the aim is to keep your child active at a level the knee can currently tolerate while the irritation settles.

A typical plan includes reducing the higher-impact parts of training rather than dropping out completely, icing after activity, and a structured stretching and strengthening programme for the quadriceps and hamstrings. Some children do well with a patellar strap, worn below the kneecap to redistribute some of the tension away from the growth plate during sport. Where foot or ankle mechanics are adding extra load further up the chain, orthotics or footwear changes can also ease strain at the knee. You can read more about our approach to Osgood-Schlatter treatment on our condition page.

Osgood-Schlatter exercises generally start with flexibility before adding strength. Gentle, consistent quadriceps and hamstring stretching tends to make the biggest difference early on. As symptoms settle, controlled strengthening work, such as wall sits or step-downs rather than jumping drills, helps the muscles around the knee absorb load more evenly. A podiatrist can tailor the specific exercises and progression to your child’s sport and current symptom level, since the wrong exercise at the wrong stage can aggravate things.

Most children find their symptoms ease as the growth plate matures and the pull of the tendon settles, often by the time growth slows in mid-to-late adolescence. How long it takes varies a fair bit from child to child, and the focus during that period is staying active in a way the knee can manage rather than sitting it out entirely.

How Osgood-Schlatter Disease Differs From Other Growing Pains

Osgood-Schlatter disease often gets mentioned in the same breath as Sever’s disease, and it’s easy to see why. Both are growth plate conditions that cluster around growth spurts in sporty kids, and both respond to a similar starting approach: activity modification, stretching, and load management.

The difference is location. Osgood-Schlatter affects the growth plate below the kneecap, where the patellar tendon attaches to the shin; Sever’s disease affects the growth plate at the back of the heel, where the Achilles tendon attaches. If your child has had heel pain in the past, or has it alongside the current knee complaint, it’s worth mentioning both at the assessment. Growth-related conditions sometimes appear one after another as different growth plates go through their own spurts at slightly different times.

When Podiatry Isn’t the First Step

Most knee pain in growing kids that matches this pattern is exactly what it looks like. A few presentations warrant a different starting point. Pain that follows a specific fall, twist, or collision should be checked by a GP or assessed for a possible fracture first, since Osgood-Schlatter doesn’t typically appear after a single traumatic event.

A knee that’s hot, swollen all over rather than just at the bony bump, or accompanied by fever, needs same-day medical attention instead of a podiatry booking, since these point toward infection or an inflammatory joint condition, not a growth plate issue. Locking, giving way, or pain that wakes a child from sleep are also reasons to see a doctor before anything else.

Osgood-Schlatter Disease: Your Questions Answered

Question	Answer
At what age does Osgood-Schlatter disease usually appear?	Osgood-Schlatter disease most commonly appears between ages 9 and 14, during the growth spurt years, and is more frequent in children who play running and jumping sports such as football, basketball, netball, or athletics. Symptoms can appear in one knee or, less commonly, both.
Should my child stop playing sport if they have Osgood-Schlatter disease?	Usually not entirely. Most management plans focus on reducing the higher-impact parts of training rather than stopping sport altogether, alongside stretching, icing, and sometimes a patellar strap. A podiatrist can help work out what level of activity your child’s knee can currently manage.
What’s the difference between Osgood-Schlatter disease and Sever’s disease?	Both are growth plate conditions linked to growth spurts and sport, but they affect different areas. Osgood-Schlatter disease causes pain below the kneecap, where the patellar tendon attaches to the shin. Sever’s disease causes heel pain, where the Achilles tendon attaches to the heel bone.
Does the bump from Osgood-Schlatter disease go away?	The pain typically eases as the growth plate matures, often by mid-to-late adolescence, though this varies between children. The bony bump itself can remain slightly enlarged into adulthood even after the pain has resolved, which is generally not a cause for concern.
When should I take my child to a doctor instead of a podiatrist for knee pain?	If the pain followed a specific fall or injury, or the knee is hot, swollen all over, or accompanied by fever, see a GP the same day to rule out fracture or other causes. Gradual, activity-related pain below the kneecap is more typical of Osgood-Schlatter disease.

Final Thoughts

Osgood-Schlatter disease is uncomfortable, sometimes for months at a stretch, but it’s a fairly ordinary part of how some growing bodies respond to sport during a growth spurt. The bump below the knee can stick around longer than the pain does, and that’s generally fine on its own.

What matters more than any single treatment is getting an accurate read on what’s actually happening, so your child can keep training at a level their knee can handle instead of sitting out everything or quietly pushing through pain that’s trying to tell them something.

If your child has been dealing with knee pain that fits this pattern, an infant and children’s foot assessment at The Heel Centre is a practical next step.

Helping Young Athletes Stay Active Safely

Ringwood East is a welcoming Melbourne suburb known for its parks, schools and community lifestyle. The Heel Centre provides Podiatry across Ringwood East and surrounding suburbs.

If your child is experiencing ongoing knee pain during sport or physical activity, seeking professional advice may help identify the cause and provide appropriate management options. To learn more about Osgood-Schlatter Disease in Young Athletes: A Ringwood East Podiatrist’s Guide for Parents, or to arrange a consultation, contact The Heel Centre. The clinic proudly provides Podiatry Ringwood East services, supporting individuals and families throughout Ringwood East and surrounding suburbs with evidence-informed podiatry care.