With my recent round of knee problems, I've been talking with my mom about the problems I had when I was young (it's hard for me to remember or know everything the doc said, since I was fairly young at the time).

I was diagnosed with severe Osgood-Schlatters Disease (OSD) in the LK when I was age 11 (almost 15 years ago).  I followed all the doc's rules--ice, rest,  immobilized, no weight-bearing, casting--but the OSD was so severe at the time that I physically couldn't straighten my leg for a long time, and the leg wouldn't support my weight (it began giving way before the leg had time to atrophy, even).  With all the time off my leg (I counted 1 year's worth of time on crutches out of 3 years), my quad was also severely atrophied.  I had surgery at age 13 to check for damage and flush out debris and was told that they didn't find any damage to repair.  They said that my continued pain was from maltracking due to the atrophy, and I went to PT.  With PT, the worst of the pain improved.

Despite years of sports, exercise, and such, the quad remained a centimeter smaller in diameter until my latest injury (in fact, the whole leg is smaller... quad, calf, and even ever-so-slightly length).   I've always had recurring pain... sometimes around the tibial tuberosity, sometimes around the kneecap or in the joint (especially lateral side, where the pain started this time).  The knee locks up when I sit too long (like at a movie), "tweaks" occasionally (pulled or popped with a pain/burning sensation that went away quickly), and swells and gets painful when I hit it too hard... again, from after the surgery until the time of this problem.

I know that I'll always have a lump from the OSD, but I'm wondering if such a severe case did other damage that isn't being caught.  My current OS is pretty clueless... he just touched the TT and when I didn't scream in pain, said that my current problems aren't related to the prior OSD.  Most things on the 'net that I've seen don't address a case this severe... they just mention the lump as a cosmetic long-term effect, and occasional soreness at the TT.

I haven't seen much about OSD posted here, but if anyone (especially KneeGuru) can chime in, I'd greatly appreciate it.  Does anyone know of a link between severe OSD and long-term mechanical problems or damage?  I had a very good OS at the time, but is it possible that the OSD masked a problem that has come back to haunt me now?

Thanks a bunch! (and sorry this is so long!)

Cheers,
Barb