College of Public Health and Human Sciences

Patellar tendinopathy is often managed with a patellar tendon strap, however, their effectiveness is unsubstantiated. The purpose of this study was to determine if straps altered pain or lower extremity kinetics of individuals with patellar tendinopathy during landing. Thirty participants with patellar tendinopathy and 30 controls completed drop jumps with and without patellar tendon straps. Wearing the strap, tendinopathy participants demonstrated significantly decreased pain and reduced knee adductor moment; all participants displayed significantly decreased anterior ground reaction force while wearing a strap. Patellar tendon strapping may reduce pain due to alterations in direction and magnitude of loading.