Your patella, or kneecap, is one of the three bones that make up your knee joint. You can't actually tear the bone, but you can damage the patella tendon that helps keep it in place and assists your quadriceps in straightening your knee. This injury is usually caused by a fall or landing heavily from a jump, says the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons. Serious tears may require surgery, but your physiotherapist or doctor is also likely to recommend exercises to strengthen your quadriceps and restore range of motion.
Initial Strengthening Exercise
The website Sportsinjuryclinic.net recommends starting rehabilitation exercises as soon as you can, as long as they don't cause any pain during or after performing them. It recommend a gentle exercise to start restoring strength in your quadriceps. Sit or stand and contract the thigh muscles in your injured leg as hard as you can for 10 seconds. Relax and repeat 10 times a day until your strength has improved enough to perform the more advanced exercises.
Knee Extension With Resistance
Sit on a sturdy chair or bench and tie one end of a resistance band around the chair leg and the other end around the ankle on your injured leg, says the website PhysioAdvisor.com. Start with your injured leg bent at 90 degrees then contract your quadriceps to slowly straighten it out in front of you, working against the band's resistance. Return to the start position and repeat three sets of 10 repetitions.
Squats
Stand with your feet about shoulder-width, or slightly wider, apart then slowly squat down as far as you can. Sportsinjuryclinic.net suggests doing shallow squats to begin with and gradually bending your knees further as your strength improves. To add even more intensity, try doing the squats while holding hand weights and then with a barbell across your shoulders. Aim to do three sets of 10 at a speed that results in minor pain in your injured tendon by the last set.
Lunges
Stand in a split stance, with one leg forward and the other back behind you, says PhysioAdvisor.com. Keeping your back straight, slowly lower your body until your front knee is bent to about 90 degrees then rise up again. Perform three sets of 10 repetitions before swapping your legs around. Make sure you keep both feet pointing forward and that your front knee doesn't extend beyond your toes in the bent position. For a more advanced version of this exercise, hold weights in each hand.
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