Right Knee Chondromalcia Patella

Has anyone out there have any experience with Chondromalcia Patella and any success stories or advice to offer.

I've got a pretty debilitating case of this and it has taken me down, since I've had a meniscus tear repaired last January.

I've shut-down all exercise, been through all the physical therapy allotment and have receive steroid injections into the knee joint...with not much success. The knee joint still has the horrible grinding, crunching and cracking with the associated pain, swelling and weakness.

Thank you,

AB

Suffered this injury in college when I was a cross country/track athlete 20 years ago. Lots of rest from the activity that caused the injury and beginning low impact strengthening exercises for the medial side of the quad seemed to help. Today my running career is done, and long descents or descents with a heavy pack can set my knee off again. I find if I am doing some bike riding regularly my knee feels better. I am suspecting that I have a fair amount of scaring on my patella and will eventually have to have it taken care of surgically. Best advice is work on getting your quads strong, and avoid the activities that aggravate the knee.

Blissab,

Try one of these with the hole in the front.
It will help your patella track better. You don't need a big, heavy brace, just something to keep your patella on it's proper track.
The crunching and cracking after surgery isn't uncommon, but it should have subsided after 4 months.
I had a lot of stability issues after my last surgery and the PT gave me small electro stim to take home. When I used it on the outside of my thigh, on the IT band,the improvement was immediately noticeable. It was like instant healing, but unfortunately it was temporary. The orthopedists guess was nerve damage (during surgery?) but I tired of the whole process and never scheduled the nerve response test. I just wear the brace that I suggested to you to keep it stable.

Good luck with it and hope you feel some relief soon.

Jim

Greg E wrote:Stick with the rehab and maybe get a second opinion on what you should be doing to rehab it. I have it in both knees and at first was really freaked out by it - because I was completely healthy for the first 38 years of life. It started in my right knee and it feels almost perfect today. I also have a meniscus tear and Baker's Cyst that comes any goes in my left knee. I thought I would never recover. I can't say my left knee has fully recovered because I still have popping/cracking/pain, but I can still climb, run, bike, hike, etc.

I agree with Greg E on considering a second opinion. I'm an MD myself and had seen an orthopedic surgeon as well, and both of us seem to have been wrong about what the issue was. It was my PT who (hopefully) figured it out, after he decided to stop listening to me and make his own diagnosis. In my case the issue seems to be a chronic patellar tendinitis, not the patellofemoral syndrome I was sure I had. Still not completely resolved, but a home PT regimen keeps it at bay. Oh and yes, I do have some chondromalacia patella too! Anyway, good luck...super frustrating when the machine is not working right!
(By the way, if you can get to New Paltz my PT is really good and thorough, great at getting back via email if questions come up, Greg Cecere at Momentum Physical Therapy)