Chondromalacia...anyone have it?

[shuweiyu16 0]

For those of you who have had knee problems called 'chondromalacia,' how do you deal with it and has it gone away?

Below is a link of symptoms from Men's Health:

http://www.menshealth.com/cda/conditions.d...tions&tab=1

[D-MaN88 0]

I don't suffer from that EXACTLY but I have a lot of the symptoms. I just had a visit to the orthopedic surgeon this past week, seems I have some torn inside meniscus that they are keeping an eye on. I usually ice/heat and take ibuprofen for the pain and swelling (if you have any).

I have another check-up in about a month to see if they want to scope my knee or not. As always, I don't know if you already have went and got it checked out but it would never hurt to see and talk to a doctor about problems your having with your knees. I'm only 19 and in my right knee I've torn my MCL, slight tear in my ACL, and now I have torn meniscus. Take care of them because let me tell you, my knees suck and the pain is like hell anymore.

[shuweiyu16 0]

i know that your supposed to stay off of (ie. playing hockey, running on treadmill etc) it long term in order for it to heal...what types of cardio exercises have you been doing to work up a sweat?

[Oberon 0]

I have exactly this, and had about half of the cartilage in my knee removed when I was twenty-five. It was all frayed and torn. The hole goes all the way to the bone on the back of my kneecap, and there's a lot of hot bone-on-bone action going on in there. It will not heal. There are researchers working on cartilage regeneration, but practical fixes are still years away. Taking Glucosamine/Chondroitin helps some for me, enough that I keep buying it, but it's not a miracle cure.

You may have to change some of your activities (or at least your activity level). For me, soccer and downhill skiing had to go. I was never into running just for the sake of running, so giving up jogging was not an issue. I also quit playing hockey for a few years, but did go back to it. There's not as much pounding with skating, and I love it so. I do hobble around for a few days after playing, though. For now, biking works for me, as long as I don't have several days in a row of long (75+ mile) rides. Cross-country skiing is also good.

If you really do have this condition, it will not heal or go away. Depending on the severity, you can manage it and still be active if you are mindful of what you're doing. Good luck.

[Chadd 916]

Oberon pretty much hit the nail on the head. I was diagnosed with it when I was in high school and have had to deal with it for close to twenty years now.

[Kevin 5]

It's pretty common. I also had my knee scoped and cartilage removed in 1988. It's been pretty good. However, it flared up a couple years ago. The MRI showed chondro . . . .

In addition to Oberon's suggestions, I would add ice after activity.

I have exactly this, and had about half of the cartilage in my knee removed when I was twenty-five. It was all frayed and torn. The hole goes all the way to the bone on the back of my kneecap, and there's a lot of hot bone-on-bone action going on in there. It will not heal. There are researchers working on cartilage regeneration, but practical fixes are still years away. Taking Glucosamine/Chondroitin helps some for me, enough that I keep buying it, but it's not a miracle cure.

You may have to change some of your activities (or at least your activity level). For me, soccer and downhill skiing had to go. I was never into running just for the sake of running, so giving up jogging was not an issue. I also quit playing hockey for a few years, but did go back to it. There's not as much pounding with skating, and I love it so. I do hobble around for a few days after playing, though. For now, biking works for me, as long as I don't have several days in a row of long (75+ mile) rides. Cross-country skiing is also good.

If you really do have this condition, it will not heal or go away. Depending on the severity, you can manage it and still be active if you are mindful of what you're doing. Good luck.

[shuweiyu16 0]

in terms of increasing strength no your legs are leg curls (for quads and hamstrings) still sensible to do?...i am not talking about doing squats with a bar but curls on a fitness machine to isolate the quads and hams...

[Kevin 5]

Sure--squatting is even better.

Cartilage cushions your knees--avoid high impact activities--no running of marathons.

[flyweightphantom 1]

for chondromalacia you shouldn't do squats it puts too much pressure on the back end of your knee cap. Quad strengthening exercises are the best treatment options. Such as VMO (vastus medialis) strengthening exercises. When doing leg curls or even if you do attempt squats which i dont recommend keep them mid-zone always meaning dont go to full extension if doing leg curls or dont go too low maybe only 30-40 degrees when doing squats. BTW incase you didnt know chondromalacia has nothing to do with the meniscus type of cartilage in your knee tf is a different type of cartilage involving articular cartilage behind your knee cap.

[Jim A 4]

I have dealt with it for 20+ years and in 06 had the remaining cartilige in the right knee removed and the bone shaved down and holes drilled in my kneecap, missed 3 weeks of hockey total, I have used a general McDavid knee sleeve ($30) for a long time but that is all I've needed to provide support..

Taking the proper steps now will keep it from being arthritic later on

there are a couple general items here

1. your kneecap isn't tracking correctly, typically this means strengthening your quads..

I can't do any sort of full extension (squats etc) so I stretch my quads and hamstrings quite a bit and go general exercises for them to help the knee cap track correctly, sometimes its just easy light lifts that use primarily the quads...

In the spring I'll pick up cycling again as well, it builds up my quads well, just need to keep a higher cadence (95-100 rpm's) and be fitted correctly to avoid any injuries,

one thing i can do with little to no issue is run, so I get about 35-45 miles per week in...and use some patella straps on both to help the 'cap track correctly