Chondromalacia Patella (Patellofemoral Syndrome)

[hs06nnh]

Hi,

Iv made previous posts...I had knee surgery ova 2months ago to get rid of the damaged cartlidge after an MRI and failed PT, i have chondromalacia in my left knee grade 1 or the left side and grade 3 on the middle to right side.
Has anyone got any suggestions to the management of this problem so that it doesnt get worse or damage further? My consultant has said that he would want me to go back in 5-10 years for another surgery to keep a check on it.

Thanks
Nicole

[hugo]

Well I would think it depends on what caused the damage...

I've been told stationary biking "nourishes" the cartilage (in small doses though). I was also told to take up swimming.

Glucosamine or other supplements might help.

Some kind of strengthening PT or routine fit for you would probably help

Hope this helps

[JustMeInNC]

I have Chondromalacia Patella in both my knees, it is really bad in the right knee and very mild in the left. I also have a misalignment issue so biking was not recommended as it made things much worse but swimming is great!

[leesenj]

I have grade 4 chondromalacia on the lateral side of my knee under the patella. My patella was tilted and after 3 years of pain i wore away all of the cartilage under the patella on the trochlear groove. My defect was 2.3 cm x 2.5 cm which is pretty large. To fix the problem my OS decided to do a lateral release to release the patella to its normal groove and also he did a microfracture to the trochlear groove. I am 6.5 weeks post surgery and it is a long haul! The symptoms i was having before surgery were constant clicking, popping, and cracking all very painful due to my patella rubbing on the groove constantly during any bending. Stairs were impossible and things like squatting, lunging and getting in and out of a car were terrible (left knee). I also was experiencing subluxing due to the tilted patella. If you have anyquestions feel free to ask and i'll help what i can. My suggestions would be to strenghten your quads, glutes, hamstrings and adductors/abductors as much as possible...especially if you plan on getting surgery, this is a must!!

best of luck,

Lisa

[leesenj]

Nicole,

I received your message but didn't know how to respond to you directly w/o posting this. I didn't really have a mal tracking issue, my issue was a tilted patella due to tightness on the lateral side (pulling out my knee). I've read articles about lateral release and usually they aren't done for maltracking purposes but more for patella tilts like I had. But anyhow, i can't really say if it sounds like you need a LR or not but i would think having your PT tape the later side or wearing a J brace would help. Thats what i use to do to keep my knee from sliding out. I had a lot of crunching and grinding pain. Since surgery I still have cracking but its nothing like before. I would bend my knee before and if i tried to bend it back out i was in tremendous amount of pain. I can't really say how longrecovery for a LR surgery would be b/c i had a microfracture along with it which is a much more extensive surgery and takes months before recovery sometimes up to a year before full recovery and exercise. I would believe that a LR you should be fine after 2-4 weeks, most likely no crutches. You will definately have lots of tissue and muscle pain on the lateral side where they cut the tissue, i had that too.

The first time you had surgery they did chondroplasty (cleaned up cartilage)?? Anything else with surgery?? Is the pain you are experiencing now the same as is was before or different??

[hs06nnh]

ty erm yeh i did have chondoplasty with the first one, i have a lil tilt to my patella too my physio thinks all the muscles are too tight which could be causing some of the pain... he suggested the lateral release to relax/let go of the muscles if possible. nothing else apart from the clean up, tilt, maltracking and chondromalacia.

the pain is different from before its more of a kind of tooth ache pain if that makes any sense, it used to go up to about a 10 now it goes up to about a 6, 7 on a bad day. also i get naggy pain in the joint and 'cramp' like pain too.

[leesenj]

Tooth ache pain! Thats a good way to explain it...and cramp pain...bringing back memories!! These symptoms sound like what your physio said tight muscles but if you have a tilted patella that could explain the nagging pain and achiness. bone on bone contact. Sounds like it is just starting though. Painful cracking and subluxations would be real severe (what i had). Sometimes crampy feeling in the muscle could be lack of use or using it fully. If you are compensating at all that would explain that. Lateral release is definately not a surgery to worry about. They cut the tissue on the lateral side to release the patella in its normal groove for tracking.

Hope the pain lessens...do you live in cold weather climate?? Weather has such an effect on joints...I know i'm feeling terrible this winter! Advice if you do live in cold weather, don't get surgery in the winter!

Stay Well,

Lisa

[kristi]

It is helpful to read all of this information. Does the physio actually work?? I find it painful and I am experiencing the crackling noises. What sort of test did you take to explain the level of cartilage damage? Was it an MRI??

[hs06nnh]

Hi

yeah the physio didnt work for me so i had to stop and now have seen another opinion who said i need a TTT and some other things done. I looked on the net and found the level of cartlidge damage and also my doc told me so i could look it up, cant remember the website though. The MRI hardly should the extent of the damage to the cartlidge but did actually show other probs causing it all that my 1st doc didnt pick up on.

speak soon nicole