Hi guys
I’m new to the site however I’m after some advise for stage 4 Chondromalacia. Up until 10 months ago I was running 70miles a week however in February this year my knee became very sore quickly. Since then I have been unable to run and in constant pain. MRI confirmed a bone bruise and stage 4 Chondromalacia. Is there any hope I’ll even be able to run 20miles a week?
Hello. I was diagnosed with this last November and I’m able to run pain free today.
The main solution I found was I needed to strengthen my quads. This makes sure your kneecap is staying in the correct spot and not moving around.
You will also need to give it some rest to let the inflammation cool down, maybe as much as 4 weeks or so of rest. A cortisone shot can give a jump start to cooling down the inflammation in your knee, but you will need to give it some rest even after the shot. Then try to strengthen the quads.
The bone bruise is something if didn’t have. I would think rest would help that also.
If you google chondromalacia there is a simple leg lift exercise for quad strength. That works well. Wall sits help. I also do band side steps and monster walks with a band. Also Bulgarian one legged squats once you can tolerate them are good if you focus on keeping your knee over your middle toes. If you do deadlifts or barbell squats keep the weight low and your knees tracking over your middle toes, but I had to stop doing those.
I also found that a knee brace with a hole for the kneecap helped a lot in the early stages of my recovery - get one that wraps around so you can adjust the tension.
Good luck to you!
Thanks Triunph, so just to clarify you had stage 4 patella Chondromalacia?
Yes - stage 4. When the Doctor saw my MRI he was ready to give me a knee replacement whenever I wanted to do it. (I have no intention of getting one of those). I’m running 30 mpw now and my knee feels fine but I still do the strength work.
Hi Triumph
Thanks for your help so far. I’m now back running however not completely pain free however better. My main pain now is after I run with the pain through the front of my kneecap very acute for a few hours after I run. If I try and jog a few minutes after I finish running I simply can’t as the pain is too much however I have no problem walking. Is there anything you can recommend other than the below as I am already doing all of those things. Do you run with a brace or knee strap?
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