Re: Chondromalacia in the knee?? WHAT TO DO?

Every time that I had it, I had to get a cortisone shot. Some have had success with Bute-alka. The Bute will wipe out your white blood cell count if you take it for a long time. Usually your get in trouble when you don't run for a long time and then start up again. A good reason to run a little all of the time.

Had this problem a while back. Strngthening your quads is key. And you don't even have to go to the gym, there are simple things you can do siting in class such as just straightening you leg tensing your quads for 10-20 seconds... and do that 20x 3-5 times a day. It'll go away. Until then ice and anti-inflame the crap out of it.

Asicsman,

I just got over CHondromalacia, and I can tell you what works. First, do a google search on chondromalacia, so that you can understand what it is exactly.

You need to strengthen your Vastus Medialis muscle. Most likely your VM is weak, if you combine this with a tight IT band, it will pull your kneecap out of normal tracking causing grinding of cartilage and pain.

Just as stated above, you need to straigthen your leg and hold it for 30 seconds, feeling the tension in your VM (the muscle on the inside of your quad). DO this on each leg 3-5 times a day.

Take ibuprofen initially to combat swelling.

Ice the area the first week.

Wear a cho-pat type knee strap if you can get one.

Only run when there is no pain, and make gradual increases.

This in what I did, and my knee was healed within 10 days, after having the problem for a month and not knowing what to do.

How severe is this stuff? I have grade 1 type, can it last a long time, can it end my running days?

COME ON, someone please HELP!!!!!

This is just "runners knee", chondromalacia is what your doc probably called it. You need to hit the weights more often, focusing on your quads. Contrary to popular belief, running does not do a lot for you quads, so you need to supplement. DO NOT get any type of injections, unless you have a big meet coming up, which I doubt since this time of year is usually a base period for most people.

One exercise that you can do that does work is while you're sitting at your desk, watching tv, whatever, straighten out your leg and flex your quads and hold it tight for about 10 seconds and 10-15 repitions. Do this whenever you have time throughout the day. I have problems with runner's knee sometimes, especially when I'm packing on the miles, and this exercise works a lot.

Also, you sound freaked out about this, but don't be b/c chondromalacia/runner's knee is not very serious and can be avoided or remedied very easily.

A physical therapist told me once that I had chondromalacia.

It has never bothered me. I keep my quads strong by rowing.

The advice that you have been given about straight leg lifts is excellant. You can do them all day at random times. You can even do it with weights. It is best to keep the leg straight when you do a lift.

asicsman,

I suffered from quite severe "patello femoral pain syndrome" and I could not run for 7 months. Basically I had pain at the bottom of my left kneecap just at the attachment of the quadriceps tendon. No one was able to to give me a specific diagnosis but "chondromalacia patellae" is one of the conditions that can be the cause of "patello femoral pain syndrome" so I hope that an acount of my experiences could be of help to you.

This was the worst injury that I ever had - as I said no running for seven months and my knee was always painful when sitting down. I saw several different physiotherapists and doctors and although no one on their own was completely helpful, there were pieces of advice which I did find useful from each person I consulted. I asked about cortisone injections and everyone advised me against this as they felt that long term it would be bad for the tendon.

First of all I had to rest. Initially when the injury was at a low grade I still ground out some track races in the summer which really just made things worse. It was not an injury that I could just run through - even if I reduced my training, So I think a cut back in training/racing may be necessary for you - sorry I know this is difficult.

Secondly the muscular imbalances that were causing my problem had to be corrected - these consisted of:

1. A weak vastus medialis muscle in the quadriceps of my left leg. I found through trial and error that the best way to strengthen this was using a leg extension machine. I started with a light weight and the knee in the "locked' and straight position. I let the knee bend about 30 degrees and then straightened back to the locked positon. This really isolated the vastus medialis muscle. Another exercise which I found quite useful later on my reahbilitation was squats with my feet and legs turned out 45 degrees. Overall I would concentrate on the leg extensions - I did three sets of 20 of these at least every day.

2. Weak gluteal muscles on my left side. The best exercises I found that strengthened these were: a) one legged squats (barefoot keeping the foot "arched" and not collapsing upon weight bearing) at a slow speed with no weight (you could try to hold some dumb bells when doing these I suppose) going down on one leg to about 45 degrees. I did as many as I could until I felt the gluteal muscles burning then I rested before repeating the set 2 or 3 times . b) Lying straight flat on my side I would do some lateral leg raises with an ankle weight on the weak leg. I would do about 3 sets of 20 of these at a slowish speed.

On average I did the gluteal exercises 3 to 4 times a week.

3. Tight rectus femoris muscle in my left leg. A physiotherpist worked on stretching this. It's difficult to explain in writing but if this muscle is problematic in your case try to ask someone to show you how to stretch this muscle.

4. Tight ilitoibial band in my left leg - again if this is a problem for you as well try to find the best way of stretching this.

Overall I have been told that these four problems are quite common in runners who suffer from pain at the front of the knee. In addition for me specifically I was also told that I had relatively weak hamstring muscles. I worked on strengthening these doing hamstring curls and good morning exercises 2 to 3 times a week. I think that the weak hamstring factor could be something that is overlooked in many case with this problem.

On top of all this I also have flat feet (like many distance runners I suppose) - this could also have been a contributing factor to my knee problem as I overpronate slightly. I worked on strengthening these by walking around in the house barefoot and walking on the extreme lateral or medial edges of my feet - there have been other posts on exercises to strengthen the feet so look them up if you think that would be useful to you.

What I did notice was when starting to run again that the softer running shoes such as the nike airs gave me problems. The 'harder' shoes such as asics 2060 and 2070 were much better for my knee when I was trying to build up the training again.

OK I hope all this is useful. I know it is a but long but there can be many interplaying factors that can contribute to knee problems and you have may have to address them all when trying cure yourself. The exercises are tedious and you may have to keep trying for a long time - although I hope not as long as I did.

Ultimately I have made a reasonable comeback although I had some other injury problems. I ran 30 flat for 10k on the roads this autumn and I'm nearly back back to my best form now in the cross country races that I've been running in. I still have to do the exercises about twice a week otherwise the problem comes back again but I'm basically back to normal and building up - so there's always hope even if your case is as bad as mine was.

Good luck

Heres how to fix. Strengthen your quads. Not in the gym. Put your leg on a basketball under the knee. Put a big pillow or blanket rolled up between your legs. Flex your leg (about 30 degrees) so it is now straight. At the top squeeze your legs together and hold for a few seconds. You should feel the burn in the muscles right above the knee on the medial side. That is the muscle that is week and it letting your kneecap slip. Do this 20 times both legs everyday. Here are some other exercises. Step ups. Step up stairs or use a chair. At the top you need to tense up the muscle and feel the burn. Go slow. The best excercise you need tension tubing. You can get it from the doc or a physical therapist. Tie it around something and put the other end behind your leg. Now relax your leg (about 30 degrees) then straighten it back up. When it is straight you need to tense it up really hard and feel the burn. Do it 20 times a day. I had the pain for months and was cured after only 3 weeks of these excersises. Also you need to stretch more. Your quads, achilles and especially the hamstrings and the IT band. Hold each one 30 seconds and repeat 3 times. Thats going to be about 10 to 20 min of stretching everday but it is worth it because it keeps the injuries away. Good luck.

it also might be worthwhile to go to a chiropractor. like someone said, your kneecap might not be functioning along its normal track. a chiropractor could help get your whole system (back, hips, etc.) aligned properly.

amputate it.

Hornet power that was funny......the best advise of all...hahahaaha

I developed chondromalacia in 1969. After a variety of treatments failed, I went to a podiatrist named Schuster in Queens, NY who said I had a classic case--so he took pictures of my knees and said they would wind up in a podiatry journal, which did not help the problem, of course. What he pointed out, however, is that most cases of "C" are caused by some structural defect that allows the patella to "roll over" and inflame the surrounding area. In my case, I have Morton's Toe, that is, my big toe is shorter than the toe next to it and as a result my foot rolls over causing the knee to ever so slightly buckle in. I presume other structural defects can also be responsible. In any case, he had me fitted for orthotics and since then I have had no trouble whatsoever. But what I would do first is see a podiatrist in your area who has experience treating endurance athletes. Good luck.

I've been dealing with this. On the advice of a physio I did

Forward lunges

Standing quadricepts stretch

and that made the pain even worse.