Question: Anyone suffer from Chondromalacia Patella?

[Lil' Thrill Seeker]

Hey girlfriends, any one suffer from chondromalacia patella? If so, can you give some tips or suggestions to overcome it quickly?

I've had the 'crunching' under my knee cap for many years; it comes and goes. The crunching came back last month after two months of skiing, the moguls of course, so I am sure I irritated my sweet ol knees....well.....

Last Tuesday while skiing I noticed tenderness (for the first time this year-I've had it before) but while walking upstairs in my ski boots I encountered a sudden, sharp level 12 pain below my kneecap toward the inside. Wanting to know excactly what is was so I wouldn't be out for the rest of the season I went to an ortho who diagnosed me with chondromalacia patella. In the past my chondromalacia issues never felt like this and definately didnt inhibit my activites but this pain is different and for sure hurts.

Is there anything you can offer?

btw- I will see a PT on Wednesday, providing my flight isn't cancelled because of the snow storm approaching Denver.

 

[MaineSkiLady]

Yes. Alas. PT will hopefully find a reason behind it, as it's kind of a ballpark phrase (like runny nose - due to what?). Mine is caused by a mis-tracking patella. There is a taping method that is commonly used that DOES help. It's got a proper name (named after its founder) which totally escapes me at this point. (try googling knee taping?) Takes some practice to get it right. But---it DOES help, and with some luck, it can "retrain" your kneecap, if tracking is the issue behind the lovely noise.

Glad you are seeing someone, as this does not get better without intervention - and left to its own devices, can worsen to the point of needing surgery.

Good luck. Mine's stable/holding its own. Yes, skiing is a definite irritant. I tape when I must, but mine is better after taping it faithfully for about half a season a few years back.

 

[Lil' Thrill Seeker]

Sweet, thanks for the reply!

It's called McConnell taping!! haha He put it on my PT referral sheet....cool, I am now hopeful about seeing the therapist on wednesday because I THINK he said something about my kneecap being mistracked which caused the inflamation. I want to get this internal inflamation down as quickly as possible, not just to go ski but so I can exercise and walk up/down the stairs like normal.

 

[dloveski]

I have this malady of the knees, as well as osteo-arthritis, but continue to run and ski. The pain is intermittent, the ortho told me to keep moving, and gave me exercises I never do cuz I'd rather be skiing and running.

I like my CX-W tights when running and skiing, as they seem to support my knees more, but I'm not sure they make an actual difference in the condition.

 

[Lil' Thrill Seeker]

I like my CX-W tights when running and skiing, as they seem to support my knees more, but I'm not sure they make an actual difference in the condition.

I bought some CW-X tights in January....funny, I had just told a friend that since I'd been wearing wearing them I hadn't noticed any knee issues then WHAM! the next week this happened. :( I may just keep my mouth shut....

If you have the CW-X top, what do you think about it? worth the money? I do love the capri tights!!

 

[geargrrl]

Well, Ive been diagnosed with C-M-P, did the taping thing (which helped) and then it was rediagnosed as IT band syndrome, which changed all the exercises....oh and I has gait analysis too.

What worked for me, and I have posted about it before is to get into really good functional conditioning program that focuses on stability, balance, proprioception, lateral stability and more. 15 years of knee pain was solved.

 

[wahineskisk2]

I was a Massage therapist for 12 years and only did injury tx work. I got referrals from Orthos often and lots of my patients had Chondromalacia. In addition to PT if you can find a massage therapist that practices Myofacial Release, Active Release or really does "deep tissue" work, you should get relief.
Do you live in Denver? I see a guy in Summit who is great. If you were up here skiing sometime, I'm sure he'd see you. I'm very picky about massage, as you could imagine, and he is working with my leg for speedy ACL surgery recovery. He's inexpensive too!
Hope you heal quickly!!!!

 

[Lil' Thrill Seeker]

In addition to PT if you can find a massage therapist that practices Myofacial Release, Active Release or really does "deep tissue" work, you should get relief.
Do you live in Denver? I see a guy in Summit who is great.

Thanks for the info, I was already planning on getting some massage, now I know what to ask/look for.

Saw the PT today, still have a bit of inflammation that needs to calm down. They think it's weak hip abductors/external rotator causing my knee to collapse to the inside which causes misalignment. So it's a simple fix, just time intensive. Great news is that I can now walk up/down stairs as normal without the level 10 pain, that's progress I am happy about!

I plan to go back out skiing once the pain is under control and the inflammation is down even though it may prolong my recovery. But I will wait for the powder days and won't be playing in the moguls.

If I do make it up to Summit and have the time, I will get in touch with ya about your massage connection!!!

 

[Blue Diamond]

I was diagnosed with chondromalacia in both my knees. I discovered this years ago. I was on a trip, and after having walked the whole city for hours and hours, my knees just gave up. It was painful to walk.

The doctor said it was fixable with surgery, but he would not recommend it, since its an "invasive" fix, and the problem was not too bad. He suggested instead that I worked on strengthening my quads, since these muscles would correct the deviation of my patella in a natural way. He also recommended no high impact sports. So, I quit tennis, and started doing biking and swimming. It really helped. I have seldom had issues ever since, even during trips that I walk the whole day.

On another note, four years ago I suffered a meniscal tear that needed to be fixed through arthroscopic surgery. The surgeon fixed my chondromalacia on that knee, since he had already opened me up. But, to tell you the truth, I have felt almost no difference between my two knees after the surgical fix on one of them.

I hope your chondromalacia gets better.

 

[Lil' Thrill Seeker]

He suggested instead that I worked on strengthening my quads, since these muscles would correct the deviation of my patella in a natural way .

Blue Diamond,

I was diagnosed years ago with CMT and my doc told me the same about strenghening the quads and it helped. I actually think there is something else going on, on top of CMT.

None-the-less, I will continue w/ PT and strengthen my hip abductors and 'see' what happens.

I plan to go out the next powder day, will just have to wrap it or something as to not tick it off too much!

 

[MaineSkiLady]

I like my CX-W tights when running and skiing, as they seem to support my knees more, but I'm not sure they make an actual difference in the condition.

Ditto.

Course of treatment is totally dependent on discovery of the root cause. In my case, it's one knee only, from an old, non-rehabbed, non-treated MCL sprain, which *ever* so slightly shifted my patella tracking - thus the condition. I did taping pretty faithfully following another sprain, same knee (this time, LCL) a few years back, incurred from a nasty hit, and it did/does help. No issue with the left knee (let's please knock on wood here?).

 

[Stowski]

I was diagnosed with CP in high school. Think taping to play soccer, knee braces to ski (no more than two days in a row), etc... A few years ago I went to an ortho to get some advice because the only exercise that I could pull off regularly with 3 kids was a 5k run but I couldn't do it without advil and a brace and never more than two days in a row. She also said, "build up you quads". Now I have HUGE quads for a 5'3, 115 lb lady. I was a soccer player and a sprinter. They can't get any bigger and fit in pants! She also sent me to PT. They did a few tests and said that I also had IT issues and very weak hips (most women after childbirth get "loose" in the hips). Three months and a few hip exercises later and I am pain free. I can run 7 days in a row if I want and ski as much as I want. No pain... ever... amazing. It's been 2 years now and I am still pain free. Find a good PT!