Chondromalacia and Physical Therapy

Young adults who regularly exercise or participate in sports may complain about knee problems from time to time. Don’t ignore the warning signs of knee pain, your loved one could be suffering from Chondromalacia. Chondromalacia Patellae also known as “runner’s knee” is a condition where the cartilage between the femur and tibia weaken and deteriorate to a point where the bones of the knee begin to grind together causing pain.  This condition is commonly found in teenagers, young adults, and the elder generation who suffer from arthritis. The younger generations are affected do to participation in sports and daily workouts. Prolonged stress to the joints and cartilage in the knee with little rest time can cause the condition to appear or worsen.

Chondromalacia can appear as just minor aches in pains in the knee and may eventually evolve in severe pain and irreversible damage. The pain could consist of grinding of knee bones, swelling of muscles around knee, or difficulty standing or sitting with bent knee for a period of time. Those who don’t exercise as much or have arthritis can still feel the effects of Chondromalacia if they have experienced any direct injury to the knee, knee alignment is off, may have flat feet or even weaken muscles around the knee.

Physical Therapy can be an organic beneficial way to help with patients who suffer from Chondromalacia rather than take medication or undergo surgery. Proper strengthening and exercise through physical therapy can help reduce the stress put on the knee to alleviate the pain. Long periods of resting from sports or exercising  will also allow muscles to relax. At Park Physical Therapy we offer a slew of exercise programs and services designed specifically for patients who are diagnosed with Chondromalacia with our dedicated PT staff. We offer consultations for patients to see how severe their Chondromalacia is.