Chondromalacia of Patella

[Realgains]

THe PT was the one Taping my knee and suggested I buy it to do it myself! I stopped when it felt like my knee would slide over and get stuck...

Yes some PT's will suggest taping. It is probably okay for a while for healing reasons but IMO, and the opinion of a good friend of mine who is a PT, if you need the tapes then you shouldn't be doing any heavy leg work. Tapes will become a crutch if you use them enough....the knee will not strengten like it should and as you graduate to heavier and heavier weights then things only get more out of balance.

A neoprene knee wrap is a good idea as it is designed to keep the heat in and aound the joint with little to no structural support.

Again if your knees are to the point were you NEED wraps then don't squat of leg press yet....do top quarter reps only in the leg extension and some cycling up hills while seated.(make darn sure the saddle is set at the correct height..ask)

If you have had any type of trauma to the knee then see a doc as you may have partially torn the AC Ligament or another knee joint ligament. The meniscus may also be torn.

 

[Arioch]

Bump for an update.

 

[Temple]

LOL - was on my "to do" list for this morning...
have to go do a bit if cardio now but will post it after

 

[Temple]

Okay...an update....
Because of where I was at in my split and a nasty case of the flu I have only worked quads once since I posted this and lightly at that. I will be going light for quite awhile as I get a feel for what works for the knees and what doesn't.

The sumo squats definitely put less strain on the knees as do the box squats (those totally change the center of balance) so will be doing a combination of the two.

Only doing the upper portion of the leg extension also resulted in no knee pain the next day.

Leg presses - I can go pretty heavy on these as long as I don't go deep.

Looks like I have something here that will get me the development that I want without the stress. I am doing G/C/MSM and have seen a big diff adding the C and the MSM into the mix.
I am having difficulty taking it slow as I want to dump on the weight but am keeping it light to moderate until I get a feel for what is going to happen.
No deca for now but will do it if I need it.

Thanks to everyone for all of your help - anymore ideas or suggestions that you have will be greatly appreciated and implemented. Damn it sucks to get old. LOL

 

[NY Muscle]

Yes some PT's will suggest taping. It is probably okay for a while for healing reasons but IMO, and the opinion of a good friend of mine who is a PT, if you need the tapes then you shouldn't be doing any heavy leg work. Tapes will become a crutch if you use them enough....the knee will not strengten like it should and as you graduate to heavier and heavier weights then things only get more out of balance.

A neoprene knee wrap is a good idea as it is designed to keep the heat in and aound the joint with little to no structural support.

Again if your knees are to the point were you NEED wraps then don't squat of leg press yet....do top quarter reps only in the leg extension and some cycling up hills while seated.(make darn sure the saddle is set at the correct height..ask)

If you have had any type of trauma to the knee then see a doc as you may have partially torn the AC Ligament or another knee joint ligament. The meniscus may also be torn.

shes talkign about *taping* to push the knee cap over and back in traction not while working out) ...i think you are talking about *wrapping* as in knee wraps for squats.. and i reading this right or what??

 

[Debu]

I was taping my knee (sliding it over to the inside) then performing the strengthing exercises and cardio. My knee started to pop, not the kind from synovial fluid(or is that in your back?) anyways, it would pop over, atleast it felt like that.

 

[Arioch]

The general idea was to box squat with a sumo stance.

Nice to hear that you have found something that works.

 

[Temple]

I was using a slightly narrower stance - will try it sumo style next time....
Thanks Arioch

 

[Lumberg]

I know this is an old thread but my chondromalacia is flaring up so I thought I'd all my 2cents.

I got chondromalacia from skateboarding. But my doctor explained it as the roughening of the cartilage pads at the ends of my leg bones (my femur and fibula I guess). He game me some exercises and said specifically to stretch my hammies as much as possible. I pretty much gave up boarding and continued on. THen I started football and my knees hurt like hell. So I tried Glucosamine/Chondroitin. Two weeks later my knees were asymptomatic. Yay!. Ever since then every now and then I get a twinge but for the most part I am fine (and I squat every week in the 5-15 rep range). I have since heard that weight bearing exercise (ie squats but not leg extensions) will actually stimulate the body to produce more cartilage and thus that squatting (with perfect form and light weight if necessary) is one of the best things you can do for chondromalacia.

Now I guess patellar chondromalacia is different from what I har (femoral? tibial? chondromalacia) but I think the overall principles are the same.

Hope this helps.

JC

 

[Arioch]

Bump for a stinkin' update.