Chondromalacia Patella; Runner’s knee

 Are you a runner, cross fitter, just a recreational walker who does a lot of uphill walks, do you have to use stairs at your work many times? You are still very young to have degenerative knee but still, you have painful knee especially anterior knee pain. Chondro Malacia patella (chrodos-cartilage, malakia-softening)

This article may help you understand why you have and how to avoid that nasty pain?

Chondromalacia patella (CMP) is usually presented in the clinic as a chronic anterior knee pain which may be due to physical or biomechanical changes. It could be just a misalignment of patella or knee cap, which is not too bad and can be addressed easily or it could be damage to the cartilage which can be a serious issue. Furthermore, a chondral or osteochondral defect can be ugly or a chronic pain situation.

Chondromalacia patella sometimes is used synonymously for patellofemoral pain syndrome.(usually, a term used to diagnose anterior knee pain without articular damage). It is a condition where there is a swelling, softening, fraying and/or erosion of the hyaline cartilage on the posterior surface of the patella.  Chondromalacia patella, usually considered as an overload injury due to malalignment of the patella to the femur and tibia. Understanding the exact cause of this mechanical malalignment is critical for the effective management.

How do you get such ugly pain? Bear in mind!! The articular cartilage behind the knee does not have a nerve supply.

Patellofemoral (PF) pain is mainly due to pull of patella laterally and superiorly too far in the femoral trochlear groove. This malpositioning causes uneven contact surface between the kneecap and the femur. It then leads to only a small portion of patella cartilage to take the maximum load. Hence, this malpositioning causes the imbalanced distribution of PF compression force during loaded knee flexion (squats, jumps, lunges etc). This leads to wearing or softening of patellar cartilage which may eventually lead to fibrillation, fissuring, and erosion.  Chondromalacia patella or anterior knee pain is most noticeable when the knee is flexed to 30 degrees and onwards. It is this knee flexion range where patella enters the femoral trochlear groove and the range for many functional movements.

Common biomechanical faults, Where does pain come from?                                                                                                        

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