chondromalacia swelling problem

by Kim
(Cincinnati, Ohio)

My 15 yr old son was diagnosed with chondromalacia in both knees a yr ago. He is a competitive swimmer. He did physical therapy to strengthen quads and other muscle groups and pain subsided. Then a couple of months ago the right knee started to swell and pain returned. Back to physical therapy, but this time swelling won't go down even with Advil and prescription anti-inflammatories. (he can't take Aleve--causes shortness of breath).

He is primarily a breast stroker, but since the kick for that stroke increases pain and swelling he has stopped training for that stroke. We aren't getting any more helpful info from orthopedic--any ideas?

He has run out of options.

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chondromalacia swelling problem

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Oct 30, 2008
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chondromalacia
by: Bart - SII

Did he have an MRI with the initial diagnosis? What grade of chondromalacia did they say he had?

Sometimes chondromalacia patella is used as a diagnosis for what is really patella femoral syndrome - physicians will interchange the terms, however, they are very different conditions. Chondromalacia is usually the result of PFS, and is the softening and degeneration of the articular cartilage - graded on a 1-5 scale. (higher numbers=more severe).

If he has true patella chondromalacia and is not responding to conservative treatment, it may be worth looking into an arthroscopy to smooth out the roughened areas. This is the only way to fix the damaged areas of the cartilage. The key then is to make sure that the biomechanical factors that causes the abnormal stresses initially are addressed.

If he didn't have an MRI or a graded diagnosis for chondromalacia patella, he would likely benefit from continued therapy, especially with focus on his hip abductor and external rotator strength, and lower abdominal stability exercises.

Bart