I was working with a client in Italy named Ricardo. Ricardo is a Rugby player who suffered from Chondromalacia. He was constantly in pain because of the continuous deterioration of the cartilage behind his kneecap. Not to mention his ongoing desire to play rugby…
Chondromalacia is a condition in which the cartilage that is directly behind the kneecap softens and shreds due to a grating that occurs between the bones in the knee. There is too little space between the bones; it’s like they are pasted to the cartilage. It is difficult to get relief if you have Chondromalacia. Exercise and activity only make the condition and the pain much worse.
There are several different possible explanations as to why you may have this condition. Generally, there is an alignment issue in the knee such that the position of the knee in relation to the bones in the upper leg is slightly off. Sometimes, however, a tight IT Band can be the culprit. When the IT Band is tight, it creates a tension pattern in the knee that causes the cartilage and bone to rub together.
Whatever the reason, the bottom line is there’s not enough space in your knee for it to function properly. The first step to healing your Chondromalacia is to bring your knee to a place of comfort, let it relax, so that your body releases the built up tension in your knee. Once pressure is released, it’s possible to do several stretches that can create more space in your knee so the cartilage and bones can stop scraping each other.
This being said, it’s a good idea to get your knee checked by a doctor just to make sure that the shredded cartilage hasn’t separated and is floating around in your knee. If this is happens, those torn pieces can irritate your knee and continue to cause pain, even if you relieve the tension. So make sure this isn’t happening, and then you can begin a process to relax the tension and heal your knee pain.
Click here if you’re interested in Ricardo’s story and his resolved pain.
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Good article what I have found is that in running as you know there is simplistically the “take off” and the “landing”
When you run with braces (shoes) your body has an artificial support and an artificial landing gear that most think will keep the foot centered. You know that is the job of the muscles to do that.
Most runners strengthen the take off muscles thinking the artificial support and think that their artificial landing gear (shoe cushion) will do the trick. We all know the majority of injuries occur in the landings.
The key is to strengthen the muscles that resist the over rolling of the foot outside the “safe range between supination to pronation (rolling from the outside to the inside) during impacts. If the foot rolls to an unsafe position then the knee rolls to an unsafe position. Logical so far?
I call these muscles the landing muscles, the spring suspension system muscles or the pronation supination cuff muscles
Here are my last two articles you might find helpful:
How Does The Body Spring Back Safely From Impacts Of Running and Walking?
http://teamdoctorsblog.com/2012/06/13/video-tutorial-12-is-running-bad-for-knees-how-the-body-springs-back-safely-from-impacts-of-running/
Self-Tests & Exercises To Reduce Over Pronation and Over Supination From Impacts During Walking and Running
http://teamdoctorsblog.com/2012/06/18/video-tutorial-28-the-impact-absorbing-landing-muscles-of-the-human-spring-mechanism-testing-and-training-the-spring-suspension-muscles/
Here is a more specific article on the knee pain under the knee cap that is cracking on deep squats or walking up stairs. I think you will get this but if not let me know
Cracking Achy Knee Pain or Chondromalacia Patella – Treatment and Prevention Tips from The Barefoot Running Doctor
http://teamdoctorsblog.com/2012/05/25/cracking-achy-knee-pain-or-chondromalacia-patella-treatment-and-prevention-tips-from-the-barefoot-running-doctor/
I had running injury and here my MRI. results. I have patellafemoral syndrom and Marrow Edema in both knees. The symptoms are very painful and miserable, it completely took me of my knees, feels like collapsing, can’t feel knees, burning sensation, simple walking is enough to irritate PS and ME.
[Img]http://s7.postimage.org/jb9pdvs8b/image.jpg[/img]
[img]http://s7.postimage.org/563wc2j6z/image.jpg[/img]
Bors – I’d get into my book, “The Comfort Zone” – Here’s a link: http://thekneepainguru.com/lp/comfort-zone-stretches/ Let me know how things feel in a couple of weeks…Bill
Hi, I am in knee pain for 6 month already, no injury at all, unless from running, I run on treadmill for 20 minutes. And then after month the pain started on both knee gradually coming and disappearing, later intense pain started couldn’t bend my knees or walk on it properly, did X-ray was normal, did MRI and they found “A subcortical pattern of marrow edema is seen involving the distal femur, proximal tibia and patella. This pattern that is often seen in diffuse osteopenia and a focal moderate chndrosis is seen involving the medial facet of the patella “. For both knee I don’t know what it means, can you explain it, other wise everything is ok.
Alan & Bors – Marrow edema to the best I’m able to figure out is a swelling inside of the bone. The way I look at pain in the knee is much much more simplistic. Think of a little kid pointing to where it hurts on their knee. That is how I’m able to understand the tension pattern going on in your body and how the body needs to be positioned so the pressure is taken off of the nerves in the knee so the knee feels better. From my perspective, a doctor’s diagnosis is good for on this and that is to let me know if something is broken or torn. Once that has been determined that nothing is broken or torn then I know I can help. The best I can tell is there is swelling in your femur (bone in your upper leg), tibia (main bone in your lower leg) and patella (knee cap) probably because of rubbing from running on the treadmill. I can help, my program is very effective…Let’s setup a time to talk and we can figure out a strategy. Click on the link to fill out the short survey: http://thekneepainguru.com/lp/knee-recovery-program/free-introductory-session/questionnaire/ Bill
Thanks I’ll see what happen in a week.
I don’t seem find info about Marrow Edema in the internet, it would be good of you, if you explaine about Marrow edema pattern of osteopenia. Is it serious problem, how should it be treated.
It’s best website I found in the inet that you have Bill. You doing good job helping people with knee problems.
Bors – See what I replied to Alan below…