chondromalacia patella

[BorisKaravasilev]

Hi all,
My knees have been bothering me for about 10 years. For long I thought it was tendonitis, but after a consult with a professional the symptoms match chondromalacia patella. No pain is reproduced when palpating the tendons around the kneecap but the Clarke's/patellar grind test was extremely painful along with a horible crunchy feeling. I am 26M, 190 lb, top squat 215 for 5s, 255 for 5 deadlift. I've had a few attempts at the NLP but I quit all due to the increase in symptoms severity as weight on the bar increased. Is this a lifelong sentence? It gets irritated by virtually everything that includes my knees bending. Could anyone please share if they had success or not dealing with such condition.

box squat Shared album - boris karavasilev - Google Photos

deadlift Shared album - boris karavasilev - Google Photos

[Mark Rippetoe]

Do the deadlifts hurt?

[pd_oldguy]

Have you tried squats wearing proper footwear (lifting shoes)?

[Railbob1776]

FYI, the Clarke test is notoriously useless and has long been considered as having poor diagnostic value since it has been known to cause pain in healthy knees and unhealthy knees. You should probably get an X-Ray and/or MRI to get a better understanding of what's going on with your knees.

The Diagnostic Value of the Clarke Sign in Assessing Chondromalacia Patella - PMC

[Railbob1776]

Also, Sully has this condition, he has talked about it in his videos including his latest (see below). Maybe he will see this post and add his thoughts on the topic.

[BorisKaravasilev]

They used to but I did them incorrectly. They almost looked like a stiff legged deadlift, now I've improved my pulling mechanics and they no longer bother them as much. What used to kill my quality of life for a week is now only bugging me for a day in terms of movements I do in training. However, this might be an overstatement since I am only lifting such light weights in the beginning of my NLP. Cycling, long walks, jumping, running and any prolonged activity inflames the knees, they get red, swollen stiff. I train the box squat and no power cleans. So far I am a few weeks into my NLP and the training isn't too irritating - it slightly bothers the knees for a day after training. Do I ever go back to regular squats? I am in my 20s, am I bound to extensively moderate my activity like an old man as I am now to keep the inflammation down for life?
The hell is this condition? How did it develop? What to do about it? Is it for life?

[Railbob1776]

They used to but I did them incorrectly. They almost looked like a stiff legged deadlift, now I've improved my pulling mechanics and they no longer bother them as much. What used to kill my quality of life for a week is now only bugging me for a day in terms of movements I do in training. However, this might be an overstatement since I am only lifting such light weights in the beginning of my NLP. Cycling, long walks, jumping, running and any prolonged activity inflames the knees, they get red, swollen stiff. I train the box squat and no power cleans. So far I am a few weeks into my NLP and the training isn't too irritating - it slightly bothers the knees for a day after training. Do I ever go back to regular squats? I am in my 20s, am I bound to extensively moderate my activity like an old man as I am now to keep the inflammation down for life?
The hell is this condition? How did it develop? What to do about it? Is it for life?

If you have chondromalacia patella, it is just a fancy name for patella femoral arthritis, which is the loss of cartilage under your kneecap. As things stand, arthritis is incurable, progressive, and may ultimately require joint replacement if the pain becomes unbearable in the end stages. Sounds scary, I know, but knee arthritis is actually very common (I have it) and unfortunately there isn't really anything you can do about it other than the obvious stuff like get to a healthy weight, don't eat a bunch of inflammatory crap, and still train as you can tolerate it. The goal is to slow down the progression of cartilage loss as much as possible and to support the joint with as much strong, healthy muscle as you can. However, you are pretty young to have such a symptomatic version of it already so there may be something else going on. In your case, you might want to get an MRI and X-Ray. Good luck.