Is it okay for me to continue squatting with my current knee issues?

[Misery]

So I plan on visiting an orthopedic office soon, but for the time being, through physical therapy, it's been determined that my knees have an extra 15-20 degrees of motion--hyperextension. And I think I have Chondromalacia.

Now the only pain I ever experienced is when I'm sitting for long periods of time, or sometimes when I'm climbing stairs. In physical therapy, I was able to jog, jump do lateral movements and leg press without any pain. None of the strength tests gave me any pain either. The only constant reminder that my knees aren't all the great is the constant popping in my right knee when I shove them back, and when I squat down (no pain) and rise up, my knees seriously grind on the ascent.

The reason the squat is a big question mark is that I have these injuries because of it. I'm almost positive when I first started SS, my knees bowed in too much. Another problem is that I've gone to Rippe's forum, and he didn't notice any glaring problems with my squat.

So...seeing as how SS is so squat-oriented, I'm unsure of what the hell I should be doing with my routine. I'm not sure if squats will help or make the problem worse, but when I tried squatting after I pinpointed the problem, it certainly didn't improve.

Unsure of where to go from here.

By the way, I've done lunges, wall sits, peterson step-ups, leg raises, heel raises, terminal knee extensions, cycling, foam rolling and constant stretching among other things.

This is starting to kill my drive.

[scoppi]

a quote from rip:

"Yes, if you squat wrong it fucks things up. If you squat correctly, those same fucked-up things will unfuck themselves."

i say squat unless it causes you pain.

[jacob cloud]

+1

If you can leg press, why wouldn't you be able to squat? Squatting is MUCH healthier for the knees when done properly.