New to the community

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As most new members seem to do I was diagnosed with Chondromalacia

and am looking for information as the pain has become worse.

I am a 16y.o. and was first diagnosed with this condition in my

right knee 2 years ago. They gave me an H buttress brace to wear

while I was playing soccer my freshman year which I did do but

beyond that they said that I should " grow out of it. " I didn't

really give it a second thought. I wore the brace, dealt with the

occassional knee pain and everything panned out ok.

My sophomore year I got into rowing crew in place of soccer. My

knees got irratated sometimes while I was ergging but I worked

through it and just kept going. There were a few instances where it

was bad but for the most part yet again, not a large problem.

Going into the spring crew season everything went the same. We row

both fall and spring and I really had no problems this past spring

whilst I rowed.

This summer everything seemed to spiral downward. I got a desk job

over the summer and that's where the problems really seemed to first

manifest themselves. My knees got this tingling feeling under the

kneecap whenever I sat for more than an hour or so. I like to get

up and walk around when ever I can to stretch my legs out some.

My left knee also got progressively worse. I origionally had

problems with the right one and the condition seemed to have spread

to my left knee. I went in to see the Ortho again in late june and

they took X-rays and all that. They said that I had developed a

slight patellar tilt on the left knee. My old knee brace wore out

awhile ago and I never really used it while rowing because I have

sensative skin and the neoprine mixed with sweat really irratates my

skin.

This time seems to have gone the same time as last. They pretty

much said that I had chrondomalacia in both knees, gave me 2 J

braces this time, a list of exersizes and sent me on my way.

Fall crew conditioning started a few weeks ago and my knees have

been so sore. They've been getting sore randomly even on a normal

day with no exersize. It can be anything from sitting for a long

time to bending my knee to far for too long (I like to sit in my

comp chair with my left knee bent up on the side of the chair).

I started sitting with my knees out straight instead of bent and

sleeping on my back to keep them straight. The pain seems to get

highlighted quite a bit when I try to go to sleep no matter how I

lay.

As for crew itself ergging (rowing on the machines) has killed my

knees. A week or so ago I got off after an especially intense

rowing piece and my knees wouldnt straighten. I took 3 steps, sat

down right there, and after a few minutes got back up and rowed the

next piece at a slightly slower pace. Running on pavement, lunges,

and wall sits are absolutely killing my knees. I started icing my

knees almost every day after crew but that didnt really seem to do

much, nor did heat application. I've been conditioning in my knee

braces and they definately help but there is still pain. I am an

avid horseback rider as well. I dont know how much stress that puts

on the knee but that started hurting me this past week or so too.

Crew is probably the worse considering its alot of pressure pushing

off for the legs and involves very deep knee bends continuously.

I've been conditioning along with the rest of my team every day. We

finally moved out onto the water and I cannot wear my knee braces

there. The pressure is less than the erg and generally they dont

hurt so much while in the boat but are still sore afterwards. My

braces have those metal springs or plastic strips sewed down both

sides of the brace and when we are not rowing we sit with our knees

bent and the oar sitting on top of our thighs. Those strips bow

inwards against my leg when I'm sitting there and they actually

bruised my legs after just one day on the water. I've only been out

on the water once this season so far and that was with my braces

on. It was then that I decided that I couldnt wear them while

rowing. I dont know if the absense of the jarring motions of

running on pavement and the other conditioning we did will improve

anything or crewing will still make it worse even on the water.

I don't know what to do at this point. I came home crying the other

night and my mom, being a doctor, was able to sneak me in to see the

PT at her office for a quick visit. He stretched my legs in a few

different ways, poked around on my knees, and then told me that my

IT bands are extremely tight. He stretched them out and then told

me to scrap the strengthening exersizes from my ortho and focus on

the 2 he gave me. He's been having me do 2 exersizes, 5 sets of each

on each leg in the morning, before I exersize, and then before I go

to bed. He's having me go back in next wednesday once again.

My ortho didnt really tell me anything. The PT finally told me how

to start fixing this problem but I am concerned about rowing this

season. I know that I can do it and work through the pain because I

love the sport whole heartedly. But I dont know if I should.

Everyone here seems adamently against working through the pain, but

neither my ortho or my PT advised me against crew. Any advice at

this point is appreciated. I've done all the research I have been

able to and I'm stuck. So many people here wish they would have

caught it sooner. Should I be making a bigger deal out of this than

I am? And should I be doing anything differently?

I really appreciate any help that you guys could offer and thank you

for taking the time to assist me.