New member saying hello! And a question...

[Guest guest]

Hi everyone,

It was great to stumble across this group - lots of super information here! I

have been suffering with chondromalacia for about 4 years now, it started in my

late 20s after an ankle break which required no weight bearing for a couple

months to heal. As a result, I lost a ton of muscle all over my body and once I

started walking again the knee problems emerged despite several rounds of

leg-focused PT. I have always been very active (running, biking) and I have

admittedly BAD confirmation (hypermobile joints, pronation) so I suspect the

cartilage damage was slowly increasing all along but was kept in check by muscle

strength.

In any case, it has worsened again recently and I am in PT again. It seems that

the newest PT approach is now hip and core strengthening exercises. Years ago

they had me doing quad stuff (straight leg raises w/ weights, inner/outer thigh,

modified squats). These were effective up to a point but I was never entirely

pain free. Anyway, I have been doing core/hip focused exercises in PT for over 2

months now. I am getting pretty awesome at doing plank, for what that's worth!

However, my knee symptoms have actually worsened, and I finally had to tell the

PT people that I needed to back off and do some rest, ice, etc. before

continuing.

I am just wondering if anyone found the hip/core stuff to be beneficial? I

understand how it makes sense as a theory but am seeing little results in

person...

Thanks in advance!

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