Chondromalacia

Hi. Last summer I was on my normal 2 mile walk and I was walking uphill and noticed that I had hyperextended my knee (i think) and it went inward a little too much. After that I started to have some severe pain, dull but noticed that it comes and goes. I went to a sports injury clinic and the dr took regular xrays and then when he couldn't find anything he decided to take an MRI. His nurse called the next day to say that they could not find anything and that they think that I have Chondromalacia and that it will come and go and its not curable. It has been 9 months now and they are right, it does come and go but one thing is for certain and always there and that is that I can't completely straigten out my leg. I have a slight bend on the leg. I guess I can live with this but somedays when it is extremely bad my knee won't bend and it pops and I have to just drag it along. Its really eambarassing as I am not that old. I was just wondering if anyone else that has been diagnosed with this stuff has the same problem regarding not being able to straighten out their knee or leg? Also is this a freak deal from the hyperextend that I did on my walk or is this just a given when you get older? I will be so screwed if this starts on my other leg. Lots of days walking is just gimping. I have 4 jobs and all of them are not sitting at any desk, they are all lots of walking. Any help or advice would be gladly accepted. thanks much. Susan

Hi-
I'm almost 9 wks post-op a patellae cartilage resurfacing surgery. I had problems with irritation for about 4-5 years. Finally, this past fall I was going down stairs and it's like something just snapped under my patellae and it was downhill from there - swelling/pain. I tried all invasive remedies - rest (3 days off work), therapy for about 7 months, and finally the Synvisc injections. Nothing! It's too early to say if this resurfacing will help. It's a fairly new procedure by arthrosurface - arthrosurface.com - but my OS swears by it!! I hope he's right!