Hello, I am an employee at a physical therapy clinic and I graduated with a BS in Kinesiology. I am an avid competitive volleyball player who dealt with fat pad impingement. I dealt with it for over 9 months before I got any relief. In the end it was arthroscopic removal of the fat pad which granted me about 90% relief from the problems I was having.

I tried a month if physical therapy, was taking various NSAIDS almost around the clock, limited my activities for a period of time, tried cortisone injections, ice, McConnell taping you name it. Nothing gave me more than about 20% relief for a very short period of time.

The orthopedic surgeon, PA, and physical therapist all thought it was simple chondromalacia at first. My main complaints were pain at rest (in both extension and flexion), pain with stairs, extreme pain with terminal knee extension, difficulty transferring from my car, pain with jumping and landing, and difficulty sleeping at night due to the pain waking me up. It even bothered me when walking at times. I was never inhibited from playing volleyball; I would just grit my teeth and play the game I loved.

That being said, the arthroscopy was incredibly successful for me. I had almost immediate relief of the pain at rest and with rehab after the arthroscopic surgery I was back to playing sports within about 3 1/2 weeks. I experienced some similar pain due to some significant scar tissue but that resolved as the scar tissue broke up a little. I still have minimal problems with the anterior knee pain but overall I am very pleased with the outcome.

Some things to note:
I have several predispositions to fat pad impingement including patella alta, genu recurvatum, and some patellar instability.
The main thing that separated my case from general chondromalacia was that I had pain with extension and had full flexion.
I tried conservative measures first but they didn't offer me any significant relief.

I hope this can be of assistance to someone as none of the therapists at my clinic had ever dealt with fat pad impingement before and I found it hard to locate good information about the problem.

Thank you.



Quote Originally Posted by jenniferlam View Post
Hi there, I have just joined this forum, really finding it helpful, good stuffkeep it up.

I am currently treating a patient with anterior knee pain for half a year now, she compliants of anterior knee pain when forcefully straighten knee and that limits her from walking fast and prolong walking. after examination, her signs and symptoms turned out to be a fat pad problem.

What is the management for this condition and what type of exercise should I start her off with?

Thanks