Trochlear Chondropathy

Hey guys,

I'm new to these forums and would like some advice. I am a young 19 year old and I was playing basketball a few months ago when my knee randomly started to hurt a lot started to swell. I wasn't able to walk for weeks and did an xray and MRI. The MRI report indicated that, "there is a full-thickness chondral defect seen along the lateral trochlear facet with subadjacent bony edema" (left knee) I think it was termed as "trochlear chondropathy" on the report as well.

It has been quite a few months and it is a lot better but the improvement has plateaued and there is pain when I bend it while doing a standing quad stretch or when I am standing and kind of lean forward to hyper-extend the leg. I want to be able to play sports again but I can't in this condition. I am also doing physio with quad/hamstring exercises. I am wondering if I will be back to normal with this and what I can specifically do to help make the healing faster.

Thanks!

For 19 yrs of age it's not great that you have a chondral defect under the patella. How did you get this? Was there a fall onto the knee? If not perhaps this was an overuse issue with poor patella tracking in that groove. Either way your tracking needs assessing and correcting. This could include various exercises, biomechanical refinement, rest, diet correction/advice, taping, orthotics etc etc.

You need to work with your physio on the issues that are causing you the discomfort as you should be able to perform those movements in a pain free manner. That is all part of the progression. The good thing is that age is on your side. That said ignoring the fundementals is not a good option just because you are young.