When it comes to the treatment of a certain disease, the first thing that comes to mind is often medication and surgery, and it is hard to believe that the problem can be solved through exercise alone. The treatment of chondromalacia patellae is not as complicated as one might think. The treatment of chondromalacia patella is divided into three main parts: physical therapy, muscle strength exercises and medication if necessary. For younger patients, medication can be placed last, and if recovery can be achieved through physical therapy and muscle strength exercises, medication is not necessary. And even if medication is used, the first choice is topical or oral medication, and only if oral medication is ineffective will joint injections be considered. Treatment of chondromalacia patella Muscle strength training is the mainstay of the initial stage of chondromalacia patella, only limb training is required, and no supplementary medication is needed. The limb training is mainly based on strength training of the quadriceps, either isometric contractions or static squatting exercises, with no fixed pattern. The doctor will usually assess the patient’s exercise level, such as active or non-athletic type, and then encourage and guide the patient to participate in the treatment. For example, if a patient has knee pain due to excessive exercise such as basketball, after a period of rehabilitation, it is not enough to do only “straight leg raises”, a light exercise method commonly used by bedridden patients, as this will only aggravate muscle atrophy; and if the main exercise is walking, even a thin woman who rarely runs two steps. Women, directly to the health room exercise is obviously also inappropriate, such patients are more suitable to do static squatting exercises. So, what are squat exercises? In fact, squatting exercises are similar to a horse stance. The patient’s back is against the wall, feet and knees shoulder-width apart, toes forward, squatting to a certain angle, with the weight on the affected foot, and grasp the depth of the squat on their own. The duration of a squat varies greatly from person to person and can be squatted until the quadriceps feel tired and cannot hold on. Rest a minute between squats, then practice a second time. Generally, each group can be carried out 5 to 10 times per day, 5 to 10 sets of exercise, depending on the results of the exercise can be increased. The most common question that comes up in squatting exercises is “do I have to continue training if I have pain? In fact, patients with chondromalacia patella do not always experience pain, so they can do “pain avoidance” training. Simply put, every patient has a painful angle when squatting, from 30 degrees to 60 degrees. It is best to avoid the pain angle when practicing static squatting. If squatting to 30 degrees hurts, you can continue squatting down to 60 degrees to avoid the 30 degree pain angle and vice versa. In addition to some specific limb training, many patients will worry about some daily exercise will aggravate the symptoms, Associate Professor Zhang Hui believes that patients with chondromalacia patella do not have too many sports contraindications, jogging, swimming, cycling, etc. can be carried out normally. For example, for able-bodied men who usually exercise a lot and have knee pain due to overuse such as squatting barbells, there is no need to restrict exercise if the pain has subsided. However, if walking was difficult before, then direct jogging is obviously inappropriate. Therefore, how to exercise is largely up to the patient’s self-regulation. In addition, the use of tape to improve patellar tilt and alignment can be a very effective treatment. A special tape with low irritation should be used to improve the force line of the patella, thus relieving the symptoms. Aminoglucose and hyaluronic acid for chondromalacia patella Too much If physical therapy or simple hot compresses and rest do not relieve the symptoms, medication is also necessary. Among them, taking glucosamine and injecting hyaluronic acid are the most popular treatments for patients with chondromalacia patellae, but in fact, doctors generally do not recommend them for patients in the early stages of chondromalacia patellae. Because the main role of these two drugs is to protect joint cartilage and lubrication, they are generally used clinically to treat severe osteoarthritis, while patients with chondromalacia patella are generally younger and have minimal damage, so treatment with pain medication alone is sufficient. Patellar chondromalacia medication Pain relief is enough Glucosamine and hyaluronic acid are not suitable for the treatment of patellar chondromalacia, so how do you do when it hurts? At present, the clinical treatment of chondromalacia patellae is based on pain relief. Among them, there is no essential difference between oral and topical painkillers; patients with chronic diseases such as stomach disease and diabetes can also take painkillers for chondromalacia patella. Because many painkillers now focus on gastrointestinal reactions, including the dosage form of the drug, the mode of administration, and even some better designed painkillers, have removed the substances that cause gastrointestinal reactions, leaving only the useful substances. Therefore, the gastrointestinal reactions to painkillers for patellar chondromalacia are not heavy. Some patients also worry whether glucosamine Hui aggravates diabetes, but in fact these drugs have nothing to do with diabetes. In addition, although this way of applying plasters is effective in treating chondromalacia patellae, there are too many types of plasters on the market, including Chinese plasters, Chinese herbal plasters and Western plasters, and the difference between plasters with different ingredients and different brands is also very big. Therefore, in order to carry out better efficacy control, Dr. Zhang Hui recommends using only creams with a single component, which simply have only pain-relieving function and whose components are western medicine, to avoid causing local skin allergy.