Chrondromalacia Patella Condition

The most common cause of knee pain is chrondomalcia patella. Chondromalcia means “softening of the cartilage” and Patella means “knee cap”. Chondromalcia Patella means the softening of the articular cartilage of the knee cap. The articular cartilage is the cartilage lining under the knee cap that articulates with the knee joint. Under normal circumstances, it is smooth and shiny, so that is glides smoothly along the articular groove of the femur as the knee flexes. When it softens it may break down causing irregularities along the undersurface of the patella. It is most common in the late 30’s early 40’s crowd due to the years of wear and tear. It is also common in active athletes as young as teenagers. The patellar cartilage is one of the earliest places where cartilage breakdown occurs and is slowly progressive, leading to degenerative arthritis (osteoarthritis) of the knee joint.