Patellofemoral Syndrome - what??

Patellofemoral pain syndrome and ACL sprains/tears are two of the most common knee diagnoses resulting from physical activity. I would like to write about the first one -Patello-what?

But before we get there I will tell you my own experience.

I started playing basketball when I was six years old. Right from the beginning I developed love for the sport! But it wasn’t the only thing I developed. Few years later my knee started to hurt.

During one summer I went to visit a doctor to ask him why does that happen and he basically told me that the knee is over trained and I need to take a break for couple of weeks maybe even months. I was really sad about this news. Later on I went to visit different doctor and he explained to me that the pain is caused by the abnormal tracking of the patella within my knee and he advised me to wear a knee bandage that will keep the patella in the right alignment.

Miracle! It really helped for most of the time but for the next few years I was forced to continue to wear different bandages. I wrote “forced” because whenever I forgot to wear it, the pain came back.

Patellofemoral Pain Syndrome

= One of the most commonly accepted causes of PFP syndrome is abnormal tracking of the patella within the femoral trochlea.

The development of PFP can also be devastating due to the recurrence of symptoms. Surgical treatment is an option for PFP, however little evidence exists favouring surgical intervention over conservative management.

91% of individuals diagnosed with PFP reported continued knee pain for 4 – 18 years (yes, it’s not a mistake – years) post-presentation with restricted physical activity in 36% of these individuals.

Causes

Abnormal tracking of the patella may be due to static or dynamic lower-extremity malalignment, altered muscle activation of surrounding knee, decreased strength of the hip musculature, or various combinations.

PFP injury prevention

Exercises should focus on strengthening of the hip and surrounding knee musculature. Strengthening of the hip muscles are thought to assist in decreasing hip internal rotation, adduction and knee valgus (internal rotation of the knees). It is also advised to strengthen the quadriceps.

Examples of PFP injury prevention exercises

1) Tube walking – using resistance band

2) Step up to balance

3) Clamshells

Please always consult your injuries with a doctor before jumping into some exercise or buying random bandages that are maybe not suitable for your type of injury. If you liked the article please give me a like and share with your friends.