Hey all.
A friend of mine was recently diagnosed with hip chrondomalacia, and she hasn’t been able to find anything online about it. WebMD has nothing, and google just comes back with links about knee chrondomalacia, a related but different disease. So I told her I’d poke around and see what I could find. Several search engines later, and I’m left with you guys as my only option. Any information you might have would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks ever so much!
chondromalacia refers to softening of the cartilage of the kneecap. I’ve never seen it used to refer to problems with the hip. I suspect the diagnosis may be wearing or damage to the cartilage of the hip.
Perhaps this link might help?
http://rothmaninstitute.com/joints/hip/
If not, have your friend commit a felony in Wisconsin, and get sent to prison, and I’ll have a look.
QtM
Thanks for the link. I sent it on to her, and she appreciates it. We’ll see about the whole prison in Wisconsin thing–that might be a last resort. 
Here’s a pretty good link on chondromalacia overall. Injury to cartilage can occur due to repetitive stress, or to one or a few specific incidents. Over a number of years, this sort of thing can lead to osteoarthritis, the degenerative arthritis most are familiar with. If there is pain in the shorter term, particularly in younger folk, chondromalacia may be taking place. I’ll leave you to the link for a more detailed explanation.
Why this almost never affects anywhere but the knee is a matter I haven’t seen directly addressed by any websites. Presumably other joints, such as the hip, are well designed for the impacts they receive almost constantly in running, jumping, etc. The knee is not so well designed for the impacts it occasionally receives when the joint is in a flexed position. Limbo champions, take note.
Thanks for the info, dqa. I passed it on.