My bad knees (physical therapists are wonderful)

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
1

I’ve got this very creaky right knee. Every time I go up or down stairs, you can hear this horrible grinding sound. It’s pretty scary. I’m only 28, and wasn’t really prepared for the notion of body parts not working anymore; I figured that would be at least a few more years down the line.

A friend of my sister’s is a physical therapist, and was gracious enough to do a free diagnosis (I’m already plotting what kind of gift I should send). Essentially, the problem is that my quadriceps are much too tight and overworked because of problems elsewhere, and they are jamming my patella against the leg bones. The left knee is in the same situation, but in a less advanced state, I assume, because it doesn’t generally make noise.

Thankfully, it looks like I can avoid a knee replacement or other kind of surgery. Of course, I have to do a rather lengthy series of stretches three times every day to get my legs back into shape. But I will obviously do whatever I need to do. This is too important.

So, let me just say that, if there are any physical therapists on the board, you people are the coolest.

2

FWIW, I had the same thing start up when I was in college during the, oh, say, first Jefferson administration. My brother, the Sports Med M.D., diagnosed it as chondral malacia. It’s the slight roughening of the cartilage under the patella. Sounds like hell, but fairly benign.

At the time I was into recreational gymnastics and diving so the whole muscular imbalance you describe rings a bell of familiarity.

As an aside, how do Docs describe their knowledge of an ailment with patinets?
If the Doc has seen one other patient:
In my experience…
If the Doc has seen two other patients:
In the cases I have seen…
If the Doc has seen three other patients:
In case after case after case…

Good luck

3

It’s funny how the cause of my knee problems aren’t really located around the knee. I’d have never thought to look elsewhere. I figured that losing some weight and doing some leg presses and extensions would be enough. Silly me; I’m not qualified.