Need Home Exercise

[valjetlag]

I have chondromalacia patella on my left knee and cannot afford physical therapy. Is there anything I can do at home to strengthen the muscles/ I also have a popliteal cysts behind the knee which I understand is just filled with flood and is benign. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

[Scotch]

Well...first off, how old are you?
Many times when females are diagnosed with chodromalacia of their kneecaps it is before they're in thier twenties and if thats the case you will eventually "grow out of it" so to speak. The area underneath the kneecap will eventually become more and more hardened. Since this is not a true degenerative/arthritic disorder, your patella probably won't loose any mass in the long run and the pain should go away when the kneecap hardens.(most likely before your 25)

When I was 16 I was diagnosed with it in both kneecaps. I don't remember exactly when it went away, probably when I turned 19 or 20.

Stay away from doing squats, if you really want to do those or lunges then be real careful not to bend your knee past where your feet are planted on the ground. Running or being on my feet for hours and hours usually caused alot of pain and swelling. I've always been in shape so I didn't want to stop working out so I found low intensity workouts were alot easier to handle. Yoga and Pilates as well as swimming or other exercises in water helped.

My biggest suggestion would be to regularly take an anti-inflammatory like Bayer to keep swelling to a minimal and help with the pain. Ice packs help also.
A few people suggested I take Shark Cartilidge and an Omega-3 supplement

[valjetlag]

Thanks for responding to my post. I am no where near the 20's and the patella is thinning from wear and tear. All my life I did a lot of walking and still do. Jogging, lots of vigorious sports, so this stems from sports. I read up and saw where I need to strengthen my quads so I think I may have at least part of the answer. As far as the cyst goes, I don't need to do nothing unless it gets so large where I cannot stand it. Surgery is out of the question from reading about the C. Patella. But thanks.