Have had severe chondromalacia patella for 3+ yrs. tried physio, stretches everything. nothing has helped keeps getting worse. what now?

?knee arthroscopy: Chondromalacia of the patella w/o instability is a very difficult problem to "cure" for an orthopedic surgeon.Quad strengthening/hamstring stretching u have tried.Have u had an mri?If your kneecap is maltracking on your femur and you have grade 3 chondromalacia on MRI w/crepitus on exam and lat. Retinacular 'tightness' a knee scope w chondroplasty and lateral release may help.See your ors.Gl!

Orthopedist eval: Time to see your ortho doc. Assuming your patella is stable, may need an MRI to eval state of the cartilage. I often time see young women with patellar "tilt" and overload of the outer half of the knee cap. This may respond to a lateral release that can be done thru the scope.