Patella femoral syndrome HELP!

I'm 16 and for the last 6 weeks I have been unable to ride because of knee problems Prior to this i started having pain while training for a race especially when standing and on hills. I have tried to be easy with my knees with always staying over 90rpms but have slacked off on stretching and wasnt careful about rapidly increasing mileage.

My physical therapist diagnosed me with patella femoral syndrome. Simply put my patella isnt tracking the way its supposed to. She said i was stiff as a board and my muscles are putting too much strain on my knee joint. Well after 2 weeks of long stretching exercises I can easily touch my toes which before was nearly impossible. Also the pt worked on strengthening the VMO muscles. My symtoms are much less with knee taping but without tape there isnt much of an improvement than 6 weeks ago. The only good news is that the oropedic surgeon said the X-ray of my knees look normal.

Has anyone had experience with patella femoral syndrome? It is soo frustrating when your dying to ride but cant. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

This can be a frustrating condition. My personal experience is that it is over-diagnosed and treated in a cookie cutter fashion, DON'T READ INTO THAT THIS IS YOUR SITUATION, but everyone with a knee problem that doesn't need surgery has patellofemoral pain syndrome and needs to strengthen their VMO. Sounds like you have made some nice flexability and strength gains without any change in symptomatology.

My advise is to keep stretching and work on your strength. Make sure you are properly fit for your bike as this will be the ultimate limiting factor on recovery. Make sure you are getting plenty of protein in your diet. If you weren't 16, I would recommend more supplements to aid the recovery process. Try to avoid, if you are using them, NSAID's as much as possible. ONly use if you really need them for discomfort as they actually delay healing and can cause decreased muscle strength.

Lastly, get another opinion from someone who really knows biomechanics, i.e. maybe you need to work on strengthening the muscles in a more functional way. The PT's that worked in my clinic were far superior to most PT's I had worked with in the past, point being, not all are created equal. Give it some time and GOOD LUCK.