Rapid Rehab LA Pilates Based Physical Therapy Brentwood California

Chrondomalacia is an injury that affects the kneecap. It is an injury that is most commonly developed due to muscle weakness in and around the kneecap, as in weak hamstrings or quadriceps, a hard fall, or due to overuse, however depending on the age and specifics of the injury such causes can widely vary. For the younger sufferer, which is also the most common, overuse or a fall may be the likely culprit.

For the older demographic sometimes arthritis of the knee, or the simple matter of the aging process can play into the development of Chrondomalacia. Chrondomalacia can be described as “damage” to the articular cartilage of the kneecap, which is located behind the knee.

The cartilage that is underneath the kneecap is the working connector between the femur and the knee, which enables smooth flex between the two bones. If this cartilage is in working order, a certain “slickness” will be felt when the body flexes the knee.

If Chrondomalacia is a factor, there will be a rough response, which will result in agitation. Such a simple movement as flexing the knee, walking, running, and/or going up or down stairs etc., will be met with unduly friction between the bones and will cause minimal to monumental levels of pain, depending on the consistency of daily movement and the enduring nature of the condition.

While self-diagnosis is never recommended when suffering any kind of pain, symptoms of Chrondomalacia may help in pinpointing the condition, if you have assumptions that you may be suffering from it, or a physician has confirmed it.

Walking down the stairs will be one of the biggest determining factors of Chrondomalacia condition. A deadening pain will be felt from behind the knee, when doing so as well as getting up from a seated, cross-legged position, or climbing a flight of stairs, sidewalk, or walking on any steeply graded surface.

For those that are involved in an active lifestyle, you may want to consider discontinuing the sport until you can begin a rehabilitation program. This condition is most common in soccer players, bicyclists, runners (both long distance and sprinters), and in downhill skiers.

When searching for treatment most Chrondomalacia sufferers will be told to seek out low impact exercises that will prohibit further strain on the knees. Pilates rehabilitation is a great fit for those that suffer from this condition because it will strengthen the injured area as well as the surrounding muscles, all the while gently stretching and building up the muscles that can protect the damaged cartilage from further harm.

When choosing a Pilates rehabilitation instructor to help you with this condition, it is best to choose someone familiar with Chrondomalacia. While Pilates is an excellent form of gentle rehabilitation methods, it also has quite a bit of poses and positions that use the knees as the baseline for the body.

Someone who is familiar and well versed with Chrondomalacia will know that this is not an option for you, and will develop an effective Pilates Chrondomalacia rehabilitation program that can still strengthen the knees, through a series of Pilates work without putting added, and potentially dangerous stress on them.

Pilates Physical Therapy Los Angeles

For initial relief from a knee injury the best approach is what physical therapists and physicians refer to as R.I.C.E. This stands for rest, ice, compression, and elevation. Inflammation will be the first symptom of the injury that will need to be treated. Rest is also a bid factor in knee injury recovery.

Depending on the severity of the injury sometimes crutches may be needed, but trying to use the knee a lot less, especially in rigorous activity, will be of great importance in the healing process.

Physical therapy is also a great pairing in the recovery process with R.I.C.E. Having programs designed to improve the condition, with the focus being on active recovery, greatly benefits those will knee injuries in the long run. When the knee is prompted to engage in safe yet effective exercises it will be able to acclimate to normal activity much faster and with more ease than just rest alone can give. The goal of physical therapy is to reintroduce a person to their previous active lifestyle, without the injury continuing to get worse, or never fully healing.

Pillates-based rehab has also had much success as an added step in the process of healing knee injuries. Because of its gentle approach to healing, Pilates-based rehab allows for the entire body to be active while a patient may still be in recovery.

Muscular imbalances are one of the leading causes of knee injuries, and Pilates aims to retrain the body’s functionality to work as one cohesive unit. This provides an avenue for not only the injury to improve but also drastic improvements will be made in postural habits, quality of movement, mind-body connection, and core strength.

When it comes to specific conditions like Chrondomalcia, physical therapy and Pilates act as viable treatment options as well.

Physicians will often recommend low impact activity, such a cycling, swimming, walking, and Pilates and yoga. Surgery is of course an option, but if a holistic approach is preferred, since may patients wish to forego the invasiveness of a procedure these low-impact exercises will help improve the condition without surgery.

For torn ligaments such as the ACL, PCL, and LCL it is important to strengthen the muscles surrounding the injury. Since rigorous or weight bearing activity is strictly discouraged, it can be somewhat challenging to improve strength surrounding the injury without furthering the damage in the area of concern.

With the exercises and modalities that physical therapy and Pilates based rehab offer, a client can heal the injury and increase the overall health of their body at the same time. While the exercises, poses, and movements in Pilates and physical therapy are challenging to the body and build strength, they avoid the risk that more conventional forms of exercise and training may impose.

There are many causes of knee injuries, but proper alignment, heightened body awareness and core strengthening when balanced with low impact cardio, will result in a lower chance of a knee injury in an individual.