Which quadriceps exercise is most helpful to correct maltracking?

[Lanterne Rouge]

I already post it on my previous message. Don't you see it?

[Lottiefox]

Don't just focus on quad exercises if you have kneecaps that are not happy or possibly not aligned properly. Incorporate glute work to ensure the butt is doing what it should and helping your knees work properly. Glute bridges, standing or lying side leg lifts, clam shells, mini squats with resistance band around a stable base...all of these are less stressful on an inflamed knee joint but helped me regain knee function 5 years ago - and my kneecaps are Grade 3-4 - pretty much shot to pieces. I don't lunge (not great for misaligned kneecaps until yo have great glute control and someone watching your form) and I do some squats but not deep, not heavy and usually with w wider leg sumo stance to fire up the inner thigh muscles and help the knee load.

[papasmurf1978]

let me post more precise pictures

this is left

[papasmurf1978]

this is right

[Lanterne Rouge]

Lottiefox,

I know glutes are playing a big role here and I am already doing side lying leg lifts everyday for two months or so but I can't tolerate any kind of squats as mentioned earlier. Thanks for your comments.

[Lanterne Rouge]

Papa, I have no skill to comment on MRI images. I can only compare yours to mine but IMHO your kneecaps seem to sit in the femoral groove correctly.

[papasmurf1978]

Thanks Cycling_Freak, looking at yours, there is in my opinion a tilt to the left. Do you feel like there's bone rubbing when you walk or bend your knee? Do you have any pain in the tendon convering lateral patella side? I do, it's like irritated.

[Lanterne Rouge]

It is tilted to the right, as I said it is a mirrored image. I don't feel the rubbing when I am walking or cycling but when I hold my kneecaps with my palms and bend my knees slowly and straighten, I can feel it is rubbing hard. I have pain all over the area above and sides of the patella. Sometimes medial side, sometimes lateral side. Sometimes it is like bony ache, sometimes like tissue damage and tenderness, inflammation, swelling.

[papasmurf1978]

Hi Lanterne Rouge,

cool new name. I also have the body pain you desribe on the upper corner of the lateral side of patella. Sometimes when I stand I have pain in the tendon there I think cause it's sensitive to touch and it hurts. When I bend my knees, I don't really fell it rub but I get the snapping feeling it's like the tendon snaps once everytime I bend the knee. I have CP in both knees and the right one is the troublesome, the left one is behaving very well.

By the way, have you read my articles posted about Chondrofiller and Agili C?

[Lanterne Rouge]

Yes, I read them but it is too hard to acess that kind of new treatment options. It is either too costly or not available at all. I can only consider PRP or hyralunoic acid injections.

[papasmurf1978]

by the way, are you able to stretch your quads without pain? I read that one of culpits for patella tilt is lateral patellar retinaculum tendon. When it gets tight it pulls the patella outward thus tilting it. What I do is pull my leg back to my heel touches my ass and hold the stretch for 60 seconds. Even though the quad is being stretched, that patellar retinaculum tendon also gets nice stretch. Also I foam roll my legs religiously.

[papasmurf1978]

Also my PT said that my pelvic is not properly aligned.

Check out this video. I'm doing it to realign my pelvic and fix my posture:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qOg0YTSpQI4

[Lanterne Rouge]

Yes, it is either that or weakness on the medial side. I have been cycling a lot and medial side doesn't work much in cycling. I should give more importance to VMO strengthenin exercises maybe but I read some publications it is impossible to work VMO alone. Those ball squeezing exercises do seem to aim VMO but VML is activated as much I think. You feel it on VMO more because it is the weaker side.

Quadriceps stretching doesn't give me a lot of pain but I feel a discomfort in my knee joint while doing them and I have some ROM loss on flexion. I can't get my heels up to my butt fully. There is some resistance on the final few degrees. Maybe it is because of tightness. Maybe because of my minor meniscus tear/degenaration on right knee.

Be careful with stretchings. Are you warming up beforehand?   

[papasmurf1978]

i'm not really warming up, just stretching the quads. Why should I?

[Lanterne Rouge]

Also my PT said that my pelvic is not properly aligned.

Check out this video. I'm doing it to realign my pelvic and fix my posture:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qOg0YTSpQI4

I don't know if I have a pelvic alignment problem. How did he test you for that? I am sitting a lot in the office for 5 days a week so I might have some issues like that.