How to get rid of knee pain that affects daily activities in a gymnast?

Hello,

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Thank you for your query. Your knee pain could be due to various reasons but common ones especially considering your activity levels and description of pain are chondromalacia, pain due to knee instability, inflammation, etc. Chondromalacia is a clinical condition in which there is softening of the cartilage under the knee cap or patella due to which one experiences severe anterior knee pain. If there is no history of any injury and no signs of inflammation or infection like swelling, skin redness, or local warmth on touching, I would like to advise you on conservative management initially in form of the following steps:

1. You can do intensive physical therapy with a focus on strengthening of quadriceps and stretching other groups of muscles.
2. You can do activity modification till your knee pain subsides.
3. You can have mild anti-inflammatory medications like tablet Ibuprofen or tablet Paracetamol for five to seven days usually help in such cases.
4. You can take adequate calcium and vitamin D supplementation as per requirement.
5. You can use ice packs at home three to four times a day and see how it goes for around two weeks. If your condition does not improve, then we will have to get certain investigations done.

In any case, kindly send me your clinical pictures of the affected knee, X-rays, or MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) if you have taken them so that we can see the cartilage integrity as well as other soft tissue structures. Also kindly mention whether there is only one or both knees which are involved. Kindly consult a specialist, talk to them, and take medications with their consent. I hope this has helped you.

Thank you.