Does anyone else suffer from Patellofemeral syndrome?

In short, both my knees CRUNCH whenever I bend them or go up or down the stairs - it's so gross. The crunching doesn't necessarily hurt, but I also get jarring sharp pains every now and again (typically when I'm walking, pivoting, or going down stairs) and I CAN NOT do that machine where you're sitting and your legs are bent and you have a weight ontop of your ankles/feet and you raise your legs until they're straight with your hips - that KILLS me.

However, my doctor told me that the only thing I can do is strengthen my quads by doing things like squats. Thing is, squats kind of freak me out because you can hear my knees crunch and I experience slight pain when I do them - i'm afraid they'll get more damaged.

Does anyone have experience with this? Do you find squats helped? What other exercises do you do for your patellofemeral syndrome?

My daughter has this. Her doctor recommended doing leg extensions to strengthen the quad, start with this simpler exercise then work yourself up to doing squats and lunges...

I have this and also ITBS. I did PT for a while and then I maintained my results with dry needling. Similar to acupuncture but it's a western version practiced in the medical field. It gives me immediate relief and I still do strengthening and stretching.

My strength exercises for it consist if clamshells, squats, bridges, leg lifts.

If leg extensions kill you, I wouldn't do them. If your doctor recommended squats and the don't cause pain give them a try. I would start with just squatting without any additional weight. I've had knee issues all my life (Oshgood Schlatter's) and when I began exercising I started by doing squats with my body weight only. I also wear a brace on my left knee which is worse. If you go to a gym, maybe as one of the personal trainers what they would recommend to build up that muscle, but let them know that leg extensions are out of the question.

I have this in both of my knees (since I was 18). One was worse that the other. Did physical therapy back then. I actually had a brace I used which worked awesome. it had a piece that velcro'd to the knee brace with a triange shapped pad and then wrapped around the knee to support the patella. wish i still had it! lol

I have this & now I am 56 & have patellafemoral arthritis (severe) I had orthroscopic surgery on my left knee in Dec. I had a Bakers cyst the size of a baseball and it was setting on nerves (sciatica) My ortho had MRI's of both knees and they both had Bakers cysts, torn meniscus and the knee cap sat on the patella. I was always athletic, but it has caught up with me. My ortho said I need "partial" replacements on both knees. I wanted to put it off, so he went in and cleaned up my knee and meniscus tear, he also smoothed the top of my femur. The knee is not perfect, but is much better. I do leg lifts every morning, I now use weights, I don't do squats anymore, but do "squat" with my back against the wall and slide down. I am building the muscle in both legs, so that surgery will be put off for awhile. I know it will only get me a couple of years, but the more muscle you have before the surgery, the quicker you recover.

Leg lifts laying on my back with weight
Leg lifts laying on my side with weights
walking
stretch with bands, then Ice if knees are irritated.

Bellamack- It's great that you are doing what you can to prolong the time you have before getting the partial replacements. My mom had to get both of her knees completely replaced. I pray I can do all I can to avoid having the same issues.

Support braces are awesome and help with the pain as well. I have this as well in my right knee which gets ALL pissed off and occasionally buckles out on me if I let it stay pissed for too long. I hate lunges and squats, but doing them in BodyPump (with body weight only for lunges) has reduced the amount of pain I get with bending. And they crunch... I'm only 27 but I creak and pop.

I will second that building as much strength as possible before having a replacement is essential, as is compliance with PT afterwards... (ortho nurse here...) The better base you have, the better you recover.

Start slow, don't over-do it, and build with time is the best I can offer for squats/lunges... don't let the creak bother you as long as there's no pain and don't push past the pain point...

My knees go wet-crunch, my back goes crack, and my shoulders go click. But none of them hurt yet, so I'm not worrying about it.

In addition to lunges (as has already been recommended), step-ups are great for quad work, or split squats if you're looking to also hit some stabilizers. There are several alternative to squats or leg presses, if those movements hurt.

I've read that some knee issues are actually caused by quad dominance though (ie. they are too strong in relation to other lower body musculature). Many of us are not balanced in our posterior chain (glutes/erector spinae/hamstrings/etc.) because of how much we sit. I'm not a physio or anything (it might be worth speaking to one though!), but you might also do well to add in some hip dominant movements in addition to the targeted quad work (eg. hip thrusts + bridges, seated band abduction, deadlifts, KB swings, etc.). Just a thought.

Best of luck!

Your knees are held together by thigh muscles both front and back. If squats are bothering you, sit on the bench, weights on your ankles and it's up and down. Then lay on the bench, stomach down and work the back of your thighs.

I never got into squats, I assume they're for gaining muscle in the thighs, but there are definitely other ways to do it, without putting so much pressure on your knees.