Patellofemoral Pain
- PFP is pain in the front of the knee.
- Symptoms include pain under the kneecap or to the side of it, potential "grinding" noises with bending the knee
- It frequently occurs in teenagers, manual laborers, and athletes (especially runners). It sometimes is caused by wearing down, roughening, or softening of the cartilage under the kneecap
- Prevention includes lower extremity stretching and strengthening, wearing proper footwear during running, proper warm-up/cool-down techniques
- Home treatment includes "shutting it down" (aka avoiding the aggravating activity), cross training, icing, self-massage, anti-inflammatories
- If no better after 4-6 weeks of home treatment (see above), it may be time to see a physician
- Success rate is usually good. However, recovery time depends on the person: how they heal, how compliant they are with rehabbing the injury, and how long the injury has been going on overall
For more information or questions, contact:
Meghan Taff
PRORehab