I have had knee pain and swelling from chondromalacia patella for the last 10 years. I have been getting cortisone shots to deal with the pain. My orthopedic surgeon talks about doing a knee cap replacement but I'm reluctant to do something that drastic. I have tried the Gel-One shot with minimum relief.

My chondromalacia patella is, I think, the result of a fall where my full body weight came down on both knees. My left knee is/was most injured. Almost an entire year passed before I sought medical help and an MRI was performed and chondromalacia was diagnosed. I want to avoid surgery and I prefer conservative treatment measures. I hope that proper exercise will help.