What exactly is Chase Utley's Chondromalacia?

What the heck is Chondromalacia?

Even after Chase Utley's press conference yesterday, just about all we know is that Utley claims he has Chondromalacia.  I am no doctor, but I did some snooping online and here is what I found.

Utley suffers from a knee condition called Chondromalacia patellae (or patella, not sure which), also called Patellofemoral Syndrome.  Chondromalacia is due to an irritation of the undersurface of the kneecap. The undersurface of the kneecap, or patella, is covered with a layer of smooth cartilage, which should glide effortlessly across the knee during bending of the joint. In Utley’s case, the kneecap tends to rub against one side of the knee joint, and the cartilage surface becomes irritated.  Chondromalacia patella is one of the most common causes of knee pain, especially in women.

As we’ve seen with Utley, there are a ton of treatment options including physical therapy and surgery.  Allowing the inflammation of chondromalacia to settle is the first step of treatment before gradually returning to physical activities.  It seems clear that was how the Phillies and Chase handled it from the beginning, but after that, there doesn’t seem to be a definitive answer on how to approach it.  Maybe over the next few weeks/ months, we can figure it out for ourselves.