Chondromalacia patella is such a vague diagnosis they just had to give it a fancy name
And strengthening the VMO seems to be the go-to rx for pt's.
What does the orthopaedist want to do? Does he suspect tracking issues?Remove and scrape the patella? Eeeesh.
Scope just to see? not so eeesh
Does he need a new boat?
Have you had an MRI?
Have you done a lot (a lot) of research?