my knee hurts.

I was afraid it was arthritis but the X-ray showed a calcium deposit on my knee cap which seems to be interfering with some muscles. It hurts to straighten my leg all the way after sitting with my leg bent, like when driving a bus all day. Once I get moving it's not too bad. It hasn't affected my skiing nearly as much as the damn weather. It feels ok when skiing and doesn't really bother me til the next morning. I need to call the doc to get the official word and then see what to do about it.
So far, IB and ice.

Well your situation sounds a lot like patello-femoral tracking syndrome, but not exactly. PFTS is caused by many thing but ends up causing pain under the patella, pain and burning sensation while sitting for long periods of time and eventually causes pain with activity.

Like I said while you problem may not be related to the tracking of your patella, you do have some similar symptoms. So the treatment might also be similar.

A major cause of PFTS is tightness of the hamstrings. So. begin by stretching the hamstrings 2-3x/day.

Also stretch the muscles surrounding the hip. Such as the Gluteus medius and minimus. You might need to google some of these or find a PT or ATC to show you how.

For good measure stretch the quads and calves as well.

So for now until you get an official word from you doc you can start by doing these.

Noe don't expect these to be a magic wand and eliminate your pain in a day. It will take weeks to increse flexibility enough to have any effect on this problem. Just stick with it. I usually tell people with PFTS that as slow as this developed it will go away even slower.

As far as heat or ice goes. Ice after activity. But if you are just sitting around after work or whatever, try using a heat pack on the knees or hamstrings before stretching. The IB is fine but remember it is only covering up the problem and not fixing it.

Also occasionally with PFTS neoprene sleeves/braces can have some limited positive effects on pain and function during acticvity. Ask you ATC or PT about them.

Good luck

Thanks Vinman, I appreciate the advice.

The word from the doc after he looked at the X-rays is mild medial joint changes, narrowing of the joint space and calcium deposits all suggesting arthritis. I'm going in to see him tomorrow and will try to work out some course of action. I'll also mention the PFTS.
Isn't aging fun?
Almost forgot, what is ATC?

Hmm, I've just started getting similiar pain to what has been described here in my reconstructed ACL knee. Hope this isn't the start of some chronic problem...

Well arthritis is not exactly PFTS bu the stretching will do you some good.

ATC = certified athletic trainer