Cartilage damage

Written by Dr Sheila Strover on March 14, 2025

Cartilage damage may include softening of the shiny white gristle covering the ends of a joint or it may progress to total destruction and leave the end of the bone bare.

Grade 1 cartilage damage

Early softening of the joint cartilage of the femur - see the dimpling by the probe - is called chondromalacia.

grade 4 cartilage damage

Fibrillar wear of the articular cartilage. The yellowish bone is showing through on the top of the tibia.

Nomenclature

This is not the same as meniscus damage - people sometimes get confused because sportspeople talk of their 'cartilages' when actually they mean 'meniscus'.

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