Hello...
To treat chondromalacia, you must know why the patella ( bowl shaped bone on the knee joint )is going into maltracking. It is mostly because of weakness of VMO muscle and super tightness of other 3 quadriceps muscles and tight IT band.
This diffrence in muscle power causes the patella to shift towards the 'stronger' side.
Normally , when you do leg workout exercises like squats & it's variations, the VMO gets barely 5% effect of the exercise and the rest 95% is share by the other 3 quad muscles.Since the other 3 muscles are getting strengthened more, the patella is pulled more towards the stronger side. So you have to specifically strengthen only VMO while maintaining / reducing the strength of the other 3 quad muscles. This will create a harmony in the power difference in the knee joint and the patella will be centralised during activity. This will stop the pain.
Next Steps
Visit a physiotherapist asap.
The physiotherapist will give you some electrotherapy to manage your swelling & pain. Once that goes down, the physio will do knee taping to support the patella to be centralised and teach you VMO muscle strengthening and it band release exercises.
Health Tips
Avoid: stair climbing, floor sitting, use of Indian toilet , long standing and doing leg workout in the gym for 3 months or till your physio permits.