Okay, so when I was quite young, around 12, I dislocated one of my knees. Now, 7 years later I have dislocated both of my knees probably 2 on one side and like 6 on the other. I have been wearing knee braces constantly out of fear since the pain is so bad when it happens. It has also dislocated with a knee brace on. So obviously it doesn't provide enough. Do you think that I would do the surgery to fix the problem. I have done PT, and have had a personal trainer and whatnot to put muscle on my legs. I also have pretty bad arthritis in them. Seems like my patella's are very loose and unstable. I also can't keep my legs crossed for a very long time before they start to ache severely and get really stiff. Anyone else have this problem, and did you have to have surgery to fix it? Has it happened anymore? Thanks.
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Surgery on my knees from dislocation?
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Posted 2 years ago #
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my friend who i played volleyball with dislocated her patella while playing. She had a lateral release done (surgery) but has still had some problems with it and has to get surgery again. I would see if you can get an appointment with an orthopedic surgeon and discuss your options with them.
Posted 2 years ago # -
I have had the same problem for years. Medically it is called a subluxing patella. What happens is there is a tendon that holds your patella (knee cap) in place and allows it to only slide north and south when your knee bends. Your injuries have caused the tendon to stretch, and lose its ability to properly hold your patella in place.
Normal PT without surgery focuses on building up your front 2 quads to hold the knee cap in place. It works, just not as effectively as a good tendon. Surgery will consist of going in an cutting the tendon shorter making it more taught.
Best advice: If you plan on continuing to play sports, have the surgery. If not, continued PT and muscle building will suffice.
Since my sporting career ended after high school, I chose no surgery. Good luck… Its painful as hell when it slips out huh?
Posted 2 years ago # -
Hi, I hope I can be of some help! If you mean that you are really dislocating your knees (shift in lower leg bones compared to femur and this is quite rare), then my answer will not help, but since you said your patellas are unstable, I think you mean you dislocate your kneecaps.
First, I will tell you my story. I'm 16 year old female and I dislocated my left patella the first time this summer while running down a hill. I had a MRI which revealed contusions on my patella and femur (consistent with dislocations) and I had a slight fracture in my femur (visible on xrays) from my patella hitting the femur on its way out or back in. I ended up spending 3-4 weeks on crutches and in an immobilizer. After that, I was released to start physical therapy to regain motion, strength, and stability in my knee. The orthopedic surgeon who I was being treated by told me that there is a 1/3 chance of it happening all over again and that if I have problems a year down the road, I may need a surgery called a lateral release.
Well, I started physical therapy in August and was also wearing a patella stabilizing brace (DonJoy lateral J brace supplied to me by my orthopedic). By November, I was still in physical therapy, I couldn't run or anything more than that, pain was daily, and my kneecap continued to maltrack. I was still wearing my brace because if I didn't, my knee would begin to hurt a lot more and would give me stability problems (feel like its going to go sometimes if I just stepped wrong) plus, I didn't want to risk another dislocation. So, I went back to the orthopedic surgeon for a follow-up and when the physical therapist stated there was nothing more they could do, I had surgery in December. My official diagnosis was patella instability. I had lateral release and medial reefing to get my kneecap back into the groove (it was tilted and tracked way off to the side). I also had my plica removed because it was irritated and inflamed. Also, as a result, I had cartilage damage (kind of like arthritis) on the back of my kneecap from it rubbing against my femur instead of being in the groove. The surgeon left this alone though saying since my patella was back in the groove it shouldn't rub on the damaged part of my kneecap.
My symptoms prior to surgery included the dislocation of the patella, some grinding, lateral tracking, titled patella, ache in knee after sitting for a while, stairs were harder, and running was out of the question. In physical therapy, I focused strengthening my VMO and had stim on it to get it to strengthen the pull on my kneecap. I also did bracing and taping but I was still having symptoms. Usually, they want you to exhaust all conservative treatment for months before getting surgery; I, however, unable to run for 5 months, and still experiencing daily symptoms, got surgery within 5 months of my first dislocation.
I think a lot of people get better with physical therapy and that is why the dr had me try it for so long. You should see an orthopedic surgeon for a full evaluation including xrays and MRI. Xrays can show if you are naturally prone to dislocate due to your bony structure (laterally displaced tibia turbecule, shallow grooves, or malshaped patella). I have really shallow grooves for my kneecaps which makes it easier to dislocate and this could be seen on xrays. I'm also female and we are slightly more prone to dislocate due to our hip alignment. Other factors are how you walk (overpronate or rotate your leg out) and if you have flat feet, really wide hips, or misaligned knees. Also, tightness of the lateral tissues and laxation of the medial restraints on the patella could lead to patella instability.
I am now 11 weeks post-op and am still having the same amount of pain and problems with my knee, but in the long run, I'm hoping it will be better. Surgery is traumatizing to the knee.I was on crutches for 2.5 weeks and I had to spend 5 weeks in a full knee immobilizer before I could start physical therapy again. I lost a lot of muscle and now my knee shakes with exercise and feels like its going to give sometimes but I've been in a knee brace since getting out my immobilizer. Physical therapy is very painful and I have to take a pain pill to get through it. I am also on a NSAID drug to control swelling and had to get my knee drained and a cortisone injection 9 weeks after surgery. I can bend my knee 90 degrees and am still working on getting full flexion. Surgeon told me it would take at least 3 months before my knee felt good and 6 before gym, etc. However, I don't think many people have as much problems as I am at this point in recovery. I have a friend who had it and is doing quite well. My pt thinks my nerves are sending my pain signals then they should and that my joint is still inflamed. I haven't had it dislocate or pop out again but I haven't done activity that would really cause it as I'm still focusing on perfecting my walking gait.
Surgeon told me that for me
Posted 2 years ago #
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