Has anyone else ever dislocated their knee cap?

[Writer]

I dislocated mine a couple of weeks ago. I still don't have full mobility and it isn't locking in place so that I can walk normally. I'm still limping quite a bit.

I am going to see an ortho next week, and I'm sure he'll recommend what I should do.

I met a guy last week who said this happens to him REGULARLY. He had just dislocated his knee cap for the 5th time in his 40-50 years the week prior.

I don't want this to happen again! I am so sad because I was literally going out the weekend after to purchase a new road bike so I could start triathlon training. Now I feel like I won't be able to run or bike ever again with fear that it simply won't work correctly and might dislocate again.

Has anyone else done this? How was your treatment? Are you active now?

[bridgit]

1. yes, both of them, and it ended my dancing career...

such as it was ;( active now, treatment was slow and arduous

[Writer]

2. Oh no!

I'm so sorry to hear about that.

Well, I perhaps that's the reality I have to deal with. :(

[bridgit]

3. well, it's just that knees support so much activity...

we never really think about it until they get tweaked that is true enough :hug:

[DS1]

4. Yes

and I've had occasional problems with stepping at an odd angle and having it briefly pop in and out of alignment, which hurts like hell and is sore for hours.

Then I started riding a bike, and it made my knees incredibly strong. So get on your bike.

[Writer]

6. Yes. I rode a bike and did weights until grad school.

Then time became limited so I switched to yoga once a week.

Have you had surgery?

[DS1]

8. no surgery

no therapy outside of crutches for 2 weeks after accident

[Writer]

11. Wow. I tried crutches for 2 days.

And that was all I could take. The swelling had reduced enough that I could hobble in my brace, albeit it's still a pain in the butt to move around.

[DS1]

13. I should, in all fairness, point out a few things

I was very drunk when it happened. It popped back into place before the ambulance, even though at the time it was 90 degrees outboard on my left leg. I was around 20 when it happpened, and in Marine physical conditioning. So yeah, I snapped back *pun twistedly intended* *pun within pun intended* *you can stop groaning now* pretty quick.

[Writer]

16. Ack! Sounds familiar.

Mine snapped back, too. I'd like to attribute that to the yoga, but I felt grateful that it did go back.

I am 30 years-old. An older, very athletic friend of mine told me that it's Father Time catching up with me... :eyes:

[Reverend_Smitty]

5. One of the athletes I am treating has a dislocated patella

not a fun injury to rehab. Basically you have to wait for the inflammation to go down and strengthen the hell out of your quads. Those are the muscles responsible for keeping it in place...especially the vastus medialis oblique (VMO) that atrophies very quickly and I'll bet if you put your two legs together and look at the muscle on the inside of your thigh you will be able to see the atrophy already.

[Writer]

7. Did your athlete have surgery?

Looking head on at my knees, one is locking just fine, but the injured knee appears to have a "collar" around it... I don't know if it's swelling, especially after two weeks, but I'm thinking the cap itself may not be where it should be.

I'm willing to work at it, but I don't know if I can bike, run, and swim.

[Reverend_Smitty]

9. he didn't have surgery

I guess it was more of a subluxation in his case because he didn't need to get it reduced. You probably had a subluxation too because if it was still out of place you would be in agony right now. But I'm thinking he did it around 2-3 weeks ago and he's still pretty swollen. We have him on a lot of open chain exercises (non-weight bearing)to keep his quad strength and regain range of motion. Quad sets (contracting and relaxing your quads), heel slides (sliding your heels back until your knee is in flexion) even trying flexion/extension or walking in the pool would be beneficial. You could google some basic knee exercises and of course your ortho should get you in touch with a physical therapist because it's not a good injury to rehab alone.

[Writer]

10. Thanks, Rev!

:) (Are you really a rev?)

[Reverend_Smitty]

12. no problem

I'm a reverend in so much that I went to a website that will ordain people (for real) however I don't perform any religious duties

[hippiechick]

14. Maybe ? Last weekend ...

... I took a tremendous digger off my bike and landed on my left knee. Swelled up like a monster but it's also so lacerated I can't tell if the pain is internal or external at this point, and walking is still difficult.

Contemplating x-rays. :(

[Writer]

18. Ouch! That sounds painful.

Here's my experience with kneecap dislocation.

SNAP!

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!

(now on butt) Wait - that's not right! (ENORMOUS pain accompanied by the gruesome sight of your kneecap being on the side of your knee and your calf hanging limply on the ground)

(grab knee - knee rights itself) Ahhhhh!

Panting. A bit of nausea. A minute or so to recollect myself.


THE END.

[hippiechick]

19. ugh

... i think you got me on this one. :puke:

[Missy Vixen]

15. I have

I was innertubing on solid ice at a skiing area. Some guy crashed into me as I bent over to pull my innertube off the track. :scared: I went to physical therapy for awhile. This happened over 20 years ago, but I still am extra-careful with that knee.

I'm not as active as I once was, but you should feel better after PT and the swelling goes down. It might take awhile, though.

Julie

[Writer]

17. If you wanted, would you get active again? n/t

[Missy Vixen]

21. Yeah

During that period of my life, I didn't own a car, so I walked just about everywhere. The best part about the walking is that it was very low impact and didn't cause problems with my knee. I just started at the gym again, and I don't have as much of a problem with the knee as an aching lower back ;-). I wonder if I am getting arthritis in the knee; it's stiff when it's cold and rainy. Then again, I'm getting older, too.

I hope that your knee heals with no further problems, and that you're able to resume the activities you enjoy.

Julie

[doc03]

20. Yes twice once 42 years ago when I was 15

it hurt like hell took weeks to get back to normal. Then in 1968 when 20 I was called up for the draft I gave the medical examiner a letter from my doctor and he threw it in the trash. I guess a bad knee didn't matter during Vietnam. I dislocated it again while in the Army and reset it myself (I was so drunk I didn't feel a thing). I always had to be careful on it especially if on ice, then about 8 years ago I started exercising regularly and riding a bike and haven't had any problems since.