The patello-femoral joint :

Patella dislocation - - Posted by footie_holz (footie_holz), 15 January 2005

in november i dislocated my knee cap playing football. i was running and although no contact was made by a player i fell over (i think i fell into a pothole or something) i dislocated my right knee cap and then popped it back in again wen i landed on the ground and i was in alot of pain. I went to hospital who gave me an x-ray and said i had dislocated my patella. After a few weeks pain my physio started and i thought i was doing quite well until in december i slipped over whilst doing a little bit of walking and re-dislocated it again, another trip up the hospital and an x-ray confirmed i had re-dislocated it...by this time i was quite upset as i thought i was doing well at my physio. I was determind to stick with it though and was determind to get back to full health so i could play sports once again. Things were going great and i was slowly getting back on track when on wednesday i bent down to pick up a tennis ball for my friend (i wasnt playing) when i re-dislocated it AGAIN...by this time i was used to the pain and very angry as i had worked well with my physio and the whole lot seemed so pointless as i was back to stage 1...i dont no what to do now as i have a physio appointment on tues and i want to be refered to a specialist...my knee never has been back to normal...any advice? cheers
Posted by PattiAnn237 (PattiAnn237), 15 January 2005

Although I have never had any dislocations myself, I do know from reading posts here, that when you have dislocations, and PT doesn't work, there are surgical options.  However, you definitly have to see a specialist first who will look at you case specifically and let you know your options.

Do you wear a brace at all, this may help in the meantime.

Good luck and take care, ~Patti
Posted by shorinji (shorinji), 16 January 2005

I would be very interested in hearing how everything works out for you.  I actually was an assistant medic for my schools football team and have seen many knee injuries.  I myself experienced over 40 dislocations in a two year period.  I am a martial artist and I know how fard an injury like this can get to you.  I also became use to the dislocations. It came to a point when I could not even feel pain when one occured.  The worst dislocation I had was after a karate test I was walking out of the training hall without my brace and I fell. My patella dislocated completely to the back of my knee.  After five years of dislocations I finally found a surgeon who was willing to fix my knee.  The dislocations ruined the cartilage beneath my kneecap.  I finally had a left knee arthoscopy, realignment and lateral release.  The doctor who operated on my knee specialized in sports injuries and actually performed surgeries for the buffalo sabres hockey team and the buffalo bills football team.  All I can tell you is that you should be wearing a good brace until you are strong again.  Your knee is probably dislocating towards the lateral side of your knee.  I highly recomend a brace called a lateral-J. This has worked for me for years.  Take it easy. I know it's hard to do for someone active.  The main thing that you need to focus on is rest ice compression and elevation and once it starts feeling better talk to your doctor about possible physical therapy.  You will gain strength and you will learn how to issolate those muscles that will help hold your knee in place.  Physical therapy will seam strange and unimportant because you are probably already in real good shape but it should become the most important thing to you if you want to continue having a active lifestyle and avoid surgery.  You can do it just do your research and take care of yourself.
Posted by footie_holz (footie_holz), 16 January 2005

Thanks for the advice, will try and track down somewhere that sells the lateral j brace.
Shorinji how the hell did you cope with 40 dislocations  
, think I would have thrown myself under a bus!  
Posted by Linds (Linds), 16 January 2005

There are other braces also available for Patella Subluxation and disloaction.  I wear BREG PTO braces, and I find them much more effective then the J brace by Donjoy, but everyone is different.
Goodluck
Linds

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