Needing advice/stories now that im looking into surgery

[krbehr]

Hello,

Im a 23 yr old female. I have been dislocating both knees since the 6th grade. In middle school it would dislocate several times a week, as i got older several times a month. And now it happens two to three times a year. My doctor (back then) informed me that i would most likely grow out of it as i got older. It has been alot better, considering it only does it a couple times a year. But my concern is that i can not place the knee cap back in on my own. Now that my roommate has moved out this is a big concern for me (along with the pain that comes with). Physical therapy has not helped, and im scared to use braces anymore since it has gotten stuck under the brace before. And surgery scares me since the research i have done suggest it can take anywhere from 6 weeks to 6 months to recover.

Any advice/stories (how surgery went for you, the recovery time, other techniques besides surgery....) you can give me would be greatly appreciated. Talking to a doctor is my next step, but i want to go into the appointment with good facts/questions.

Thank you so much!

[cdubb]

You should go tool around in the patellofemoral joint section.  There are many dislocators/subluxers there.  You should go find an experienced surgeon in the PF joint.  There is a doctor who posts on here a lot and could give you some guidance if you track him down.  His name is DrMark on here.  You'll likely need a tibial tubucle osteotomy and then potentially some soft tissue work depending on your specific issues/situation such as an MPFL reconstruction, VMO advancement, medial reefing.  Your sugeon should also assess your cartilage damage and if you are in need of any cartilage restoration procedures in additional to just giving you a stable knee. 

[krbehr]

thank you very much! im looking at that section now :-)