Has anyone ever dislocated their kneecap?

jeebieheebies
jeebieheebies Posts: 68 Member
edited December 2024 in Fitness and Exercise
Hi!

On May 20, dancing at a club in Prague, my knee gave out and caused me to collapse. It swelled up immediately, I couldn't walk on it, it was the most painful thing of my life. Went to the hospital and the doctor said he was 99.99% sure I tore my ACL.

So one month later, I am back in the US and finally have maneuvered my way though all the doctors and hospitals and finally got my MRI results back this morning -- I didn't tear my ACL, I dislocated my kneecap and tore my medial meniscus.

So I was wondering other people's experiences with this injury? I've spent the past month spending hours and hours researching ACL surgeries and I have no idea what a dislocated kneecap entails, and there are hardly any people talking about their experience on forums, youtube, in articles, etc. :/

Thanks!

And right now it is a month and a day after the incident and my knee is still swollen and I can walk on it mostly normally, but it still has a dull pain and I don't have full range of motion, and it is sore if I have it at an angle for awhile and move it back to straight.

Replies

  • rosebarnalice
    rosebarnalice Posts: 3,488 Member
    Ugh, yes. About this time last year, actually.
    The first 4 weeks were the worst-- swollen, very tender, limited motion, severe stiffness after sitting or laying down for any length of time .

    Then, at the suggestion of a physical therapist who I was seeing about a shoulder injury at the time, I started swimming to get the accumulated fluid moving around. That REALLY helped A LOT. When I started swimming twice a week (easy--almost dog-paddling) the swelling really went down, which helped with the range of motion and also the stiffness.

    Eight weeks out (week 4 of swimming), the swelling was almost gone and I could walk more or less normally.

    Hang in there!!

  • festerw
    festerw Posts: 233 Member
    Mine used to pop out probably 4-5 times a year, hurt like hell for about a day and then was gone until the next episode. Running helped strengthen the ligaments around it and hasn't happened now for over a year.

    Your swelling and pain is probably more related to your meniscus tear than the knee cap. Surgery for that is fairly quick and recovery time isn't terribly long either.
  • questionfear
    questionfear Posts: 527 Member
    Agreed on surgery for meniscus. I've torn my ACL, and also tore the meniscus in the same knee several years later. The ACL surgery was a bear in terms of recovery, and it took almost a year before I was back to running, etc. Meniscus surgery was nothing-I was weight bearing the next day, and running less than two months later.

    Biggest thing by far is physical therapy. Follow what your PT says, and you'll bounce back MUCH quicker.
  • ivanfawcettgibson
    ivanfawcettgibson Posts: 193 Member
    I twisted my knee and my patella migrated a touch in 2004. Crutches for a week and no follow up physio. Fast forward to 2009, pain walking down stairs and hills. Still playing football (soccer) with no issues. Fast forward to 2014 swelling and pain after 5 mins of coming off the pitch, I'd adjusted my gate to compensate for the pain in my left knee subconsciously. 2015 saw me go to my GP and push for a referral. I got my referral to a splendid surgeon. They tried kinesiology taping, which helped but not for long. MRI scan showed a dark area under the patellar to lead to a diagnosis of Hoffa's pad syndrome. Surgery booked to remove some of the pad. It was thought to be impinging the patellarfemoral tendon. When the surgeon went in he found a flapping lump of cartilage agrivating my Hoffa's pad. He also found a large body of plica around the left side of my knee. The plica was removed, the damaged cartilage was removed and I had a microfracture (small series of holes in the bone to create a blood clot) on the back of my patellar. The blood clot creates a fibrous cartilage - not as good as proper cartilage, but better than it rubbing on bone.
    That was done on 19/09/2015 and I get pain around the scar on the medial side. I get a little pain when I don't use the VMO (the inner quad muscle) I have learnt to isolate it to get it to move, it's learnt to be lazy during the subconscious gate realignment. I'll continue to activate my quads, everyday. I do wall squat with a twist. With a band round my thighs, sit in the squat, and raise each heel consecutively keeping my toes straight. And lunges consentrating on lifting all my weight on the left leg, heel up, right leg forwards.
    I now do jump lunges and I'm back at the gym and I've had a few mins of competitive football before the season end in April.

    Listen to your body, your physios and doctors. I thought I'd never get back on the horse. I'm back to 50kg squat in 4 weeks of being back at the gym from just the bar.
    Sorry for the biopic.
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