Uh-oh

I was just sitting here at my desk, legs crossed, reading posts on the forum....

I started to uncross my legs to stand up and I felt everything around my patella go....*wiggle wiggle*.....and then I felt that allllll too familar feeling of my patella going *slip* out of place then *snap* back into place.

Uh oh.

Now I'm concerned. I've alredy had surgery on my patellar ligament to, supposedly, prevent me from ever dislocating my patella again. (I used to do it frequently. This issue is the reason I had to quit playing softball competitively.)

My ligament was connected to my tibia by 2 large screws until last summer, when I had them removed because they were beginning to come out on their own, which was quite painful. (One broke though so there's actually about half a screw buried in my bone.) Now everthing is supposed to be all healed and sturdy and properly functioning.

But if that's the case, why did that just happen?! It hurt! And now I'm worried!

Damn that sucks, get to the doctor asap

Go to the doc ASAP Meg, and let us know what happens.

AAAAhhh. I used to have the same problem! My sister as well. She had surgery. I never did. I've been told I have a "floating patella". Have you been told this? I went to physical therapy and learned some strengthing exercises. I was told that biking was REALLY BAD for me. Perhaps that's what's aggrevating your knees? But, like the others say, see a doc. Hope it mellows soon!

totally go to docs and get it checked out.

i have patella femoral syndrome, its no fun. no surgeries yet. but I totally have knee problems with the ligaments and stuff. go get it checked out befoer you really miff it up.

if for some reason you totally cant walk, rob and I will carry ya around. heh

Go to a doctor.

But don't trust them blindly. I believe that most problems can be solved without surgeries. Special gymnastics and reasonable strength training can help almost always.

Topher, especially in your case. The patella femoral syndrome can be treated by strengthening your leg muscles. Just find a good physiotherapist who can tell and show you what exercises are good and which are bad for you.

The floating patella i'm not sure I think there is gymnastic for it.

Thanks guys - I will try to get in to a doctor eventually, it's just hard to do because I'm not in my home town and I don't know where I can go here in Corvallis that is covered by insurance. Plus, at this point I think I need to go see a sports injury sort of doctor, because all my GP can do is refer me to a specialist anyway.

I think I've got at least 2 distinct problems going on my knee right now - one related to my patellar ligament and the other my IT (iliotibial) band. I finished up 8wks of physical therapy on the IT band this spring and it was better for awhile, but I have a feeling it's .....um, not right again.

I'm sorry to hear you guys have knee problems too (Topher, Tiff...) KNEES SUCK!!!! At least when they don't work correctly.... I'm sure they're fabulous if you can actually use them!

I'll let you know what the doc says if I can find one!

I've been told I have a "floating patella". Have you been told this? I went to physical therapy and learned some strengthing exercises. I was told that biking was REALLY BAD for me. Perhaps that's what's aggrevating your knees?

I don't know if there's a name for what's wrong with my knee? I've never heard the floating patella term, at least in reference to me....but you're right, I have been riding my bike a LOT more than I used to lately, and sometimes it hurts pretty badly, like it's really pulling on the the tendon (quadriceps femoris tendon?) at the top of my knee. But I hope it's not my bike cuz that's my only way to class!!!

What you need is a nice Draisine, not one of those nasty pedal types

http://www.pedalinghistory.com/Images/Draisine.gif

http://www.bicyclemuseum.com/Images/B2.gif

Seriously bikes can be bad for some knee conditions, you may have to try a different form of transport, see how your knee feels after a month or two bike-free, also looking for a sports therapist (particularly one interested in knees) could well make a huge difference.

I also know a number of martial artists that avoid too much riding as they believe (rightly or wrongly) that too much cycling will adversly effect the maximum they can stretch & stop them achieving full splits, although I've never seen any research to back that up.

Ohhhh… sorry to hear about your knee. I think a dislocated knee is the worst pain ever. I use to have it happen fairly often but I never tore anything or need surgery. My problem is that I a hypermobile (extra flexible) and some time the connective tissue in my joints just doesn’t hold like it should. Its kind of cool for yoga or party trick (I can bend my left thumb all the way back to touch the back of my arm)but it suck like hell to have my knee pop out.