dislocating knee

[BananaAnna838]

Hello :mickey: I have not posted in a while (less than 200 days to go!), but I have a question and figured you all would be the most helpful. :)

I am 21 and in my 3rd year of college. Since high school, my knee has dislocated 4 times, and for about 3 weeks now, it has been doing something very strange and painful. Whenever I straighten my leg, my knee dislocates and shifts to the outside! (It's very bizzare to see)
I have been to the doctor this past time, and all he told me to do were contracting muscle exercises which just seem to be making it worse. (I have been through PT and have a brace and all that from previous times) This doctor was not great in answering questions I had, so I'm looking into finding another doctor.
He did however bring up the idea of surgery. He talked about the most commen, a tibial tubercle transfer and/or a lateral release, and a couple others. I really am thinking about the surgery since it's such a pain, literally! to deal with. I can't seem to find any info online about my particular problem, but I did see info on the TTT and it looks scary.
Does anyone have any experience with this surgery or type of problem? I should be seeing another doctor fairly soon, but I am going crazy with worrying and thinking about it!

Thanks so much, I'm sorry for going on and on :blush:

[Stitchahula]

I have had 2 surgeries on my knee the first 1 was the lateral release with scraping of the cartiledge. I was on crutches for about a year they told me I would be fine in about 6-8 weeks. The 2nd surgery they went in and tightened stuff up. I was again on crutches for a while. It took about a year for it to be pain free and the doctor didn't know if he could get me to where there would be no pain anymore. With the lateral release it seemed like my knee would give way alot more often than before the surgery and I was in alot of pain. When they went in and tightened everything up my knee wouldn't buckle as much infact it doesn't do it anymore. I don't know if they shouldn't have done the lateral release on me or not ,or if my knee was so messed up that it needed more done to it than what they did with the 1st surgery. I would definately get more than 1 opinion though. It's really no fun to be on crutches for 2 years. My knee will never be the same as it was but that's probably because of the injury not just the surgery. Oh and I can tell when we are going to get rain/snow now even before the weather man says anything. Good luck with everything. Oh and if you do decide to do the surgery get a bag of frozen peas to use as your ice pack they work great.

[Granny Jill A]

What kind of an injury, if any, precipitated this condition? Did you fall or twist it?

Definitely seeing another doctor is the right decision.

Good luck and I hope everything goes well for you.

[BananaAnna838]

Thanks for the replies!

This time, there was no injury, it just started dislocating for no reason. The very first time was in gym class and I twisted the wrong way and it popped out, resulting in a torn meniscus.
I'm seeing a new doctor next week! I made an appt, so hopefully it will go better than the first one.

I looked up more informaion on the TTT surgery that I was told is the most common. They break the shin bone, move/realign it more towards the inside of my knee, and then hold it in place with screws.:unsure:

Sound familiar to anyone?

[BrerGnat]

This used to happen to my younger sister. She had athroscopic (sp?) knee surgery a couple years ago to fix it after YEARS of dealing with her knee "popping out" as she called it. Problem solved.

She went through numerous years of PT, braces, etc. Nothing else worked. Surgery did the trick. After about 6 months of healing/PT/using a brace, she was able to run a 1/2 marathon!

I would definitely look more into the surgery route, because the PT is not a solution to the problem. Your knee will keep dislocating until you correct it surgically. PT will just prolong the time until you need surgery anyway.

[Granny Jill A]

Thanks for the replies!

This time, there was no injury, it just started dislocating for no reason. The very first time was in gym class and I twisted the wrong way and it popped out, resulting in a torn meniscus.
I'm seeing a new doctor next week! I made an appt, so hopefully it will go better than the first one.

I looked up more informaion on the TTT surgery that I was told is the most common. They break the shin bone, move/realign it more towards the inside of my knee, and then hold it in place with screws.:unsure:

Sound familiar to anyone?

Owwwwwch! You poor thing.

My daughter had torn her ACL and LCL which caused her knee to pop out all the time. Her doctor was able to reconstruct both with some fancy sewing. No hardware was required in her case.

Hope your recovery is quick and your knee is fixed once and for all. Good luck!