By Lori Laws on Saturday, August 04, 2001 - 11:33 pm:

I'm so glad I found this website! I have hypermobile patella in both knees. Instability is a major issue. It is almost disabling - my gait and coordination when walking is abnormal as a result of this patellar instability. Is anyone else out there suffering from this? It's just so frustrating, and dr's are are oblivious & have no clue.

My orthopedic surgeon recommends arthroscopic surgery - a lateral release - he says by cutting the tight ligaments on the outside of my knee will relieve the pressure causing the instability, thus allowing my patella to track properly in the center of the femoral groove.

Advice from anybody would be really appreciated and will help me to make a better informed decision. Thanks in advance.

Lori

By Sheena on Sunday, August 05, 2001 - 04:50 am:

Lori, Obviously I don't know how bad your knees are, and your doc has actually seen them. My son has a knee problem, with his patellas moving into the "wrong" place as he walks, causing pain. His muscles are more developed on one side of his leg than the other. His feet and ankles are also hypermobile. He is getting relief from wearing orthotics in his shoes plus taping under his knees to stop the patellas moving so far. He also has 2 sets of exercises, one for "core stability" and one to strengthen the leg muscles areound his knees. Since using all 3 factors together, taping, orthotics and exercises, he has had less problems. Before, it would have hurt him to walk a couple of miles, but he can now do it quite easily.

By Lin on Sunday, August 05, 2001 - 01:23 pm:

i have the same problem, and was diagnosed with chondromalacia patella in both knees. a BIG problem to me is the instability, i am 16 and it is very embarrasing to be walking down the hallway at my high school and to just sort of trip and fall down for no reason because my knee went out on me. my friends just laugh, and i dont care about them, but i get the weirdest looks! i may be a klutz, but i am not THAT bad. physical therapy unfortunately didnt help me, and thank god my orthopedic surgeon never suggested surgery, my advice is dont. taping my knee caps, like mentioned above realy helped alot, as did a brace that supported my knee. i also wear orthotics, and though they have helped my feet alot, dont see much difference in my ankles or knees from them. I have HMS and EDS 3.
Lin

By Lori on Sunday, August 05, 2001 - 04:23 pm:

Thanks for getting back to me so quickly Sheena & Lin. I don't know how complex my problem really is. You see, I have no pain - only the feeling of instability, thus creating an abnormal gait. I failed to mention that I do wear custom orthotics, thinking maybe if I'd correct the way I was distributing weight, the problem would get better. I've also been through phys therapy for many months trying to build up my quads to make sure they support my knees. I exercise every day, trying to maintain the same strenghthening exercises,but with no change in my knees. I don't have EDS. What I have seems very strange, because there is no pain, only the disabling instability. I'm just frustrated & confused.
Lori

By Sheena on Monday, August 06, 2001 - 10:34 am:

Lori, My son's exercises did not seem to be working until he taped his knees as well ... Also the taping was suggested by a different physiotherapist, who gave him much simpler exercises like stepping up on a phone book and down the other side. But of course his condition may be different from yours.

By Lin on Monday, August 06, 2001 - 10:44 am:

the taping lori, you can do on your own. you take coverroll (medical names for the tapes) and place it in 2 strips across your knee normaly, with at least the top half of the knee cap covered. then you take leukotape and start at the outside of your knee and put across to your knee cap, you then push your knee cap to the inside till you have a dimple of skin, and tape it with the dimple, this makes your knee cap track properly. you want the leukotape to cover the top half of the knee cap, and not to touch your skin. hope this helps! you may want to check with a PT to learn how to do it though, easier than following my directions and them messing yourself up!
Lin

By Alison on Thursday, August 16, 2001 - 04:56 am:

I also suffer from knee pain due to mis-tracking of my patellae, and have done since I was 13 (I'm now 26).

I've also had arthroscopies and lateral releases in the past, which didn't help - a subsequent specialist even suggested it may have done more harm than good as you can lose muscle tone after an operation. So I wouldn't recommend this approach.

I've had the most success from pilates to build up my quads, improve core stability etc. as it's much gentler than normal physio exercises which would cause me more pain and I'd give up.

As others have mentioned, I also have orthotics, use taping etc. Anti-inflammatories (diclofenac sodium) have also helped, and I invested in a TENS machine too for the pain.

I hope this is useful, and if anyone has any other suggestions I'd love to hear them. I've only just discovered this board, and am very relieved to find other people out there who actually understand/appreciate the problems I face.

Alison

By Sharon on Thursday, August 16, 2001 - 04:21 pm:

i too have knee problems both with subluxing knee caps and chrondomalacia patella and a torn ACL in my left one. I use knee braces that are like a shell that hold my legs in the correst position and help to stop them from coming out of the correct positions, my brace goes from my thigh to my calf and does help, i also can't use tape due to an allergy to all tapes, so this has been my way of getting around this and it has helped I aslo tend to put my knee cpas back in whenever they come out. The brace also stops me from hyperextending my knees which I am very prone to.
hope this helps

By Rosemary Small on Tuesday, May 14, 2002 - 09:08 am:

The taping of the patella with coverall and leukotape is called McConnell taping by both my PT and sports orthopedist here in Washington State, US. It really helps to have it demonstrated to do it correctly. My knee cap stabilized amazingly after I started exercising with the knee taped. I have EDS III.

By Linda on Friday, March 19, 2004 - 08:42 am:

I am so glad I found this forum. I have been doing Physical therapy for my knee since I was 13, I'm now 24, and I still have problems. I am so discouraged with my results. I can't do stairs or even sit through a 2 hour movie let alone a car ride that takes longer than 20 minutes. I am debating having a 3rd surgery but I'm not sure it will even help. If I miss a day of excersises I pay for it with about a week of pain. Has anyone ever had their knee cap surgically put back into place with out having reaccuring problems?

By jacob dilling on Wednesday, March 31, 2004 - 11:40 am:

I have a 14 year old daughter who has dislocated her knee cap 3 times now. She usually does this when she is playing sports. She is very active & is now(once again) out of soccer for the season because of this. She has seen an orthopaedic surgeon each time & he has sent her to physical therapy for rehabilitation. This last time he suggested surgery. He said this will most likely be a problem that will keep happening because she has a hypermobile patella. Each time she dislocates her knee cap there will be more & more damage. It will be a problem for her to play any sports that change direction rapidly & use running. She is very discouraged & would like to have this surgery. I would like some information from anyone of this age who has had surgery & what the problems are after it. Also, did the surgery help you at all to stop the dislocations from happening. Please help with any info you can. Thank you.

By Sugar on Friday, December 03, 2004 - 10:51 am:

Hi all, I'm new here. I'm 20yrs old and only realised a year ago that my 'weirdness' had a name. I have hypermobility, specifically in my hips, knees and wrists.I live in south africa and haven't been able to find a doctor that is familiar with my condition. Its never been a problem, just created neat party tricks. Now however I can barely do any exercise because my knees keep going out or making terrible clicking sounds. I'm desperate to be able to go to gym, wear high heels again and gain stability in my legs. Can you recommend any exercises i can do to stabilise my knees? The only cardio i can do anymore is slow walking..
Thanks

By Michelle Castle on Sunday, December 05, 2004 - 02:38 pm:

Sugar,
Visit http://www.exrx.net/Lists/Directory.html. It's a listing of exercises categorized by muscle group. In particular, squats have helped my knees a lot. Pilates and water therapy are good choices too. I would try to ignore the clicking sounds - if it doesn't hurt or dislocate. I know it can be unnerving, but you have to learn to ignore it if it's only noise.
Michelle