Stay strong Connor, and keep us posted on your recovery.

Jonesy

I am pretty sure i am in the early stages of athrits in my left knee already and being a hockey goalie doesnt help with the crouching and such.

My recent knee dislocation i must admit was the worst one yet. I was standing talking to a friend when an idiot came up behind me and tackled/slid into the back of my knee. The pop i heard and instantly i knew what had happened, i was lying face down on the grass with my leg stuck half way in mid air, with my kneecap to the side of my leg. With me lying on where my knee cap should be.
It hurt but i had endured it 2 times before so i had to grin and bear it
I just so love my childhood. When the ambos came all they had to do was touch my knee and it popped back in and with my knowledge that isnt good meaning the tendons are extremly loose. Surgery awaits me in the future.

This is onne injury i would not wish for anyone especially young people.

All the best Connor Hampson.

I’ve been through upwards of 50 dislocations (I wish I were exaggerating) throughout my life, have had pretty much every technique to reduce the dislocations done (including a surgery with a long list of changes), and can share many stories.

My kneecaps have dislocated frequently since I was a young child, but because they always went right back into place, I was able to cope with it. This last summer, I was working on Mayan ruins in Belize when my left patella dislocated and refused to go back into place. Because archaeologists aren’t exactly EMTs, it was a four hour ride in the back of a truck to the nearest hospital. When we arrived, I was going into shock and trying to convince my brain to knock me out. It’s a long story, actually. The important thing is that it left me with more mental trauma than I’d like to admit. Upon returning to the states, I had a surgery to “fix” the dislocations (it is intended to at least reduce the frequency of the dislocations for six to ten years). This was 5.5 months ago. I haven’t woken up in terror, reliving the event, in a while, but it stays in my mind. Somewhere in my subconscious, my mind is keeping me from contracting my quad. Even with e-stem charged to the max, I can’t.

My physical therapist and doctor don’t understand the sort of impression the dislocations have left on me over the years, not to mention the last one. The scar tissue has built up from the surgery, and I can only bend the leg about 90 degrees. I’m still going to the physical rehabilitation process, but I’m still tortured knowing that eventually, it will happen again. I’m not willing to give up quite yet, though.

I’m glad to know you’ve survived it. I needed to know that someone else understands what that pain feels like, that it’s something other than pain, another genre of feeling entirely. Thank you so much for sharing your story. It is very much appreciated.

I would look up Ehlers online and ask your doctor about it. As I said there are several “levels” of Ehlers, mine is the least serious level, but at least I have an explanation. In my case, we think my Dad may have it also.

I know what you mean about the fear though. It’s never far from my mind, especially with the snow and ice on the streets this time of year. The idea of re-dislocating terrifies me.

PS:
Jonsey – I was at the hospital, prep’d and ready for the hysterectomy (a result of the blood thinners due to the pulmonary embolism caused by the dislocation) and my surgeon called it off. She doesn’t think I need the surgery after all. Dodged a bullet this time.

Still have lingering pain in the knee at night and it stiffens if I lounge around, but I can finally go down stairs freely and think all-in-all I’m doing fine. I do find that having a down feather bed on top of my mattress eases the nightime discomfort. I should go off the blood thinners in February, then hopefully I can fly to a beach somewhere and put most of this behind me.

Thanks again for the blog. It really helps to talk to folks who have been through it too.

Happy New Year!

Keep in touch,
Jonesy

I think your solution to the embarassment of the knee straps is the story you create behind how it happened. Make it some ridiculous story like you destroyed your knee when you were saving a small child from a burning building! That way people think, “wow, I wish I could dislocate my knee too!!” hehehee.

cheers,
Jonesy

I’ve dislocated my knee 4 times (can’t remember which ones though lol, I think I’ve done one knee more than the other and one knee is a lot stronger than the other, but this stronger knee is relatively weak to a normal knee for someone of my age/build). I’m juding knee strength on how easily it can wobble when you “play” with it (this really hits my confidence).

I did all of my dislocations playing football (as in English football, not American football – I am from the UK). I was a teenager but I really do kick myself for being so naive not to realise the risk (it’s a bit obvious when it’s all happening due to football), until the doctors told me to consider giving it up. That much pain makes sacrifice easy. Sometimes I have my periods of mood swings and then start googling knee dislocation because it sucks that anything which involves running (Can’t do this) and making quick twists is out of the question (pretty much any fun sport, like football).

I do consider myself lucky to not feel any knee pain and especially the weather doesn’t influence this at all. Only when I sometimes negotiate the stairs in a slightly dodgy way I might “tweak” my knee. I’ve only been to the specialist to check up on my knee and physio for the VMO exercises (which I didn’t see through and never will now as I am working, no longer at school/college/uni). Have a shallow groove like most people on here and was going to have a lateral release but on the day before the oppurtunity they decided not to as I was too young!! They knew my age a long time ago before this day.

I wear a knee strap on both of my knees (used to be on one knee but now on both as I subluxed one when on holiday, though this knee is know strictly in a knee support – just like a sock, I need a proper knee strap). There is no way I am going to leave myself exposed to such a ridiculous amount of pain.

One thing I really want to know is a scientific/medical explanation for the ridiculous amount of pain involved in a knee dislocation. My kneecap went to the left but I have read stories of it going 360 degrees to behind the fibia/temur!! This must hurt even more, and I was on 02 and made people’s ears ring so I can’t imagine anything else. My dislocation could have been a lot more serious and thus painful (no implication for the nerve thank God).

I hate going on holiday now as I don’t want to wear shorts in a hot country and then show my knee straps/physical weaknesses and I can’t always wear jeans/joggers in a hot country.

Thanks for the update, that is awesome that you are recovering so well. As far as re-dislocation goes (knock on wood) I haven’t had that happen to me; and hopefully it doesn’t. That doesn’t mean that I am running around like a madman doing things that could put me in a position to re-dislocate it; I am just cautious and smart about what I will put my leg through. You should definitely ensure that you build up that quadricep muscle, as well as all the other muscles that interact with your knee.

Keep doing what you’re doing Lisa, and thanks again for the update.

Jonesy