Easily dislocated kneecaps? What to do?

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EstherJ
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24 May 2012, 1:44 am

Hey.
I don't know about anyone else, but I apparently have easily dislocated joints. I have dislocated or at least misaligned my jaw, shoulder, hip, and dislocated my kneecaps around 5-6 times.
My most recent event was rolling on my knee in bed and pushing my kneecap to the outside.
My doctor said I have high-set kneecaps, and a narrow groove, so it's just the way my leg is built.

I however, don't like the idea of waking up to a dislocated or locked knee. It's horrible. I was thinking of getting a cloth wrap with clips and wrapping my knees when I sleep and when I run, just to support myself...but I don't know if that's a good idea to do regularly.
I don't want to weaken my knees. I just want to support them so I quit dislocating them.

Anyone have a similar experience?



1000Knives
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24 May 2012, 9:57 am

You might have Ehler Danlos syndrome, my friend has that, it's extremely painful for him. You might want to check into that to see if you got it.

You do run, so I'm assuming the muscles aren't really really weak then. They could be, though, I'm not sure. I was gonna suggest possibly strengthening your quadriceps muscle, some people with knee problems, when they strengthen the surrounding muscles, the problems go away, as the tendons and muscles get tighter. So you could either do leg presses, or do full out squats (squats are better, but harder, and harder on the knees if your body doesn't like them/you do them wrong) and see if things improve. My sister has weak knees, and her PT person made her basically walk with rubber hands connecting her feet, weird exercises like that.



EstherJ
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24 May 2012, 10:49 am

Do you think wrapping will hurt them?

Oh, and thanks, by the way. I will look into that syndrome...
The thing is, I don't run a lot - I do ride horses English style, though. I still think my knee ligaments are extra-weak/loose.



questor
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24 May 2012, 12:14 pm

Ask your doctor for some specific exercises to strengthen the muscles and tendons around your joints, especially the knees, but don't neglect the other ones, either. Stronger muscles and tendons will help keep the joints in place better.


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