A dislocated kneecap or a dislocated patella is exactly what it sounds like. Due to some undue pressure on the knee, the tendons that bind the kneecap to the rest of the knee tear, which gets the kneecap out of its groove. But then again, a lot of people complain that they had a dislocated kneecap without any sort of injury or blow to the knee. What's that all about?
Dislocated Kneecap
Now let us review the structure of the knee, to better understand how the kneecap may get dislocated. The knee is a joint, as well all know, where the femur (thigh bone) and tibia (shin bone) meet. Bones as they are, they are connected together by ligaments. But since the knee is such an important bone, there is the kneecap or the patella, which is supposed protect the joint. The kneecap is supposed to rest in an adequately sized groove. But in some people, this groove is inherently not big enough to hold the patella in. These people are understandably more prone to a dislocated kneecap or problems related to an unstable kneecap.
Others face the problems of a dislocated kneecap because of a prolonged incorrect running posture. Often sudden changes in the direction of running, twisting the knee and a direct blow to knee too may be common dislocated kneecap causes.
The dislocated kneecap symptoms include knee pain accompanied by swelling. Kneecap dislocation is often a very visible injury where you can see that the kneecap is out of its correct position.
Dislocated Kneecap Treatment
The dislocated kneecap treatment varies based on the cause of the knee injury.
Once you take your dislocated kneecap to the doctor, he will diagnose the exact cause of the dislocated kneecap with the help of an X-ray or an MRI scan. The scan will help correctly diagnose the cause of the dislocated kneecap.
If the cause of the kneecap dislocation is due to an injury, then the doctor will immobilize the knee for some time. You'll be told to wear a cast or an immobilizer over your knee to prevent further damage to the knee for around 3 weeks, after which you will have to undergo sessions in physical therapy, mostly knee exercises to strengthen the muscles around the knee. This will take another 2 weeks. Read on for more on dislocated knee treatment.
But if the damage is caused because the groove of the knee is not big enough to hold the kneecap, corrective dislocated kneecap surgery may be required. Corrective surgery will help stop the recurrence of this injury and avoid further damage to the underside of the kneecap as well. Corrective surgery will demand a dislocated kneecap recovery time of around 6 weeks at least, and you can resume training for a competitive sport (if you play one) only after 12 weeks of the surgery. And after getting the thumbs-up from your doctor of course! Read on for dislocated knee recovery time and knee injury recovery.
Dislocated Kneecap Prevention
Well clearly, a dislocated kneecap is not an ordeal which you'd want to go through again, so why not take a look at these preventive measures.
Most of the times, the doctor will tell you what caused the dislocated kneecap. Most often it is caused due to a problem in the way you run. So that is one of the first things which you'll need to fix. Make sure that during your physiotherapy sessions, you get a small little tutorial on how to run correctly. The second thing to keep in mind is to always warm up before playing a contact sport. Warm-ups avoid the ill-effects of cold-starting a muscle and keep them working just fine!
So this was all about the dislocated kneecap. I hope this advice comes in handy to help you recover from the dislocated kneecap and gets you on your feet again.
Dislocated Kneecap
Now let us review the structure of the knee, to better understand how the kneecap may get dislocated. The knee is a joint, as well all know, where the femur (thigh bone) and tibia (shin bone) meet. Bones as they are, they are connected together by ligaments. But since the knee is such an important bone, there is the kneecap or the patella, which is supposed protect the joint. The kneecap is supposed to rest in an adequately sized groove. But in some people, this groove is inherently not big enough to hold the patella in. These people are understandably more prone to a dislocated kneecap or problems related to an unstable kneecap.
Others face the problems of a dislocated kneecap because of a prolonged incorrect running posture. Often sudden changes in the direction of running, twisting the knee and a direct blow to knee too may be common dislocated kneecap causes.
The dislocated kneecap symptoms include knee pain accompanied by swelling. Kneecap dislocation is often a very visible injury where you can see that the kneecap is out of its correct position.
Dislocated Kneecap Treatment
The dislocated kneecap treatment varies based on the cause of the knee injury.
Once you take your dislocated kneecap to the doctor, he will diagnose the exact cause of the dislocated kneecap with the help of an X-ray or an MRI scan. The scan will help correctly diagnose the cause of the dislocated kneecap.
If the cause of the kneecap dislocation is due to an injury, then the doctor will immobilize the knee for some time. You'll be told to wear a cast or an immobilizer over your knee to prevent further damage to the knee for around 3 weeks, after which you will have to undergo sessions in physical therapy, mostly knee exercises to strengthen the muscles around the knee. This will take another 2 weeks. Read on for more on dislocated knee treatment.
But if the damage is caused because the groove of the knee is not big enough to hold the kneecap, corrective dislocated kneecap surgery may be required. Corrective surgery will help stop the recurrence of this injury and avoid further damage to the underside of the kneecap as well. Corrective surgery will demand a dislocated kneecap recovery time of around 6 weeks at least, and you can resume training for a competitive sport (if you play one) only after 12 weeks of the surgery. And after getting the thumbs-up from your doctor of course! Read on for dislocated knee recovery time and knee injury recovery.
Dislocated Kneecap Prevention
Well clearly, a dislocated kneecap is not an ordeal which you'd want to go through again, so why not take a look at these preventive measures.
Most of the times, the doctor will tell you what caused the dislocated kneecap. Most often it is caused due to a problem in the way you run. So that is one of the first things which you'll need to fix. Make sure that during your physiotherapy sessions, you get a small little tutorial on how to run correctly. The second thing to keep in mind is to always warm up before playing a contact sport. Warm-ups avoid the ill-effects of cold-starting a muscle and keep them working just fine!
So this was all about the dislocated kneecap. I hope this advice comes in handy to help you recover from the dislocated kneecap and gets you on your feet again.
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