Hi, it appears that both of my knee caps are out of alignment and are shifted too far to the outside of the leg, which causes all sorts of discomfort. Last year, I had an X-ray taken and I got some physical therapy and treatment, which improved it a lot. But is has gotten worse lately and so I was wondering if anybody knows some exercises or other things that might work. Also, the doctor had mentioned a possible surgery. Has anybody undergone this surgery and how bad was it?

lets not talk about it. I had knee surgey last May (2008) and I get my MRI again since climbing in Italy I think I tore the same knee AGAIN....

I won't say who's right or wrong as it is out of my scope, but I see there is new thinking on the subject of Patella Femoral Syndrome - a frequent cause of knee pain.

Read more here...

http://www.sports-injury-info.com/patella-femoral-solutions.html

I am not advertising this guys book, just that it looks interesting and maybe informative.

A friend had a "lateral release" surgery and had a pain syndrome for years afterwards. I'd be wary and only do surgery as a last resort. Have you worked with a GOOD physical therapist?

Definitely consider surgery a last resort. I rushed into it last year and my knee hasn't been the same since. Get a good physio and stick to it for a good few months.

bird wrote:A friend had a "lateral release" surgery and had a pain syndrome for years afterwards. I'd be wary and only do surgery as a last resort. Have you worked with a GOOD physical therapist?

JackCarr wrote:Definitely consider surgery a last resort. I rushed into it last year and my knee hasn't been the same since. Get a good physio and stick to it for a good few months.

I guess, I'll be going back to physio then. I did physio last year and it really improved things but maybe I should have stuck with it for longer.
Does anybody know a good physical therapist in the Milwaukee area?

Thanks, Matt.

Find out who takes care of the players for your local sports teams, the Brewers, Bucks, Admirals, etc.

Find a place with athletic people working hard.

If the physical therapy worked, you should have continued doing the exercises on your own - ask your physical therapist to show you exercises that you can do at home on your own preferably with resistant bands (more accessible than weight machines).

Not a knee problem, but I have a torn labrum. I was able to avoid surgery thanks to PT for now, but I'm in forever need to keep up strengthening routine and will probably down the road will need one. I'm not very diligent right now with my exercises so whenever I fall off the wagon I feel my shoulder weaken immediately. In the long run, if you are going to have a surgery, PT beforehand is still recommended as you will go into surgery with stronger muscles and thus minimize the healing time...

welle wrote:If the physical therapy worked, you should have continued doing the exercises on your own - ask your physical therapist to show you exercises that you can do at home on your own preferably with resistant bands (more accessible than weight machines).

I continued to do some exercises but then there were others where you actually needed a partner. Maybe I should try get more excercises I can do by myself.

ksolem wrote:Find out who takes care of the players for your local sports teams, the Brewers, Bucks, Admirals, etc.

Find a place with athletic people working hard.

Sounds like a good plan. I'll try to do that.

ArtVandelay wrote:

mstender wrote:

bird wrote:A friend had a "lateral release" surgery and had a pain syndrome for years afterwards. I'd be wary and only do surgery as a last resort. Have you worked with a GOOD physical therapist?

JackCarr wrote:Definitely consider surgery a last resort. I rushed into it last year and my knee hasn't been the same since. Get a good physio and stick to it for a good few months.

I guess, I'll be going back to physio then. I did physio last year and it really improved things but maybe I should have stuck with it for longer.
Does anybody know a good physical therapist in the Milwaukee area?

Thanks, Matt.

if you did physical therapy and it got better, why don't you just go back to that same therapist?

Art, I can't go back to the same therapist anymore because I have moved recently and it is about 1000 miles apart, so I have to find a new therapist here in the Milwaukee area.

I was diagnosed with this (Patello-Femoral Pain Syndrome) earlier this year and have spent the last 6 months doing physical therapy. For the first few months I was going really easy on the knees for fear of flaring them up again, but after I got through that fear, I've realized that the therapy exercises have made a HUGE difference...for me, at least. Most of what they've had me do is squat-type exercises. Single-leg squats to the side, back, front...lunges, two-leg shallow and deep squats, one-leg extensions, a barrage of stretches and some balancing exercises.

After all of that a few times each week in addition to my regular climbing/hiking workouts, I've seen a huge improvement. In fact, I haven't had the knee pain for 4+ months except for a week ago when I went running. For whatever reason, my knees have never taken well to running, so I get my cardio by biking and hiking...or via the elliptical at the gym. That was my first time running on pavement in a long time, so my knees went on protest. Oh well.

If you'd like me to send you some of the exercises, I can try to scan the papers into my compy and email them to you. PM me if you or anyone else is interested. Good luck and welcome to the club!

ArtVandelay wrote:surgery should ALWAYS be a last resort...unfortunately too many doctors try to push you right into it

Agreed 110%. I had a left rotator-cuff reconstruction 10 years ago and it was sold to me as a miracle surgery that would bring my shoulder back to 100%. B.S... The damned thing has never been the same since. It never got back to normal even after physical therapy. I still have to keep it strengthened and stretched properly. Luckily, it doesn't usually bother me when climbing.

Sorry for the "dirt road" there, but yeah...surgery should be the last resort.

I think your knees hurt from staying up too late . Hope you don't work in the morning!

I definitely agree with other that you want to use surgery as a last resort.

Finding a good physical therapist would be your best bet.

With what you have mentioned about your condition it could be due to a muscle imbalance in the quads. It’s not uncommon for people to have weak inside quad muscles (vastus medialis). What can happen is that the outside quad (vastus lateralis) can overpower and pull the knee cap to the outside. There evidence to suggest that people that don’t do a lot of full range of motion squatting are more likely to have this occur. In the Western worlds people sit on chairs more and don’t squat down to the ground much for rest positions. You will often see young children squatting down so naturally and comfortably.

At this point however full range squats probably won’t help much. If you do find a therapist you might talk to them about this to see if they think this is the issue.

It’s possible by choosing exercises that focus more on the inside quad you could improve your condition. The best exercise I know for this is a reverse step-up (a.k.a. Petersen Step-up). My wife and I have worked with many climbers and hikers that had knee pain. This exercise has produced excellent results. You can learn more about it and see a video at

http://www.bodyresults.com/e2kneetest.asp

Good Luck!

sjarelkwint wrote:After 6 weeks of training I feel bad ... My knee is even worse than 6 weeks ago when I started therapy ...

3 more weeks of therapy and if I don't feel any change I'll go back to my doctor and ask for a new therapist ... Hope to be able to go to anton claes (kneedoctor of most soccer players) or Lieven Maesschalck (therapist of Christiano Ronaldo)

You should let the knee rest. As you are reconstructing your home, it can't rest thus won't get better. No amount of physio will help with that.