Dislocated kneecap on the 16th of March, advice please?

[someone]

At 8:15 am on the 16th of March, I was jogging and I fell and dislocated my left kneecap. I went to A&E and I received a thigh-to-ankle cricket knee brace and elbow crutches. My kneecap went back into place on its own.
I went back the next day and I was given a thigh-to-ankle brace that allows my knee to bend 90 degrees and has pads at the sides of my knee to stop the kneecap from dislocating again. I was told to regularly straighten my leg out then bend it to 90 degrees to improve the muscles.

I use an anti-inflammatory cream called Emulgel on my knee four times a day. I started doing this on the 18th of March.

I have damaged my left knee before. At first there were minor sprains while jogging which went away within minutes. On the 24th of December, 2009 - after doing one hour of Wii Sports everyday for four days - I sprained my knee while jogging. It felt like it dislocated then popped in again. I went to A&E two days later and used the same brand of cream I am using now.
Prior to the dislocation, I had done some possibly strenuous dance in PE. It was fast paced and required a lot of movement. Could it be that sudden periods of exercise and then jogging harms my left knee?

I have another appointment on the 4th of April. However, I have two weeks of school before then.
There is a way for me to do my lessons alone in one room, so I don't have to move from building to building or risk being knocked into and I wouldn't need to climb the stairs. However, transportation is an issue since I cannot use the bus and even if my knee was fine, it would still be too far to walk.
No one can drive me home from school and a taxi is inconvenient and expensive.
Any transportation other than the school bus is inconvenient, expensive and difficult (I have younger siblings who are all in full-time education in separate schools), so would my leg be strong enough on Monday to walk short distances (maybe 100m or so) and withstand people potentially knocking into it?
I've already missed my mock GCSE exams, but I have two controlled assessments (English and German) next week. I don't want to miss two weeks of school, but the transportation really doesn't look possible since I heavily rely on the school bus for transport.

Standing up with crutches makes my left leg ache after a while and my shoulders are already painful after using them to support my body on crutches. I'm nervous about my shoulder joints since they have taken a lot of strain.

I can barely lift up my leg on its own (maybe 2cm) and it aches when I try, but I can straighten my leg and bend it to 90 degrees. I am afraid of putting weight on my left leg as I am scared it might give way.

Also, I'm going on holiday on the 18th of April. There will probably be a lot if walking and some stair climbing, as well as travelling by plane. Would I still need crutches and a brace then, and would my knee be strong enough to take the strain?

I don't know if I will get physiotherapy, so does anyone know some safe exercises that will strengthen my knee and prevent further injury? Arm exercises would also be useful.

What are the chances of it happening again? When my knee is healed, would strength building exercises prevent my knee from being damaged again? Is a full recovery possible?

Lastly, what are some ways of keeping my knee safe and allowing it to heal properly? I'm very anxious about it and I prefer to take things slowly and cautiously. Being under pressure or being rushed makes me nervous about my knee, so I don't know how well I would cope in school where there's over one thousand students walking about.

Thanks for reading.

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[someone]

I don't know how to edit my thread, but when I try to lift up my leg, it feels like the thigh is clenching. It also aches a little afterwards. Is this okay, or does it pose a risk for my knee?
The same thing happened when I first tried to bend my leg on the 18th. I can now bend my leg relatively painlessly.
Should I continue trying to lift my leg?

[alophysio]

Hi someone,

That sounds terrible...i would say you need to go see someone about it. A doctor who can give you better pain killers or a specialist to look at your knee. A physio who can help you with exercises and look to see what is happening in terms of muscles around the knee.

I wouldn't dare give you exercises if you feel so unsafe. Just do what you can and keep trying to move around. If it feels like it will give way on you, then it might be that it will! You might have other damage as well...i am thinking of the cartilage in the knee...normally when a kneecap dislocates, it gets better fairly quickly once it is "back in again".

Hang in there and go see someone sooner if you can.

Cheers

[someone]

Thank you for your help.

I can now bear weight on it while standing with crutches and for a short time without crutches. When I stand up, I can bend my leg and then lift it up, but I cannot do that while seated.
I'm not in pain apart from an occasional mild ache when I've kept my leg in the same place for a while. It's more like anxiety or paranoia... the doctor said I could go back to school and its mainly just knowing for sure what I can and can't do that's worrying me. I don't know whether I should be doing something, and the doctor would ask why I haven't been doing it/my leg would become weak, or if I really shouldn't be doing something and it would cause my leg more harm than good.

I'd like to start trying to walk, but I assume I have to be on crutches and the brace until the 4th... I also don't think my leg has enough time to heal yet. However, I'm worried for my right leg's safety (I think it was only my left leg that had problems) and when I reach behind for something, my shoulders sometimes make a clicking/popping noise. I don't want to strain my arms and legs so I've been doing the stretches I learnt in PE, but there's still two weeks of crutches to go. Walking with crutches and hopping down the stairs make me nervous since I could land wrong or put too much strain on my legs. I think my full body weight is shared between both of my arms and then my right leg while walking/climbing the stairs.

I've been looking on Yahoo Answers and many people seem to be in an immobiliser for a week or more, so I'm assuming my injury isn't as serious.
I'm only fifteen so I can't really arrange another appointment by myself and the doctors didn't seem very concerned. However, apart from the straightening knee exercise, they didn't tell me what I should be doing with my knee for the next two weeks. I'm not sure how much it can take, but I'm calmer now after having taken weight on it and raised it with no problems (except a little aching afterwards). I didn't follow RICE for three days like I did with my previous (2009) knee injury, because the doctor wanted me to be bending my knee. I stopped icing it when the pain subsided, I didn't use any compression except from the brace and it has alternated between being bent 90-180 degrees sitting down and lying flat with around 5cm of elevation.

[alophysio]

My friend, i think you need to see someone. I am afraid that if i tell you to walk and you aren't ready (which most people are) then that will not help. But if i tell you to rest and you need to walk, that won't help either.

If you can see a local physio, that would be the best.

It sounds like you need peace of mind...

...i can't safely give that to you except to say that most people don't have an issue and just need to develop confidence, strength and endurance.

[someone]

I can now walk and go up/downstairs without crutches, providing that I'm wearing the brace.
I went to the hospital today and the doctor said I don't have to wear the brace anymore, but I can if I want to. I'm going to have physiotherapy soon.
Unfortunately, I have knock knees, patella alta and weak muscles in general, but I hope physiotherapy will help. I have another appointment on Tuesday the 3rd of May.