Patellar dislocation

I dislocated my right kneecap 10 years ago when I was 18. All I did was put something down then turned around left 180 degrees to walk away, next thing I knew I was on the floor with my right kneecap laterally dislocated. It was put back in place in hospital - had to get there by ambulance as I couldn't move because of the pain.

Doctors didn't say anything about what caused it - why it popped out so easily when it never had before, they just said there will always be a weakness now and it'll be more likely to happen again. The physiotherapist I saw examined both knees and said the whole knee joint ligaments were quite loose, not just the patella, and I can also hyper-extend both knees so I might have generalized loose ligaments. I've never dislocated or had problems with any other joints.

I wore a knee brace for a month then had physio on the NHS for a couple of months - stationary cycling, electrical muscle stimulation and VMO exercises. After a few months I got to the stage where I could do light jogging but I've not done anything more strenuous since. I put on quite a bit of weight a year or two after that and stayed the same more or less ever since -I don't think I ever got the right leg back as strong as it was before and might still be overcompensating with the left leg - now ten years later on the right leg the quads, the VMO in particular, are still less firm and slightly smaller than the other leg. I think part of this was the fear of it happening again as it seemed to dislocate so easily just by twisting/pivoting while walking so I probably subconsciously overcompensate with the other leg all the time.

Over the past couple of years I've lost quite a bit of weight and want to get back to more strenuous exercise/sports but I want to strengthen the right leg as much as possible first as it still feels weaker than the other and sometimes feels slightly inflamed later in the day if I've done any squats or running - but no bad pain. Apart from VMO exercises are there any others that can help stabilize the knee?
Hopefully I want to stabilize it enough to do things such as play squash, football or ski without having to worry about putting too much strain on that leg.

Thanks in advance

The activities you mention are very demanding on the knees. If I were you, I would set the goal of strengthening the legs considerably. For greater stability training, working closed chain on soft surfaces (squats on soft mats, trampolines, etc) might be a good idea. Running in sand is also great. If you do weights, try not to go to full extension. If your ligaments are loose, you need to tighten things up. If you want to play squash, you should go through a thorough training programme first, gradually increasing level of difficulty and not rushing. Once you have trained to reach a high level, do not stop doing your strengthening excercises. It is not a one-time fix. If you'r ligaments are loose, you need to stay very strong and coordinated to prevent injuries.

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Originally Posted by nbastedo

The activities you mention are very demanding on the knees. If I were you, I would set the goal of strengthening the legs considerably. For greater stability training, working closed chain on soft surfaces (squats on soft mats, trampolines, etc) might be a good idea. Running in sand is also great. If you do weights, try not to go to full extension. If your ligaments are loose, you need to tighten things up. If you want to play squash, you should go through a thorough training programme first, gradually increasing level of difficulty and not rushing. Once you have trained to reach a high level, do not stop doing your strengthening excercises. It is not a one-time fix. If you'r ligaments are loose, you need to stay very strong and coordinated to prevent injuries.

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Thanks - never realised soft surfaces helped but makes sense - will give it a try. Thanks again