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Triana
Apr 20, 2012, 7:12 PM
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Registered: Apr 20, 2012
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Firstly I am new to the forum so Hi!
I am new to climbing (been twice so far) and so far loving it.
I found out about a year ago that I am prone to dislocating one or both of my knees, and it was kind of implied that I had done well to make it as far as I had without dislocating already (21 at the time).
It seems to be twisting motions that cause it (only had one dislocation and one probable subluxation so far), I dont know the root cause of it becasue I as basically told that "its just down to how your built, we could do scans and tests to work out the exact cause, but we won’t bother"
This leaves me a little cautious about climbing, I know its not strictly speaking bad for your knees, but I have very little confidence in my joint at the moment. This means that so far I have been climbing with a knee brace (either a £25-30 sports one from boots or the hinged one that I got from my physio while I was starting to walk again last year). This is presenting a problem as it means I can’t bend my left knee as fully as I would like and favour my right hand side a lot.
The same problem applies to my work as well, I work in the environmental sector so spend a lot of time hiking and on survey, I wear my brace for this because dislocating in the middle of no where sounds like a really bad plan! The actual hiking is fine but the brace makes crouching and kneeling for survey pretty uncomfortable to impossible after a few minutes.
I know the sensible advice is to go speak to a physio, however last time I managed to get a referral I got discharged before I had actually managed to see anyone! good ol' NHS!
SO my two questions are does anybody have any experience of this sort of situation and is climbing with no brace likely to be problem?
And can anyone suggest a suitable knee brace that supports the patella and offers maximum movement? (on a very very tight budget)
Wow that worked out longer than I expected!
Thank you :)
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trenchdigger
Apr 20, 2012, 7:49 PM
Post #2 of 6
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Registered: Mar 9, 2003
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I hope you mean patellar dislocation and not actual knee dislocation. Could you clarify? They're really very different in severity.
In the end though, you really need to talk to an orthopedist, not a physical therapist or climbing forum.
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Triana
Apr 20, 2012, 8:31 PM
Post #3 of 6
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Registered: Apr 20, 2012
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Sorry I should have made that clearer, I do mean patella.
I got to see an orthopaedic consultant twice when I dislocated, he discharged me before I was even able to bend my leg again. When I had a subluxation I at least got a physio referral because I was lucky enough to see a very sympathetic GP, I got discharged from that physio before I even had an appointment.
As things currently stand (i.e that I can walk just fine) I highly doubt I will get anything beyond a talk with a GP on the NHS, at best if I am extremely lucky a physio after a 6 month wait (minimum). :/ I can not afford any form of private health treatment.
I am just hoping for some general advice and maybe some others experience with knee problems with climbing (and hiking) while I am attempting to get the ball rolling on the medical front, on the off chance there is something worth considering.
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trenchdigger
Apr 20, 2012, 9:00 PM
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Registered: Mar 9, 2003
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No problem... that makes more sense. Based on my very limited medical knowledge (WFR) I'd suspect it would be wise to wear a stabilizing brace while climbing.
There are tons of knee braces out there. Try defining your search more specifically to find what you need, for example "lateral patellar dislocation brace". Lots of online stores have reviews which may be helpful in selecting one. I suspect you'll generally get what you pay for when it comes to quality vs price.
Good luck with your search.
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jolery
Apr 22, 2012, 5:20 PM
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Registered: Dec 28, 2008
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After a broken femur injury that left me missing tendons I would dislocate the patella when I loaded it in a certain direction. What has saved me is keeping the leg muscles strong and flexible. Running, biking, lifting have all worked for me. The muscle seems to compensate for the lack of stability. Never dislocated it climbing but almost have several times - I can feel when it starts to go and can stop it from dislocating
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drmartindell
Apr 22, 2012, 5:39 PM
Post #6 of 6
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Registered: May 21, 2010
Posts: 5
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I am prone to knee injuries and have tried various knee braces. The one I like the most at this point is http://www.google.com/products/catalog?hl=en&tok=cwKfSIeUFoIzNix37mP2JQ&pq=knee+brace&cp=9&gs_id=jm&xhr=t&q=mueller+knee+brace&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.r_qf.,cf.osb&um=1&ie=UTF-8&tbm=shop&cid=6260539553991582547&sa=X&ei=n0GUT_W9MIefiALzrsz5Dw&sqi=2&ved=0CMEBEPMCMAU
I am able to wear it climbing, bend my knee fully and it won't come undone with repeated bending and climbing. Good luck!
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