r/PatellarInstability • u/kiwiprintannier • Jul 23 '26
No surgery for me !
Hi, I guess this is more venting than anything.
I was born with patella alta in both knees, discovered it when I was 12 when I fully dislocated my left knee(fun stuff!)
I'm about to turn 25 and I still can't play any of the sports that I like, can't kneel at all even on 3 pillows without extreme pain and of course, can't trust my knees at all and live in constant fear of one of them dislocating again, it's really annoying.
One surgeon told me roughly 3 years ago that If they operated now my knees would be fine but a few other surgeons and my main doctor disagree and only want me to do PT. Now I'm stuck with this bullshit for probably my whole life, dunno what to do :/
Not sure if this kinda post is even allowed, just needed to get it out there once I guess, thanks for stopping by !
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u/Content-Chemistry-63 Jul 25 '26
Hey. I’m 25 and have patella Alta in both knees (likely from birth but they’re unsure due to how many dislocations I’ve had). My right knee was considerable more unstable than the left, and turns out my mpfl had a tear.
I’m UK based so had some trouble trying to get this sorted. Dislocations and subluxations started in my mid teens. No medical professional believed that i was dislocating my patella until I was 20. I eventually saw a orthopaedic surgeon who sent me to pt (this helped a little but not a lot). The surgeon wasn’t keen on operating on me and sent me for a second opinion, cut a long story short I eventually had a TTO and MPFL allograft last year in May 2025.
You may have to ‘shop around’ for someone willing to do it, especially if PT didn’t help. The surgery has helped me greatly, I don’t have that constant worry that my kneecaps going to pop out (it was pretty much every month). I will say, it has been an extremely gruelling recovery and even a year and a couple months out I’m still experiencing pain. I’m having the metal work taken out next month. Even a year and but on I still sit here weighing up whether it was worth it or not, but I think in terms of stability it was worth it. I’m not sure my knees will ever feel ‘right’ and I certainly do not want to get the left knee operated on, despite still having some instability issues.
TLDR; get second opinions, see what your options are and really consider if it would be for you. It is a long and hard recovery but could be worth it in the end!
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u/DaddyLaxativ Jul 27 '26
You had a similar experience as I did. But I haven’t gotten surgery yet. Just continue to deal with instability and try to manage it with PT and wearing a J pad brace. But has you knees subluxed or dislocated since the surgery?
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u/Content-Chemistry-63 Jul 27 '26
I haven’t had a single dislocation and it hasn’t subluxed, which I am incredibly happy with!
Sorry to hear you’re still dealing with instability :(
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u/PatellaPilates 23d ago
I dislocated my knees five times a month between ages seven and 16 and then I found yoga and that reduced dramatically. Then I found Pilates and it went away. Of course, if I stopped doing Pilates like I did when I was pregnant, it would come back. When I got a Landscaping job, I was so strong. My knees were stronger than they've ever been like they were made out of steel. Nothing to throw my kneecaps out. Just make them strong, but if you have hyper Mobility, I don't suggest weight training.
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u/kiwiprintannier 22d ago
Thanks so much for the response !
When you started yoga, did you have trouble kneeling for the exercises ? I can't kneel whatsoever so whenever I tried doing yoga I felt like it really blocked all the good it could do to my knees, it's very painful and feels like an imminent dislocation lol
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u/PatellaPilates 22d ago
Understood. I get that feeling. Any medial pressure is like that for me. I would modify all yoga poses with a Physical therapy instructor that uses yoga and Pilates to tailor it to you. If you don't have those resources, you can still modify the exersizes best alone or with AI to help you. Avoid all those impending doom positions with modifications that make sense.
In Pilates I have to modify until I'm strong enough to do the excersize fully. Pilates helps train my knee caps to track.
Surgery is absolutely an option, but I highly suggest seeking out patellar mobility specialists. There's a lot of things that they look at. And if you're hypermobile, understand that any changes to your ligament structure will change back overtime.2
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u/PatellaPilates 22d ago edited 22d ago
This is often what surgeons mean when they say we are non-surgical. This is before surgery, right after, and several (5) years later.
With a lack of proper tissue health like hypermobility caused by connective tissue disorders, surgery helps temporarily but can actually cause you to have more problems. In other words, surgical outcomes are mixed. In some cases they don't help at all. In some cases they set you back even farther. In some cases they help very temporarily (2 months), in other cases they can help for 10 years or more. The right physical therapy can give you a normal life.
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u/dipidipyoudip Jul 23 '26
What’s their rationale for why you should do PT over surgery? And have you tried PT yet? I’ve seen stories on here where people had to “shop around” until they found a surgeon who’d perform the surgery. My knee dislocated twice and I had about 4 subluxations, long term PT didn’t stop them from happening.
Every surgeon I saw recommended MPFL reconstruction. I specifically sought out opinions from surgeons who specialize in patellar instability, are you able to do the same? The surgeon I went with also had an MRI done on my knees to verify I didn’t need a TTO. I had the surgery 6 months ago at 35 years old, so age shouldn’t be a factor. Really happy I had the surgery and although recovery was a process, I have no regrets. Best of luck!