6 Facts About That Iffy Knee of Mine

*5-Minute Read*

Many people, in some way or the other, have found out that one of my patellas is unreliable. I call it my "iffy knee." My typical response to questions is something along the lines of "Yes, I'm fine. It's just a little bothersome. I hurt it back in high school." So, I thought I may as well give the full story here.


1) It was slightly problematic pre-injury.

My right knee is the iffy one, but both are double-jointed. I had no idea until my junior year of high school, when I realized that I could easily lift my feet off of the floor with the back of my knees pressed to the ground. It answered my internal question of why it seems more difficult for me to stand still than it does for most others. My knees bend backwards, putting more pressure behind the kneecaps (which, interestingly, is where it feels like the focal point of the pain in my right knee).

2) I thought I was just a little sore.
There was no big fall. No snap, crackle, pop. No instant pain whatsoever. A dull pain just crept up after a dance team practice. Though it did feel a little worse than usual, having an ache after a practice was about as common as having homework to do after school. My legs were once so sore that I was wobbling through an airport; I recuperated in days with no assistance. So I didn't really worry until the next practice a few days later. I was trying to slide into a split when I suddenly felt like I was about to rip some tendon in half. That's when I knew there was something wrong.

3) The timing wasn't exactly ideal.
This was during my senior year of high school. Not being able to do my extracurricular activity at any time would stink. But the year when I'm finally at the grade that rules the campus? That totally reeked. I remember crying one night because I couldn't get past the first few eight-counts of a routine because this leg-cross jump aggravated my knee. I remember saying "Forget it. I'm dancing full-out," at my dance studio... and then felt more pain in physical therapy. (Btw, don't do that.) I remember watching the other girls at so many rehearsals, wishing I could be among them and not sitting on the floor (or in that comfy blue chair). The lowest moment for me was not being able to be a part of the high-kick competition routine, my forte. (Heh, heh, see what I did there, dancers?) There are far worse problems in the world, I know. But I can't say that this wasn't frustrating.

4) There's never been a certain diagnosis.
I'm challenging myself to make this super brief, but bear with me. I saw four different orthopedic doctors. From the MRI, Doc #1 thought it was some wear or a tear in the meniscus. When it didn't really improve, he suggested surgery. Doc #2 didn't suggest the surgery. He had seen the same problem on other people's MRIs, done the surgery, and realized that there was no issue with the meniscus. Doc #3 proposed that it was actually a hip problem that just felt like it radiated from the back of my knee. Doc #4 did an MRI on my hip and found nothing but cam femeroacetubular (who invented that word?) impingement, which is a bump on the hip bone. Yeah, it's not exactly good, but he didn't think it was the culprit behind the pain. After all this, I surmise that I have very slight meniscal wear.   

5) Yes, it still bothers me.
I stopped seeing doctors about it after my freshman year of college, as the pain became very infrequent. I'm grateful to not suffer from chronic pain, and I'm very attuned to how it gets aggravated. Still, I can't always avoid getting stuck in traffic, braking over and over again. I can't always avoid a too-long walk. And I definitely can't avoid a sudden shift in temperature; it hurts even if I don't go outside. Heck, it hurt earlier today for absolutely no reason. 

6) I can only guess on why it happened. 
I hate to say this, but dance had something to do with it. For all four years of high school, I danced for the dance team at least four hours a week and at a studio for at least another three. I don't regret a minute of it, but the sport (yes, it's a sport) is very taxing on your body. I think at least a slight injury is inevitable if you're at it for long enough. I was always quite cautious, but that level lowered when I was at the first dance team practice since coming back from New Jersey. (My family was originally going to relocate there that year, but my parents changed their minds semi-last minute. The story behind that is lengthy enough for its own blog post.) I was on the dance team at the NJ school where I was about to attend. Their dance style was extremely different than my team in Louisiana. In Louisiana, high-kick was one of our commonly used genres. In Jersey, that wasn't really a thing. We were doing more hip-hop and jazz routines, and a lot of the moves required you to go low to the floor. So after bending my knees for months, I suddenly am about to attempt to kick to my face with perfectly straight legs. Now, even though I knew that everyone else would've totally understood me having lower kicks, my mind was set on acting like I had never left Louisiana. Don't push yourself too hard, because I think that's the main reason why I went from sore to injured.   


So, that's my story. Like this blog post on social media or comment down below if you want to hear more about my time in New Jersey! It was quite an experience. 

- Liv