Knee Pain Relief : Patella Subluxation

Your kneecap, otherwise known as the patella, is one of three bones located at your knee joint. Each of these bones is layered with cartilage at the points where their surfaces comes into contact. The patellar tendon envelopes the patella, connecting the quadricips muscle to the shin bone (at the tibial tuberosity), below the knee.

Now that you know a little about the patella, Let's talk about Patella Subluxation...

What is patellar subluxation?

To understand how your kneecap can sublux, it is important to understand how it normally moves through a range of motion. Then we can understand the abnormal subluxation movement of the kneecap even better.

Your patella slides up and down a groove on the end of your thigh bone (femur) as your knee bends. The name of this groove is the "trochlea". The kneecap is designed to fit in the center of the trochlea as it evenly slides up and down during movement of the knee. Some individuals suffer a patellar subluxation when the kneecap is pulled toward the outside (laterally) of the knee. When the knee is pulled toward the outside, you can guess what happens; a patellar subluxation.

Basically, the term patellar subluxation occurs when the knee cap does not slide centrally within the groove on your thigh bone.

This tracking problem causes discomfort and pain at the sides of the knee cap with activity. Usually, adolescents and younger children are the ones who suffer from these dislocation.

Reasons why patellar subluxation can happen :

1.) A shallow trochlea, (or groove) for the knee cap

2.) Gain deviations (an abnormal walking pattern)


What are some other reasons why you might be experiencing knee pain?

Typically, kneecap pain is caused by chondromalacia. This is characterized by an irritation to the undersurface of the knee cap. Patellar subluxation and chondromalacia can be associated problems, but they are indeed seperate issues.
Chondromalacia can be caused by patellar subluxation, and if this happens, the instability of the knee cap should be addressed.

How do you help treat a patellar subluxation?

Initially, it is important to make sure that your patella is not dislocated. This is different from having an ustable kneecap. Your physician can determine this by examing your knee. X-Rays are also a useful method by which your physician might use to determine whether your knee cap is in or out of its groove. - Patient's who have suffered a kneecap dislocation might need to have it reduced (or repositioned).

Physical Therapy

Strengthening your hip abductors and hip flexors (also known as pelvic stabilization exercises) appears to help control the knee cap, better than traditional ideas of strengthening the VMO (vastus medialis obliquus).

Knee Braces

The DonJoy Lateral J knee brace is also used to help control the lateral displacement of the patella. A lateral butress is used to to hold the knee more in place as you move through a natural range of motion.

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