Anyone Else had Knee Surgery for Dislocation?

[Cinnamonbite]

I had surgery done back in the 70s when I was a kid.  Didn't really think about it at the time, being all of 11 or so.  It served me well.  Ran track in high school because they promised me that I'd have arthritis so bad by 30 that I'd not be able to walk.

Yeah, somehow, at 11, that's like forever away and by 30 you're pretty much dead of old age anyway, right?

 

So I'm way past 30, no arthritis, makes a lot of noise, but there's no pain...UNTIL I DO SQUATS, which is why I stopped doing them for a year.  It goes like this: I squat heavy, it's fine but the next day it aches and it gets worse and a week out, it hurts to move the joint and hurts to even jostle the leg and then it starts giving out on me.  Using the toilet becomes problematic because I can't get up or down.

Has anyone else had that surgery?  It's the one called, "medical imbrication/reefing."  They took all the muscles on one side (the quad) and attached them to the other side to hold the patella in place.  So I'm not built like a human anymore and my questions are:

1) Should I push through the pain because it'll get better?  Anyone have any experience with this?  I don't know if I'm causing permanent damage or not. 

2) If I never do squats again, will I cause more problems because I AM doing deadlifts and I'll have uneven stress which could lead to injury?  I've always read about weak muscles causing problems that way.  I'm powerlifting so it's all about the heaviest weight possible.  FYI-I have utterly no use for the girly-girl light weights with high reps that lead no where.  It is not an option. 

 

I'd hate to quit again if it's going to get better from lifting.  For years I've been trying to find some exercise that worked just like a squat but isn't a squat.  For instance, I can do wall squats, but they don't build any muscle, making them utterly worthless.  I can do body weight squats and light weight squats, but again, that doesn't build any muscle either so that's all worthless.  I can even run for miles and miles and the knee never bothers me in the slightest.  Last year I hiked the Grand Canyon again and it was just fine, but I squat heavy and it's the freakin' end of the world.  There must be a way around it.

 

So if there's a way to squat without bothering my knee and you know what it is, Oh PLEASE let me know!    If you've had the same surgery and you've had the same pain and know that it goes away after a month, let me know and I'll buckle down and push through it. 

 

 

[Spider-Dan]

Hey CB,

So, two years ago I dislocated my knee in a gymnastics accident. I had surgery to remove some cartilage and smooth out my patella. I have had similar experience with knee pain since. A couple of things with squats:

- Don't go beyond a 90 degree bend. You are just putting too much stress on the knee that way.

- when at the top of your squat, don't lock your knee out completely.

These are the two things my Ortho told me when I asked the same question you did.

[Cinnamonbite]

Huh.  It could be a lock out problem.  Good point!  Thanks, I'll try it.

[Spider-Dan]

No problem. : )