Finally, many years of knee pain has caught up with me. I have had enough of walking up and down stairs compensating and grimacing, limping around after a run, not being able to jump, and now demonstrating a simple bodyweight lunge to clients has become a problem I can no longer ignore. No amount of strengthening, foam rolling, stretching or balancing can correct the dysfunction; it’s time for surgical intervention.
I first recognised my right knee pain when I was 17 years old representing the Victorian Institute of Sport in the sport of indoor volleyball. Back then I was diagnosed with patella tracking malalignment. A very typical injury for a jumping sport when muscles are developing and a lot of impact is put through them when both jumping and landing. The injury itself was never bad enough for me to discontinue playing the sport but I remember it always there lingering even at my peak in the Australian team.
Physiotherapy visits were aplenty throughout my volleyball career as were many other allied health practitioners even after I retired. I never managed to get totally rid of the pain but it was low level enough that I could manage most things. As a personal trainer I was determined to try every exercise I could find that might get me to 100%.
Now at the ripe age of 38 (but who’s counting?) the pain has reached a point that has too great of an impact on my life for the things I want to be able to do. So after several doctors’ visits, scans and a four month wait to see a specialist, it was discovered that my kneecap was sitting tilted therefore placing wear and tear under the kneecap and the formation of a cyst. So it is confirmed that I will be having a lateral release operation (re-positioning of my kneecap), removal of the cyst and a general arthroscope of the knee joint. It now all makes sense to me! Even my surgeon asked why I waited this long to have it fixed! I think I’ll be learning many valuable lessons from this whole experience.
This will be my first operation (if I don’t include the removal of my wisdom teeth) and I can’t help but feel apprehensive even though I’m in good hands. For the last two months I have been doing pre-habilitation exercises so that my muscles are active and strong and my recovery time is as quick as possible. Two more weeks to go and I am definitely counting…
Stay tuned to follow my journey!
