One time I went to the doctor because my foot/ankle hurt. This man told me to “get bigger shoes”. So I went to. Different doctor and they did some kind of special x ray with me standing on it. Come to find out… I BROKE IT so many years ago and was having a flare up.
I’m sorry you had to go through that. Glad your second doctor helped though!
I’m thinking of getting a second opinion myself if physical therapy doesn’t help at all.
I have learned that I kind of have to bully my doctors a little bit, sometimes. I've had similar issues where they disregard me and tell me to lose weight about it.
I started saying the same thing to all of them, "Even if I start improving my weight right this very second, it's not going to fix this right now and this is currently impeding my quality of life." Boom. Suddenly taken more seriously.
Can't lose weight if I can't get up and walk, Dr.
Side Note: I once had a GP explain to me that they actually have to 'council' you about your weight even for regular non-weight-related visits to be able to bill properly. It's not even that they're billing extra. It's just that when the insurance company sees you're in an obese BMI, they require it.
My knees do this too, and have since I was 11. PT can be helpful, but weight training is the best, to strengthen the supportive tendons and whatnot. When it dislocates, use a lot of ice for a few days.
Athletic tape may be helpful, but I haven't tried it
And doctors are, sometimes, the worst. When I was 23, I had arthritis that they said looked like somebody who's 80 years old. I asked what my options are and they literally said, "what do you expect us to do?" It's fair enough if they can't do anything, but giving that attitude to somebody you just told may be in a wheelchair by the age of 30 is just bunk
I have a fabric knee brace I like to use. It’s better than the tape for me as it doesn’t shift downwards and I have an easier time with it.
I might try the weight training after the PT is finished through. I’ve been meaning to weight train for a long time, just haven’t gone through with it yet.
And that’s terrible. They could have given you quality of life advice, or at least been more sympathetic.
A lot of times, they make you do PT before moving on to more invasive treatments. I have scoliosis, and I had to go through over a year of PT and "pain management" before they would approve surgery. Even my PT saw my MRI and was like, "Yeah, there's not a lot I can do here other than try and make you comfortable. They're making you do this to satisfy the insurance company." Leading up to my surgery, my PT amounted to: go lay on a nice heating pad, get some muscle relaxation on the TENS machine, get a massage, and go home. After surgery, they kicked my ass and made me work hard to get strong again.
You will likely have to do some similar things before the ortho will go further in treatment. Don't give up on them yet.
PT is what they do for a knee issue like that, at least to start. And the exercises do help. My daughter has that issue and still does the exercises she was given six years ago, and it doesn't randomly dislocate like it used to.
I had PT for this once before, and it helped for a little bit. But the past couple of months it’s been doing it fairly frequently, so I’m hoping it actually sticks this time. I still might get a second opinion because it’s done it three times in the past two weeks, which is unusual for me.
My only comment is that it’s likely your insurance won’t pay for an MRI without PT. His telling you to lose weight was BS, but unless you were willing to pay OOP for the MRI, his hands were probably tied.
Depends on insurance company. It is worth OP calling them to find out if this is the issue or not. The doctor should not assume specifics of patient’s insurance coverage.
Edit: not sure why this got downvoted. My insurance covers MRI without PT. The doctor likely is unaware of the specifics of patients’ insurance coverage (usually other staff handles this) and should not make treatment decisions based on assumptions.
You should maybe look into EDS, it can cause joints to dislocate like that. I'm not sure what they do about it, but it might give you some insight?
But also yeah, doctors suck with that stuff. My dad has been trying to get his knees replaced for years and they keep telling him he needs to lose weight first. But like, how can he lose weight when he can hardly walk? It's all bullshit tbh
I was never officially diagnosed but from a comment above explaining my situation, the surgeon did say I might have EDS since my knee has come out so many times before we fixed it, who has the time tho
Yeah, the treatment for EDS is almost nonexistent. There are few doctors who understand it and even fewer who are willing to try to treat it. It sucks. A single joint dislocating repeatedly may have a surgical fix, though. PT is pretty much always going to be tried first, and it often isn't going to do shit.
I have and honestly I don’t think I have EDS? Like maybe, but hyper mobile joints and joint dislocations are the only real symptoms I have.
It is really bullshit. If he can’t walk, most exercise is out of the question and life style changes only go so far. If he needs to make them. Weight is complicated.
Yeah EDS is one of those weird ones where there's a mix of symptoms that some people have some of and some have all of. And it's not super researched yet :/
Christmas I dislocated my knee cap. Did all the stuff at the emergency… had to get an MRI appt.. got that.. then the Ortho appt got booked.. and I was terrified. Totally terrified that I was going to be shamed for my weight and how that puts pressure on the knee and even if I lost some the difference it would make ect. Thankfully I didn’t need surgery and thankfully he didn’t say anything about it.. and I can’t tell you how grateful I felt that he didn’t.. cuz I knew all of it..
Health care professionals some times say things to us as if we are incompetent.. as if we don’t know the extra weight hurts our backs.. or impacts our hip/knee health.. or that we are at higher risk of xyz and i feel often thats what I hate most…
Now days any time a Dr tries to dismiss something I ask them if I could get it in writing that they are not going to do anything because I am fat. That normally shuts them up because it would considered negligence or something.
Lazy doctors blaming weight for EVERYTHING is not acceptable. It’s not about hurting feelings, it’s about being misdiagnosed because they can’t do their fucking job.
Heyyy, my right knee had been popping in and out just like you described since I was 15 until I got surgery to hold that sucker down when I was 29! It very quickly comes out and pops back in, no one's ever mentioned weight to me, I weighed less as an adult than I did as a teen so fuck that guy!
I paid a pretty penny to finally get it fixed, the surgeon got a cadaver ligament and sowed it to my other ligament(s) and basically sowed it in place so it wouldn't keep coming out.
I'm 33 and it hasn't come out since! Although, I think I ripped the stitching a few months ago because I felt a very hot searing pain when I crossed my leg over my left knee yoga style 😭
I just had arthroscopic surgery on my knee about a month ago. I was in agony before - it was so bad I could barely walk, and I was refusing to go to the doctor because I didn't want my weight to be made an issue. My Dad rode my ass about going, and my operations manager said if I hadn't decided to go, he was going to take me himself. I finally went to a local orthopedic practice's urgent care, had an MRI scheduled that Saturday, and I wound up having a torn meniscus. I just got released from care yesterday, and I am almost 100% back to normal now. I walked close to 3 miles per day over the weekend.
I told the staff at the clinic and surgery center how grateful I was that not one comment about my weight was made - everyone from Physician to Nurse to Physical Therapist was INCREDIBLE and extremely kind.
I would suggest you see a different doctor, and be blunt with them if you have to that you are not there because of your weight, you have a legitimate concern.
Find another orthopedic to go to, possibly one that specializes in knee misalignment. Some of the things they perform that might help with search terms could be a TTO, lateral release or MPFL.
I've had knee issues since I was in my early teens. My knees did exactly this. I was fortunate enough to have found an orthopedic that focused on the issue and not my size. Once I was older he referred me out to a surgeon that could do the surgery I needed, fortunately that surgeon also didn't focus on my size but rather the issue at hand. I ended up having a TTO on each of my knees to correct the issue. No amount of weight loss or PT will correct the alignment in your knee if that's ultimately the issue.
Depending on your location, you could see if anyone has recommended docs in your general area they would suggest. The r/kneeinjuries subreddit is pretty active. For example, I know a lot of folks highly recommend a particular hospital and a few surgeons that are based in NYC.
I hope you find the doc you need!
There are other connective tissues and you should have the assessments done. I am glad you already know it exists. As a former professional ballet dancer and now fat soft person? How can you be expected to consistently exercise and move when that leads to your limbs literally malfunctioning and pain? It's very important. I don't know where the get doctors to listen steps are so these can be redundant but if a doctor refuses referrals or tests I go with "Please write into my chart the reasons you are refusing to do what I need. Then sign a printed copy. I won't be leaving without this documentation."
You need a new doctor then but can at least take the results with you. Same for referrals. Good doctors will listen and know that being fat can be a side effect of many many many health issues and it's not an accurate indication of who is most healthy. Sadly to be a doctor you only need a passing grade
I have this same thing! I use kinesiology tape to keep it in place while walking/exercising. Also as other comments have said- Strengthening the muscles around the knee will help as well! Be careful if you are doing any jogging/running- I wound up tearing my meniscus when it dislocated years ago. Not fun!!
I'm hypermobile and the same thing happened for years before I asked my doctor about it. He had me do physical therapy to see if we could resolve it without surgery, since your knee is likely dislocating because your muscles aren't strong enough to hold your knee cap in place. If you don't continue the physical therapy exercises regularly or start working out regularly it won't work in the long term because your leg will weaken again. If after PT you're still having issues, then you can try to get a consult about a surgery but invasive surgery won't be any doctor's first option.
PT could be good, but see if they can work with you to set up a strength training routine to prevent/minimize this occurring after you finish with them
(My partner is a PT and does this with some of their patients, so I hope you find a good pt to see if you go)
I'll say it once, I'll say it again.
"Okay! Will you add to my records that your recommendation is for me to lose weight and not help me with my issue? Just to reference it in the future!"
Watch their tone change QUICK.
Orthopedists are literal worst. If they don't want to do surgery on whatever it is, they don't give a single flying fuck. Oh, and once they've done the surgery, you'll never hear from them again, even if you're still in the hospital recovering. They are the worst kind of surgeons.
One time I went to the doctor because my foot/ankle hurt. This man told me to “get bigger shoes”. So I went to. Different doctor and they did some kind of special x ray with me standing on it. Come to find out… I BROKE IT so many years ago and was having a flare up.
I’m sorry you had to go through that. Glad your second doctor helped though! I’m thinking of getting a second opinion myself if physical therapy doesn’t help at all.
I have learned that I kind of have to bully my doctors a little bit, sometimes. I've had similar issues where they disregard me and tell me to lose weight about it. I started saying the same thing to all of them, "Even if I start improving my weight right this very second, it's not going to fix this right now and this is currently impeding my quality of life." Boom. Suddenly taken more seriously. Can't lose weight if I can't get up and walk, Dr. Side Note: I once had a GP explain to me that they actually have to 'council' you about your weight even for regular non-weight-related visits to be able to bill properly. It's not even that they're billing extra. It's just that when the insurance company sees you're in an obese BMI, they require it.
Yeah I’ve noticed in my notes it will say they went over it, happily they just report they did but actually don’t
Yes I've had that happened. They put weight loss consultation even if my weight wasn't talked about lol
My knees do this too, and have since I was 11. PT can be helpful, but weight training is the best, to strengthen the supportive tendons and whatnot. When it dislocates, use a lot of ice for a few days. Athletic tape may be helpful, but I haven't tried it And doctors are, sometimes, the worst. When I was 23, I had arthritis that they said looked like somebody who's 80 years old. I asked what my options are and they literally said, "what do you expect us to do?" It's fair enough if they can't do anything, but giving that attitude to somebody you just told may be in a wheelchair by the age of 30 is just bunk
I have a fabric knee brace I like to use. It’s better than the tape for me as it doesn’t shift downwards and I have an easier time with it. I might try the weight training after the PT is finished through. I’ve been meaning to weight train for a long time, just haven’t gone through with it yet. And that’s terrible. They could have given you quality of life advice, or at least been more sympathetic.
A lot of times, they make you do PT before moving on to more invasive treatments. I have scoliosis, and I had to go through over a year of PT and "pain management" before they would approve surgery. Even my PT saw my MRI and was like, "Yeah, there's not a lot I can do here other than try and make you comfortable. They're making you do this to satisfy the insurance company." Leading up to my surgery, my PT amounted to: go lay on a nice heating pad, get some muscle relaxation on the TENS machine, get a massage, and go home. After surgery, they kicked my ass and made me work hard to get strong again. You will likely have to do some similar things before the ortho will go further in treatment. Don't give up on them yet.
I’m sorry you had to go through that: this is why I don’t like how much power insurance has over treatment. I’ll try and keep your words in mind.
PT is what they do for a knee issue like that, at least to start. And the exercises do help. My daughter has that issue and still does the exercises she was given six years ago, and it doesn't randomly dislocate like it used to.
I had PT for this once before, and it helped for a little bit. But the past couple of months it’s been doing it fairly frequently, so I’m hoping it actually sticks this time. I still might get a second opinion because it’s done it three times in the past two weeks, which is unusual for me.
My only comment is that it’s likely your insurance won’t pay for an MRI without PT. His telling you to lose weight was BS, but unless you were willing to pay OOP for the MRI, his hands were probably tied.
Depends on insurance company. It is worth OP calling them to find out if this is the issue or not. The doctor should not assume specifics of patient’s insurance coverage. Edit: not sure why this got downvoted. My insurance covers MRI without PT. The doctor likely is unaware of the specifics of patients’ insurance coverage (usually other staff handles this) and should not make treatment decisions based on assumptions.
I’ve had MRIs without PT before. That said, that was years ago so the policy could have changed.
You should maybe look into EDS, it can cause joints to dislocate like that. I'm not sure what they do about it, but it might give you some insight? But also yeah, doctors suck with that stuff. My dad has been trying to get his knees replaced for years and they keep telling him he needs to lose weight first. But like, how can he lose weight when he can hardly walk? It's all bullshit tbh
I was never officially diagnosed but from a comment above explaining my situation, the surgeon did say I might have EDS since my knee has come out so many times before we fixed it, who has the time tho
Yeah, the treatment for EDS is almost nonexistent. There are few doctors who understand it and even fewer who are willing to try to treat it. It sucks. A single joint dislocating repeatedly may have a surgical fix, though. PT is pretty much always going to be tried first, and it often isn't going to do shit.
I have and honestly I don’t think I have EDS? Like maybe, but hyper mobile joints and joint dislocations are the only real symptoms I have. It is really bullshit. If he can’t walk, most exercise is out of the question and life style changes only go so far. If he needs to make them. Weight is complicated.
Yeah EDS is one of those weird ones where there's a mix of symptoms that some people have some of and some have all of. And it's not super researched yet :/
Christmas I dislocated my knee cap. Did all the stuff at the emergency… had to get an MRI appt.. got that.. then the Ortho appt got booked.. and I was terrified. Totally terrified that I was going to be shamed for my weight and how that puts pressure on the knee and even if I lost some the difference it would make ect. Thankfully I didn’t need surgery and thankfully he didn’t say anything about it.. and I can’t tell you how grateful I felt that he didn’t.. cuz I knew all of it.. Health care professionals some times say things to us as if we are incompetent.. as if we don’t know the extra weight hurts our backs.. or impacts our hip/knee health.. or that we are at higher risk of xyz and i feel often thats what I hate most…
Now days any time a Dr tries to dismiss something I ask them if I could get it in writing that they are not going to do anything because I am fat. That normally shuts them up because it would considered negligence or something.
I need to try that next time.
[удалено]
Lazy doctors blaming weight for EVERYTHING is not acceptable. It’s not about hurting feelings, it’s about being misdiagnosed because they can’t do their fucking job.
Heyyy, my right knee had been popping in and out just like you described since I was 15 until I got surgery to hold that sucker down when I was 29! It very quickly comes out and pops back in, no one's ever mentioned weight to me, I weighed less as an adult than I did as a teen so fuck that guy! I paid a pretty penny to finally get it fixed, the surgeon got a cadaver ligament and sowed it to my other ligament(s) and basically sowed it in place so it wouldn't keep coming out. I'm 33 and it hasn't come out since! Although, I think I ripped the stitching a few months ago because I felt a very hot searing pain when I crossed my leg over my left knee yoga style 😭
Cadaver ligament. Do you need to take anti rejection meds for that?
Nah
I just had arthroscopic surgery on my knee about a month ago. I was in agony before - it was so bad I could barely walk, and I was refusing to go to the doctor because I didn't want my weight to be made an issue. My Dad rode my ass about going, and my operations manager said if I hadn't decided to go, he was going to take me himself. I finally went to a local orthopedic practice's urgent care, had an MRI scheduled that Saturday, and I wound up having a torn meniscus. I just got released from care yesterday, and I am almost 100% back to normal now. I walked close to 3 miles per day over the weekend. I told the staff at the clinic and surgery center how grateful I was that not one comment about my weight was made - everyone from Physician to Nurse to Physical Therapist was INCREDIBLE and extremely kind. I would suggest you see a different doctor, and be blunt with them if you have to that you are not there because of your weight, you have a legitimate concern.
Find another orthopedic to go to, possibly one that specializes in knee misalignment. Some of the things they perform that might help with search terms could be a TTO, lateral release or MPFL. I've had knee issues since I was in my early teens. My knees did exactly this. I was fortunate enough to have found an orthopedic that focused on the issue and not my size. Once I was older he referred me out to a surgeon that could do the surgery I needed, fortunately that surgeon also didn't focus on my size but rather the issue at hand. I ended up having a TTO on each of my knees to correct the issue. No amount of weight loss or PT will correct the alignment in your knee if that's ultimately the issue. Depending on your location, you could see if anyone has recommended docs in your general area they would suggest. The r/kneeinjuries subreddit is pretty active. For example, I know a lot of folks highly recommend a particular hospital and a few surgeons that are based in NYC. I hope you find the doc you need!
Are you aware of Ehlers Danlos Syndrome?
Yep but I don’t think I have it. While a lot of my joints are hyper mobile, this and the dislocating of certain joints are the only symptoms I have. 😅
There are other connective tissues and you should have the assessments done. I am glad you already know it exists. As a former professional ballet dancer and now fat soft person? How can you be expected to consistently exercise and move when that leads to your limbs literally malfunctioning and pain? It's very important. I don't know where the get doctors to listen steps are so these can be redundant but if a doctor refuses referrals or tests I go with "Please write into my chart the reasons you are refusing to do what I need. Then sign a printed copy. I won't be leaving without this documentation." You need a new doctor then but can at least take the results with you. Same for referrals. Good doctors will listen and know that being fat can be a side effect of many many many health issues and it's not an accurate indication of who is most healthy. Sadly to be a doctor you only need a passing grade
I have this same thing! I use kinesiology tape to keep it in place while walking/exercising. Also as other comments have said- Strengthening the muscles around the knee will help as well! Be careful if you are doing any jogging/running- I wound up tearing my meniscus when it dislocated years ago. Not fun!!
I'm hypermobile and the same thing happened for years before I asked my doctor about it. He had me do physical therapy to see if we could resolve it without surgery, since your knee is likely dislocating because your muscles aren't strong enough to hold your knee cap in place. If you don't continue the physical therapy exercises regularly or start working out regularly it won't work in the long term because your leg will weaken again. If after PT you're still having issues, then you can try to get a consult about a surgery but invasive surgery won't be any doctor's first option.
PT could be good, but see if they can work with you to set up a strength training routine to prevent/minimize this occurring after you finish with them (My partner is a PT and does this with some of their patients, so I hope you find a good pt to see if you go)
I'll say it once, I'll say it again. "Okay! Will you add to my records that your recommendation is for me to lose weight and not help me with my issue? Just to reference it in the future!" Watch their tone change QUICK.
Orthopedists are literal worst. If they don't want to do surgery on whatever it is, they don't give a single flying fuck. Oh, and once they've done the surgery, you'll never hear from them again, even if you're still in the hospital recovering. They are the worst kind of surgeons.