I'm new around here, but have finally gathered the courage to start my own thread, after tagging along on other (very helpful) people's for a few days...
Necessity is what's making me bolder:
I could really use some input from people who have knowledge about medial patellar instability, especially about which exercises you have found to be helpful.
I was diagnosed on January 17th just some five weeks ago. I had a (very-)failed lateral release in May of '07 (that's almost 10 months ago). The doc that dx the medial subluxation recommended that I try for several months to make my thigh muscles stronger. He said just to try to strengthen the whole leg, and hope that the muscles will then be strong enough to do not only their usual part in stabilizing the patella, but also the job of the passive stabilizers (that have been damaged by the lateral release).
He gave me a patellar stabilizing brace, which he said I should wear "upside down": with the buttress against the medial edge of the patella, then exercise away...
I have not yet tried out this advice, for the following reason:
In the beginning of January I had just started a trial of the Protonics brace with a new therapist has anyone heard of it or had any experience? Anyway, I went back to my PT with the new diagnosis, and she convinced me to continue to give the Protonics a try, and if that failed, to then try the new doctor's advice. I tried it at her clinic and it seemed to be helping, so I ordered it. It took a while to arrive and by then I had started to have a few problems... Well, then last week (just ten days after my brace had arrived) the PT said to me: "oh, by the way... did I tell you that I'm quitting next week?" GGGGRRRRRR!
OK. To try to make a super-long story a little less painful: here I am. I think I will have to give up on the Protonics, because it had taken me 6 weeks of searching in my region to find someone who had experience with that brace, and now, after a week trying again, we're all drawing blanks. So I will now try to follow the advice of the out-of-town doctor who dx my medial instability...
Any suggestions?? I would really, really appreciate any input!
And if you've reached this far into my post… Thank you for your patience and sorry if I abused it!!
Hugs to all,
Clippity-clopper
Hello. I am adding this on July 13, 2009.
I've decided today to include here--with my first post--a copy of the section of the post I wrote on April 21, 2009.
That is where I talk about the one treatment I received which was what finally "fixed" me.
I am doing this for those of you who have come here looking for help with your failed lateral release -- to spare you guys from having to go through the whole "soap opera" from February of 2008 to April of 2009 just to try to fish out the answer to what might help you get better.
I have also included my email address with my signature, below. If anyone has any questions about difficulties post-lateral release, please do feel free to email me, or PM here.
I'll do whatever I can to help.
All the best,
A.
(formerly "Angela ClippedWings")
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Link to that post:
viewtopic.php?p=450806#p450806
April 21, 2009, 12:45:16 pm --
In just a couple of weeks I will be "celebrating" the second anniversary of my ill-fated lateral release.
I developed medial patellar subluxation soon after that surgery, but did not have it diagnosed until more than eight months later. It is a rare condition, and therefore hard for anyone but the most experienced patellofemoral specialists to recognize.
There was quite a bit of controversy over that diagnosis, and also on to how I should be treated.
From the whole experience, reading a ton of peer-reviewed literature, and talking to many very helpful experts, I realized that not much is known, by anyone, about how to treat this.
Options of surgical fixes are all pretty much still experimental at this stage and, therefore, risky.
(I did locate an orthopaedic surgeon who would have been my first choice, had I opted to have the lateral release repaired--and who still is my choice, if I ever change my mind... He knows and understands more about the patellofemoral joint than just about anyone alive, and is, in my opinion and in that of all of his past and present patients I have heard from, a wonderful person: extremely intelligent, honest to a fault, caring, witty, and tremendously passionate about patellofemoral issues. I will not post his name here, but will gladly give his coordinates to anyone who PMs or emails me!)
It was therefore very fortunate that, after searching for nearly a year and a half, trying at least a half dozen unfortunate options, and asking half the world about it, I was able to find a Physical Therapist who had the knowledge, interest, and instincts needed to be able to help me.
He put me through an intensive program at his clinic. I worked with him (or occasionally, his associates) for six days a week, two to three hours a day.
We worked mainly on:
- quad strengthening - concentrating on the VL
- electrical muscle stimulation - concentrating on the VL
- tons and tons of proprioception exercises
- very specific stretching
- and loads of core strengthening
At the end of three months, my improvement was phenomenal, and I was able to return to work as a flight attendant! This after almost two years away from the job I love (and which, BTW, I had been doing full time for ten years, and up until the very week before my surgery)...After being screamed at by the surgeon who did my lateral release that I would "never be a flight attendant again", and to "go to pain management and vocational training!"
But I was hoping that by finally having the right diagnosis (medial subluxations) and getting the right advice for exercises, I might start feeling a little better… 
