Tips for hyperlaxity in knee
March 7, 2021 5:09 PM Subscribe
I have hyperlaxity/hypermobility in both knees. Have forever, formally diagnosed by an orthopod in 2018. My left knee has been “going out” (bending slightly backwards) a LOT more often recently. A few times a week instead of once or twice a month. Walking down stairs or just standing there and it happens. After it happens my knee hurts for a while. What can I do to prevent this or alleviate it?
I am asking for tips from fellow sufferers. I am not interested in being told to see a doctor. I am super overweight and every doctor I have ever been to for anything has always focused on my weight. I acknowledge that losing weight would help this problem, but I will not lose 170# by next week.
If you suggest a knee brace please provide links to ones that will fit a size 28 thigh. I have never found one that actually fits or stays up.
I am asking for tips from fellow sufferers. I am not interested in being told to see a doctor. I am super overweight and every doctor I have ever been to for anything has always focused on my weight. I acknowledge that losing weight would help this problem, but I will not lose 170# by next week.
If you suggest a knee brace please provide links to ones that will fit a size 28 thigh. I have never found one that actually fits or stays up.
This is how I broke my leg last summer, sharply and rapidly hyperextending my knee just walking and turning around because I forgot something. It had been getting worse over a couple of months, happening with more frequency over time. So you definitely want to intervene NOW before you get to enjoy that adventure.
The break was tiny and clean (I mean it hurt but it was non-complex), but I distressed every bit of soft tissue in my knee and that was months of recovery after the bone healed.
I really struggled with all the brace options - I am also large, and IF I could keep something on it was painful and circulation-constricting to try to sit down with it as I couldn't elevate (when sitting in a chair for work) without the leverage trying to re-hyperextend my knee.
I got a decent amount of (non-slipping!) relief wearing this patellar strap, but with the pressure pad rotated out to cover my LCL (which connects to the fibula that I broke and was the most painful and most damaged of the soft tissue). It's not a lot of support, but it did make a difference for me in frequency of dangerous flexes.
From there, all the physical therapy exercises you'd get in person you can find on youtube. I used various videos from AskDoctorJo.
posted by Lyn Never at 6:37 PM on March 7, 2021 [1 favorite]
The break was tiny and clean (I mean it hurt but it was non-complex), but I distressed every bit of soft tissue in my knee and that was months of recovery after the bone healed.
I really struggled with all the brace options - I am also large, and IF I could keep something on it was painful and circulation-constricting to try to sit down with it as I couldn't elevate (when sitting in a chair for work) without the leverage trying to re-hyperextend my knee.
I got a decent amount of (non-slipping!) relief wearing this patellar strap, but with the pressure pad rotated out to cover my LCL (which connects to the fibula that I broke and was the most painful and most damaged of the soft tissue). It's not a lot of support, but it did make a difference for me in frequency of dangerous flexes.
From there, all the physical therapy exercises you'd get in person you can find on youtube. I used various videos from AskDoctorJo.
posted by Lyn Never at 6:37 PM on March 7, 2021 [1 favorite]
I've mostly dealt with hyperextension of my knees (losing tracking on my kneecap due to loose ligaments), but I've found that strengthening the muscles around the knee itself is really helpful. These exercises are pretty similar to what my physical therapist recommended to me.
Take this with a HUGE grain of salt, since I am not an expert in any way or a medical professional (and none of those folks have ever advised me to do this), but something that has helped me over the years is to regularly check in with the way that I'm standing. I try to never "lock" my knees and I keep my knees a bit bent as a default standing position. I also move pretty slowly when I'm taking large movements in my legs (going from standing up sitting all the way down on the floor, for example). If my knees are feeling a bit wobbly, I'll walk with my knees slightly bent even when fully extending my leg.
If you're working on tightening the muscles around the knees, it might also be worth getting a foam roller and making sure that you're relaxing those muscles as well. (That was part of my physical therapy - I'd do some quad/leg exercises with bands and then the therapist would help me roll out those muscles. You can use a foam roller on your own, too.)
Hypermobility sucks and can be super painful. I hope you get some relief soon - good luck!
posted by abry0 at 6:58 PM on March 7, 2021 [2 favorites]
Take this with a HUGE grain of salt, since I am not an expert in any way or a medical professional (and none of those folks have ever advised me to do this), but something that has helped me over the years is to regularly check in with the way that I'm standing. I try to never "lock" my knees and I keep my knees a bit bent as a default standing position. I also move pretty slowly when I'm taking large movements in my legs (going from standing up sitting all the way down on the floor, for example). If my knees are feeling a bit wobbly, I'll walk with my knees slightly bent even when fully extending my leg.
If you're working on tightening the muscles around the knees, it might also be worth getting a foam roller and making sure that you're relaxing those muscles as well. (That was part of my physical therapy - I'd do some quad/leg exercises with bands and then the therapist would help me roll out those muscles. You can use a foam roller on your own, too.)
Hypermobility sucks and can be super painful. I hope you get some relief soon - good luck!
posted by abry0 at 6:58 PM on March 7, 2021 [2 favorites]
Hi! There is a brace designed to stop knee hypertension, the one I’ve seen is called CHECK by Allard. I’m not sure of the size range. The patient I had that had one went through an orthotist (brace maker).
Meaning, you might need a prescription from a doctor and then to go see an orthotist to have one fit and adjusted for you.
posted by ticketmaster10 at 7:27 PM on March 7, 2021
Meaning, you might need a prescription from a doctor and then to go see an orthotist to have one fit and adjusted for you.
posted by ticketmaster10 at 7:27 PM on March 7, 2021
I wore ?kinetic? tape on an overstretched ankle that I kept rolling - it doesn’t hold you together, but you can put it on so you feel the tape pull before the ligament goes. Useful to retrain movements as abry0 describes. I don’t know where you’d put it on a knee, though.
posted by clew at 12:39 AM on March 8, 2021
posted by clew at 12:39 AM on March 8, 2021
I’m hypermobile as well and adore Hypermobile Yogis. One of the ladies behind it is a physical therapist who’s studied hypermobility extensively. The knees portion of their Superhuman Training course happens to be available on preview, so you can try the ~20 mins of video for free and see if it helps.
posted by saltypup at 10:31 PM on March 8, 2021 [1 favorite]
posted by saltypup at 10:31 PM on March 8, 2021 [1 favorite]
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I did not need surgery for the completely torn ligament (which the podiatrist said I needed) and the surgeon I saw for the second opinion was very happy to hear that I was already doing rehab (aka prehab).
The best way to prevent further problems is to strengthen the muscles in the area(s) so they can help the ligaments and tendons pick up the....uh...slack.
I’m still having physical therapy. If that is accessible to you, I 100% recommend it. There are also videos online of PT exercises. The best tip from my physical therapist is that having just 3 or 4 home exercises rather than a whole huge long routine is more effective because humans are more likely to start and complete the small set.
posted by bilabial at 5:27 PM on March 7, 2021 [1 favorite]