Son Dislocated Knee :(

ouch!
sounds like you're handling everything the same way i would.
deal with the individual discomforts as best you can, give him a little extra pampering, be understanding if the pain and enforced immobility make him crabby.
khairete
S.

I have had about 2 dozen dislocations of my kneecap. I actually just finally had surgery to address my knee issues in the last year. (My kneecaps did not track properly which caused my knee to painfully dislocated many times throughout my life).

When my knee dislocated I was always able to walk without crutches. I would have swelling and some times my knee wouldn't straighten all the way so I walked on my toes. I was given physical therapy to help recover. I was also given cortisone injections to reduce the inflammation. I was never given a leg immobizer until I had surgery.

Has your son had an MRI? I am wondering if during the dislocation he tore something. His symptoms seem extreme to me having suffered through so many dislocation myself.

Best of luck!

Edit...the X-ray only shows if a bone is broken or dislocated. Meniscus tears, ACL tears, torn off cartilage floating in the knee etc. are seen on an MRI. Fingers crossed nothing is torn!!!

Not sure about a dislocated knee, but as for the showering - a medical supply place (the kind that sells wheelchairs, cushions, crutches, etc) will have a shower chair for a relatively small price (we got ours for less than $40). The one we got was backless, just a simple stool that the person could sit on so as to avoid standing in the shower. Just look up medical supplies online in your area - you might even be able to rent one.

Also, larger pharmacies sell a baby wipe type of thing, but it's for adults, it's much larger, more durable, and it's intended for just what you described - whole body cleaning when a bath or shower just isn't practical.

Or you might have a plastic chair you can put in the shower that he can sit on so he can shower by himself. The downside to that is that it can be bulky and if someone else shares that shower, they have to remove the chair and if it's a small bathroom, that might be a tight fit. The shower stool is narrow and easy to move around.

I hope he recovers quickly.

your doing great, the only big thing i would watch for is depression. encourage him to stay in contact with his friends and to get up and around more when his knee allows.

You have gotten good responses to your question about the knee. I haven't had a knee problem only other medical issues but not bones. My son did break his toe the pinkie toe on his left foot playing football in high school and wore a cast for about 10 weeks. We had to replace the cast each week (walking one) as they didn't survive his activity.

My friend's daughter had this happen and it is still not healed and it has been about three months. The PT gave her exercises to do before surgery can be scheduled and she has about two more degrees to do and then they will schedule the procedure.

She loves horses and she was walking next to the horse and her knee went out. She has two kids, a job, husband, horses and a home and she is 29.

I wish your son well with his recovery. Try to help where possible. Let him know you still love him and give him encouragement. Do keep us posted on his progress.

the other S.

Have only dealt with a cast. But you can/should just get a bench for the shower so he can shower sitting down.

My son was at football practice and a player tackled his knee from the side. It was not dislocated but his knee did fill with fluid and was swollen. He had a brace as well. The killer for us was that he couldn't drive. So dad dropped him off as he went to work. We had to make sure to keep Ice on his knee, round the clock IB, and then I made him go get physical therapy. The therapy really helped him. This happened mid football season (which was very depressing for my son as it was his senior year and was not able to play) we are going on 5 months. The pain is not there, but it still bothers him when he runs. Getting to physical therapy for him is what helped the most. His body got the practice care it needed and talking with the therapists distracted the pain.
Good luck and hope for a quick recovery. Once he is able to move it encourage him to keep it moving.

reschedule that vacation! Even in a wheelchair &/or brace, he'll be miserable. The flight will also be a challenge for him. :(

Based on that "dizzy & weak" comment, I would seriously start pushing to be seen before Friday. Sounds like more is going on than just a dislocated knee. ERs are not always the best facility to dx an orthopedic injury. & as someone else mentioned, please try to use a pediatric orthopedist!

My experiences are based on my older son's 18 years of orthopedic tx....Good Luck!!

Ouch. Look, there's no way to speed up inflammation reduction unless you're getting in the new natural anti-inflammatory (not a drug) - usually it's RICE: rest, ice, maybe compression (ask them though!), and elevation. That takes time. You have to be careful with things like ibuprofen and other NSAIDS because they can cause swelling (my husband, for example, gets really swollen ankles and feet so we do the natural one that's had clinical studies, with much better results).

You should be talking about rehab and PT but you won't know anything until you see the doctor. If you haven't seen a specialist of some sort, do so. Sometimes an orthopedist, sometimes a sports med/osteopath is a good bet. I agree about a better imaging, but it's actually good to wait a week or so before doing that, just to see what's what after the initial "popping into place."

I see your SWH re the spring break trip - I can tell you now that he's not going to be able to handle a lot of walking. So all the parks have wheelchairs and you absolutely will need to rent/use one. Bonus - you can hang all your backpacks on the chair, and you'll get to the head of most lines. He can still "crutch" his way into seats once he's at an attraction, but there's no way to manage all that walking and standing, especially being jostled by other crowds. You may also need this for the airport - but again, you'll get to probed, so there are benefits. Find out from the airline if you need any documentation from the doctor - probably not.

Borrow a shower chair and get him in a shower to bathe. He will feel better, a LOT better.

I suggest dad help him get there and stay in there to help him wash the parts he can't reach because he's sitting on a seat/bench seat.

This is guy time for sure.

I had knee surgery due to torn meniscus and torn ligaments. I was in physical therapy for a year. I still have staples in there because I chickened out when it was time to remove them. I'd already had so much pain from the surgery. I had over a hundred stitches inside, under the skin, then had 20+ on the surface, the lazy S incision. I used a brace for that year because if I fell or damaged that knee in any way I'd have been in a brace the rest of my life, no surgical repair would help. My knee was that badly damaged.

So a dislocated knee cap seems like it would be an easy fix, a few weeks of working to get it better then life goes on. If he's done more to it then he will have to adjust and so will you.

BTW, I am assuming you are going to a pediatric ortho doc, right? A regular pediatrician would NOT be who I'd take a kid to see for this.