knee pain - does this sound familiar or would this concern you?

[echoesofspring]

DD was out sick yesterday (and again today), and last night we were working on making her bed warmer as part of her problem yesterday was being cold. Her mattress is on the floor atm (her choice) so she was sitting/half laying in a bit of an awkward position as she was putting the sheets on. Suddenly she screamed and said she had hurt her knee. She seemed in so much pain I thought for sure she had pierced it with something or hit it funny somehow, she kept screaming and saying help me but then when I tried and lightly touch it that seemed to make things worse, and then suddenly she 'fixed' it somehow. Like it was dislocated and she had put it back into position. I mentioned it to DH this morning (somehow he missed the whole thing) and he said sometimes this has happened to him, but I can't recall ever experiencing anything like it. (I had Osgood-Schllater for a while as a tween/teen, it was very painful at the time, but went away and doesn't seem related to this at all).

Does this experience sound familiar to you or would you be concerned? Would you ask about this at the Drs? More generally I feel like she has a lower pain tolerance, this isn't to minimize her pain, I just am often surprised by how big her reaction is, sometimes it makes me wonder if there's some other underlying issue. (I truly believe it's pain and not drama, although we have quite a bit of that too). Appreciate your wisdom!

[mackmama]

In the moment were you able to tell if her knee looked any different? Could be a possible subluxation. Is she very flexible? I’d mention it to doc so they could check her joints for extra flexibility (thinking about ehlers danlos). Otherwise could just be a random tweak.

[gobadgers]

I think this happens to me once in a while - did it happen while her knee was bent? Mine happens if it's bent all the way and has some pressure on it or a little twist, such as kneeling. It is SO PAINFUL until it pops back (usually by straightening my leg). Then, it's sore for a few days and more likely to happen again in the next week or two.

I don't have any advice though, because I've never had it looked at. Gah.

[echoesofspring]

Thank you mackmama for those medical terms, I wasn't even sure how to describe it and that will be helpful when we go to the dr. She had pj's on and didn't want me to look at it once it was better, so I couldn't get a good view of it.

did it happen while her knee was bent?

Yes! She had been sitting crosslegged and then kind of rolled over as she was trying to get the sheet on and it happened as part of all that moving around. So helpful to hear you've had a similar experience, thank you! I'll check with her when she wakes up today and see if it's till hurting and if it's swollen or anything.

[Liziz]

No personal experience with this, but I was talking with my Dad not that long ago and he described something like this with his knee (that has happened on and off his whole life).....so maybe it's a thing? It sounded crazy to me, but as he's made it to his 70's without any other related issues, I just figured it's one of those weird body things. I'd consider it something worth mentioning to the doctor next time you see her, but if it doesn't keep happening and there's no other associated symptoms I'd probably not worry about it.

[MSWR0319]

DS's knee groove isn't deep enough and his knees do sublux. It happened while doing the breast stroke and also shooting a basketball. It could very well be a partial subluxation that went back into place. DS said it's so painful. He's had surgery on one knee to tighten it up and it doesn't do it anymore. So it could be a fluke, something with the structure or her knees, or I also thought of Ehlers Danlos.

[KpbS]

My DD has hyoermobility in her shoulders and they sublux. It is very uncomfortable! Once she dislocated one during a practice and it was super painful. She was able to get it back in place.

[dogmom]

I would take it seriously enough not to minimize her pain. (I would have to suppress eye rolls, but I would do it.) Then I would ask her to let me know if it happens again and have her to pay attention to the movements. It if happens again it’s worth going to the DR. They can do an exam and any imaging and even consider PT. Especially for girls I think it’s important to not play down pain symptoms. And I say this that as someone who gets mocked, still, for not taking my son to the emergency room when he couldn’t walk. (Still not an emergency in my eyes. He was breathing, hemodynamically stable and had no acute injury.)