Constant Knee Pain Issues

by Ashley Eddy
(Oklahoma)

Hello. I'm 15 years old and have been having constant knee issues for the last 4 years. The first time it was injured, I had fallen on the inside of my knee in cheer. I went to a doctor complaining of extreme pain a few weeks later. He put me in a straight leg brace for 1 month. This did nothing for the pain whatsoever. I then did physical therapy for about a month on my own at home. I was still having problems so I went back to the doctor and was told that there was no reason with this injury that I should be having severe pain on the sides of my knee. It was very weak and gave out on me any time I tried to walk fast or participate in any high impact activities.

About 18 months after the first injury, I was running, in a brace, and my foot got caught in a hole and my knee turned so far and hard that it spun my brace over 180 degrees around my leg. The next day I went back to the doctor that I had seen previously, and once again, he could find nothing wrong with it to explain the pain. The only thing that was done was completing 3 months of physical therapy.

Because of there being no actual diagnosis, I just lived with the pain for the next 2 years until it became so severe that I could not walk more than a few feet without falling over. I then went to another doctor for a 2nd opinion on why I was in so much pain. When I arrived there, I was having severe pain on both sides of my kneecap and under it as well. There was also a lot of grinding when I even slightly moved my leg. I had had multiple X-rays and MRIs in past few years, but once again they were done. They both came back clear like the others. The doctor then found that I had a Patellar tilt and needed to have a lateral release. I had this done, and had 3 months of physical therapy afterwards. Now 9 months later, I still am getting no relief at all. Do you have any ideas about why I would still be having issues after a supposedly successful surgery?