PolarBear60
Former BoneSmart staff member
- Joined
- Feb 22, 2015
- Messages
- 4,620
- Age
- 66
- Location
- Central Texas
- Gender
- Female
- Country
United States
Hi, kbueno44! Yes, I did have a cracked patella (to differentiate from a complete break). It happened in mid-January when I leaned slightly forward to put my laptop bag on the passenger seat floor of my truck. I heard a loud crack and experienced mild discomfort -- especially when climbing stairs. I got in to see my OS a week later, and he took x-rays. That's when he told me I'd fractured my patella, and he put me into an immobilizer brace.
He checked via x-ray every couple of weeks to verify healing. He allowed me to drive to Mississippi the next week but sternly cautioned me to not do any lifting without my brace locked in, and when I got back from the trip, he strongly encouraged me to rest my knee as much as possible, or I might need surgery to repair the patella. I took that very seriously and spent most of the next three months not driving unless I needed to and sitting in my recliner with my footrest up. I wore the brace 24/7 and only took it off to dress, undress, and shower. Thankfully, it was a comfortable brace, so I didn't mind doing this until the last couple days. I think I wore the brace until mid-April. As a side note, I gave a lot more weight to resting and elevating for the patella than I did for my TKR.
My patella has done well. My OS asked me not to do any squats for 4-5 months to ensure I didn't stress the still healing patella. That took me until September. I consider myself able to do anything I want to do at this point, and have had no problems.
(Since I see I'd already been tagged, I copied my PM back to you here so everyone can benefit). Please let me know if you have further questions. I'll help the best I can.
He checked via x-ray every couple of weeks to verify healing. He allowed me to drive to Mississippi the next week but sternly cautioned me to not do any lifting without my brace locked in, and when I got back from the trip, he strongly encouraged me to rest my knee as much as possible, or I might need surgery to repair the patella. I took that very seriously and spent most of the next three months not driving unless I needed to and sitting in my recliner with my footrest up. I wore the brace 24/7 and only took it off to dress, undress, and shower. Thankfully, it was a comfortable brace, so I didn't mind doing this until the last couple days. I think I wore the brace until mid-April. As a side note, I gave a lot more weight to resting and elevating for the patella than I did for my TKR.
My patella has done well. My OS asked me not to do any squats for 4-5 months to ensure I didn't stress the still healing patella. That took me until September. I consider myself able to do anything I want to do at this point, and have had no problems.
(Since I see I'd already been tagged, I copied my PM back to you here so everyone can benefit). Please let me know if you have further questions. I'll help the best I can.
