It Had to Happen Sooner or Later
I did not tear or necessarily twist the ligaments and tendons around my right knee while playing badminton. I just found out that I have patellofemoral syndrome (a.k.a. Runner's Knee; which is funny because I can't run) secondary to excessive lateral pressure syndrome (or ELPS) secondary to tight lateral retinaculum (I was born with tight knees and with kneecaps facing the wrong way). In English: because my kneecaps are misplaced, they developed their own way of moving that puts pressure on them and causes pain (The Center for Orthopaedics & Sports Medicine, 1999). Also, I am predisposed to arthritis (thanks, Papa!).One of the causes of the pain is "abnormal twisting" of the thigh bone and muscles which may be caused by playing badminton the wrong way. This is why our company doctor strongly discourages badminton. However, according to my sports doctor/orthopedic surgeon, this was not caused by that one badminton game I played with Rit-rit, Coco, Mike and Miguel last Tuesday. This was caused over time (many badminton games?).
The Chester Knee Clinic website describes the "dislocation" of my kneecap as patella maltracking which means that "the kneecap...tends to tilt and glide towards the outside of the knee (subluxation). The patella may slip outwards and stay there, in which case the knee will lock and you will not be able to straighten it." I remember back in college when I used to walk around Alabang for an hour and my knees would suddenly lock. I used to think that I was simply tired and my legs were telling me to take a break.
Fortunately, my "condition" is treatable with physical therapy. Treatment focuses on "re-establishing the normal biomechanical relationship between the patella and the femur" (The Center for Orthopaedics & Sports Medicine, 1999. Can you tell that I think they have the simplest explanations?). It involves a lot of stretching, strengthening the thigh and hip muscles, and changing how I move. It's like learning how to walk again.
In our company, we're forced to stop working and take stretch breaks to avoid repetitive stress injuries like carpal tunnel syndrome. Isn't that so cool? That we're made to drop what we're doing and take a break? And thanks to Google, I read that ELPS can also be caused by sitting in one position for too long. One of the exercises in our stretch breaks makes us get up and walk for a few minutes. These breaks are among the programs I appreciate the most at Chevron, and because of this, I know that my "recovery" will be fully supported.
Marife went to a doctor once who told her to respect pain. Oh, how I respect pain! And how we all need to take care of ourselves.
References:
http://www.arthroscopy.com/sp05032.htm
http://www.drpribut.com/sports/spknees.html
http://familydoctor.org/479.xml
http://www.kneeclinic.info/problems_patello_femoral.php
http://www.kneeguru.co.uk/dictionary/doku.php/e/excessive-lateral-pressure
posted by Calai @ 6:31 PM
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