Struggling 11 Months Post Op
I’m not looking for medical advice just to see if anyone has had similar experiences. I’m about 11 months post op from an MPFL reconstruction. I’m still having really weird symptoms. I have full range of motion and most of my strength back (92% on testing) though my operative leg is definitely still smaller.
The big things I’m struggling with are just this constant grinding/popping in my knee. Sometimes when I get out of the car I have to extend it and let it pop before I can even get out. It even kind of gets lightly stuck sometimes like I can move it but it starts to thump and then will “release” and snap back to normal. The light popping and grinding is pretty much constant at this point whether it’s going downstairs or squatting or even pedaling on the bike.
The other thing is the weird residual stiffness or maybe it’s pressure in my knee. I feel it mostly on the inner side where the surgery was. I wear a knee sleeve a lot just to distract from the weird tightness I feel.
So I went back to the doctor and got x rays and they showed this weird mildly displaced fracture and some Heterotopic ossification on my femur where it was drilled. My surgeon says it’s nothing to worry about, but it seems pretty obvious on imaging and makes me concerned that it might be a cause for my slow recovery. They told me to just go back to PT and work it out.
Has anyone else with this surgery had a similar story or have tips? I’m torn at this point between is it just my muscles need even more work or is it an actual problem that I need another opinion on.