Continuing from my previous post; I went to the Ortho with the MRI films today. He said what I had suffered was a Patellar dislocation (knee cap dislocation) and that my ACL was fine.
This means the main shock absorbers in my knee are fine. However, my knee cap could dislocate in the future again. Since this was the first time it has happened, he suggested a non-operative treatment with physical therapy for 4-6 weeks! Luckily, there is a therapy place close to where I am staying right now and I hope to join there. Till then, its one more week of rest and working from home.
Between all my visits to the doctors, I was able to get to know a lot of cab drivers. I learnt that almost everybody or someone in their family had knee dislocations and, a lot of them are unable to do anything about it since they cannot afford medical insurance! This was quite disturbing to me. One cab driver had torn all his ligaments and was living with it. Living with twice or thrice the pain I am complaining about. And for 5 years! He wears a double knee-brace, but he says he frequently dislocates his knee. I wonder why the US Govt. cannot give the poor free treatment. There are a lot of charitable hospitals in India. I like India for such culture.
For those who are lucky to not have had knee problems, its great, but please be cautious. Your knees are very important to you and also quite susceptible to injuries. They take 7 times our bodyweight during strenuous activity. This even includes climbing down stairs! To prevent knee injuries, make sure you do a host of knee strengthening exercises before any sports/strenuous activity. Its also good to do this generally. Take care!
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