Dislocated Knee

[CassiesMum]

Hi Everyone,

Emotional plea, DD is in first year degree MT and has suffered a dislocated knee, as you can imagine we are all upset & hoping for the best possible outcome. There is no tear in the ligament which is good news but I wondered if anyone out there has suffered a similar injury & can offer any advice. We feel so upset for her to have achieved a place at her dream school & have this happen. Thanks so much in advance x

[Caroline A-C]

I am pretty sure that a girl in my ds's year at Arts Ed had some sort of injury during her first year. She took the rest of the year off and was allowed to start the course the following September. Have you approached the college to see what they can do? Hope your dd is on the mend soon x

[2dancersmum]

so sorry to hear of your DD's injury. I can well imagine she must be feeling gutted right now.

My first piece of advice is to follow the medical advice given so that her injury can heal properly - probably a given - but she does not want to rush back into dance and risk further injury.

Secondly - keep lines of communication open with her college to see what is best for your DD in her situation. It may be that she can defer some dance assessments but continue with vocal and acting classes etc. One of my DD's friends suffered with one of her knees throughout the first year of her MT course. She had an operation at the end of July and returned to college in the September. She was still able to do all the vocal and acting parts of her course, although it was November before she could join in the dance classes again. This, as I say, was an operation, not a dislocation so recovery times were probably longer but the point is she was able to continue with her course - and graduate - and is now working as a singer/dancer.

So although it feels like the end of the world, its not! Wishing your DD a speedy recovery.

Edited to add - if you do a search on 'injury', you might find other threads with peoples experiences. My DD has known quite a few people from different colleges who suffered injury and I remember outlining for another poster how different colleges and students had dealt with things

[Pearl]

Hi my dd dislocated her knee cap 3 years ago and has recently done it again, she is in her first year at Urdang.

The first time she did it we were obviously unsure what the outcome would be, but on advise we got her into physio within a week. Don't wait for NHS you will be waiting weeks go private. She didn't do any dancing for about 4 weeks and then after that she started to join in with gentle ballet and gradually built up. She took her ballet exam four months later and gained distinction!!

This time we got her into physio after 2 days, she was back dancing gently after 2 weeks and back fully with a knee support after 6 weeks.

My advise is get her into physio ASAP, get it moving and exercising because muscle wastage happens really quickly and the longer you leave it the longer her recovery will be.

[CassiesMum]

Thank you everyone for your well wishes, really appreciate all the advice & will take on board the early consult with physio Thank you Pearl, it is a little difficult as she is studying away from home & is staying at college to continue other lessons but I will speak to her this evening & ensure she starts physio as soon as possible.
Thank you all once again for helping with the situation. x

[bethjinty66]

Hi Everyone,

Emotional plea, DD is in first year degree MT and has suffered a dislocated knee, as you can imagine we are all upset & hoping for the best possible outcome. There is no tear in the ligament which is good news but I wondered if anyone out there has suffered a similar injury & can offer any advice. We feel so upset for her to have achieved a place at her dream school & have this happen. Thanks so much in advance x

My daughter did this 4 years ago whilst dancing , just 2 months before her audition for Dance School of Scotland , she also broke her toe and needed a plaster . She was told , she is very flexible . Made full recovery was lots of hard work as leg had gone "flabby" due to the muscle being out of action ( also got her place at school ) . You daughter will make a full recovery , I imagine the college will be supporting her and working out a solution .I know difficult time for your daughter , mine was really down as thought dancing career was over , it was not !!! Tell your daughter that it happens to many dancers and most make full recovery .

[carriecrafts]

Hi CassiesMum,
Horrid for her and you but it is good that there is no ligament damage! Is she in London? If so you could get her referred to the NIDMS physio clinic. They are incredibly helpful if you contact them for how to get a referral moving.

http://www.nidms.co.uk/injury-referral

My dd is in 2nd yr of MT degree. She dislocated her elbow in acro lesson back in November. She had to apply for extenuating circumstances to delay her dance assessments while continuing with drama, singing etc. Your dd's college will help her to apply for a delay - it is a formal process with the validating university.

Unfortunately my dd's ligaments are so badly damaged that she still cannot put weight on the arm (although you wouldn't know it as she is doing everything full-out with modifications and will be performing at MoveIt next weekend ) and is now scheduled for surgery, possibly using donor tendon, to repair the joint. Her rehab physio will be via the NIDMS.

She is currently negotiating how to proceed next year. she wants to repeat 2nd year, rather than going straight into agent showcases in 3rd year so close to recovering from surgery. Her college seem happy to accommodate whatever she prefers but we are waiting for a response from the uni.
x

[Dixie37]

My daughter dislocated her knee last September in a ballet class. She saw our GP who referred her to the hospital where she was put in full plaster for two weeks. I contacted a private physio who was able to see her the day the plaster came off. She was given gentle massage and exercises to do and she saw him every single week until the Christmas holidays. She followed his advise to the letter and went from not being to walk to doing her Grade 6 ballet exam, and intermediate tap and modern exams. Thanks to the exercises she is more flexible and in better condition than before she had the injury. She carried on attending all her classes even when she couldn't do anything at all. The first time she did a grande plié since her injury was on the day of the ballet exam.

Follow medical advise but if you possibly can go to a private sports or dance physio as NHS will only get her walking not dance fit.

[Dixie37]

We paid £20 a week but it was money well spent!!

[CassiesMum]

Thank you again everyone for sharing your experience it helps so much xx She has seen College physio today as is able to bend knee 90 degrees which sounds promising, also has an appointment this evening with private physio so fingers crossed. DD is living in London Carriecrafts so I will pass on details of physio, Thank you xxx. It is so hard when they are studying & living away from home but DD is in college continuing with all lessons (still attending dance classes to take notes etc) & I think it helps her being there as she is surrounded by her friends/classmates & Teachers who have all been amazing, we as parents of performance students seem to be blessed with a truly supportive network, how wonderful the world of dance/performance is. Thank you so much once again for your kind words & best wishes for a speedy recovery to all xxxx

[Dixie37]

90 degrees sounds fabulous so soon after the injury. That must mean there is very little soft damage which is excellent news. My daughter couldn't bend her leg at all! Hopefully recovery will be really speedy!!