Foo - My kneecap is loose?

A few years ago I hurt my knee playing soccer, but never had it treated or even checked out (dumb move I know). After a long time of being careful and wearing a neoprene brace, it seemed to be alright, although it's tended to feel weaker than the right. what I mean is that, say, going up stairs, the right feels totally smooth, but the left kind of creaks and isn't very confidence-inspiring.

ANYWAY, the last few weeks I've noticed myself moving gingerly. And just today I discovered that when I sit in a chair, knee bent at 90 degrees, I can rock the kneecap horizontally and vertically. Does anyone have any idea what this might be due to?

i can move mine around if i relax my leg. i dont think its anything abnormal.

soccer will do it my daughter just had her 3rd operation because of soccer

You didn't happen to smack your kneecap a good one from the side did you? Possible partial dislocation, my guess. If you have a sports doctor and are covered for it having it checked isn't a bad thing. Otherwise, just be careful for awhile to keep that knee from harm's way when playin' as knees always seem to take forever to heal. They never seem to come to 100% either, not to me at least.

i can move mine around if i relax my leg. i dont think its anything abnormal.

Yeah both of mine will move if the knee is relaxed, but the left still moves even when the joint is bent, which does strike me as abnormal. (It's certainly a new development at least)

http://www.webmd.com/hw/muscle_problems/hw124429.asp

Joints never heal.
I've ****ed up my knees, my elbows and my shoulders. knees still bother me. Elbows are okay but I didn't hit them really hard. Shoulders - yeah, well there's constant pain on almost a daily basis from at least one of them. And I always have to watch out for popping both shoulders out, especially when working out.

First and only time I went skiing I ended up on my back with my left leg tucked under my back, with the ski still attached to the boot.While this isn't bad if it's pointed to your right...Mine was pointed to the left :eek:

I was laying there thinking WTFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF how the hell do I get out of this.

My knee was weak for years and years and years after that and made popping noises whenever I would get up from lying on my back.I did go to a Doctor but he said it doesn't look like I did it anything realy damaging and that if it got worse to come back so they could run some tests.
It seems ok now, but this is like 15 years later.

I was always very flexable when I was younger, and that probably played in my favor.These day's I'd hate to have something like that happen.Probably have to cut my leg off.

Yeah, if the ol' kneecap is movin' with your lower leg perpendicular to your thigh, go see a doc.

I messed up my knees running hurdles in HS. They became particularly painful by my early 30s, in spite of being a very active tennis player and swimmer, to the point I could hardly walk down stairs or on downward slopes. I started a nauseating quad-strengthening program that made me want to vomit from the pain and discomfort (and no, it did not involve squats or lunges). But I stuck with it, and eventually, my knee "instability" and pain went away. I do get very stiff knees in a movie theater, or did as of four years ago. But I think that cycling is helping, though I do hear "rice krispies" still. Can't wait 'til I get some X/2's and cycling shoes.