So, I’ve had constant patellafemoral pain in both knees for a couple of years now, with them being slightly dodgy for a while before that.

After seeing several physios there’s no obvious muscular or flexibility issues, and two knee surgeons have said there’s no issues with the knee itself. At the moment there’s no abnormal cartilage wear or alignment issues in the knee itself, but that I have a large degree of external tibial torsion in both legs. The pain itself is from the surrounding tendons and medial patellafemoral ligaments being overloaded. I’ve also tried orthotics which haven’t helped much.

So, I’ve since seen a limb reconstruction surgeon who advised that with the level of tibial torsion he’s not surprised I’m seeing pain in my knees as I’m correcting my gait by twisting my knee, and that he sees a fair few patients my age (24) come in with problems once they stop growing. It goes without saying that this has all massively affected my mental health.

However with the operation being very hefty, with likely 4 months in a Taylor frame per leg, it’s going to be incredibly debilitating and painful, with no 100% guarantee of it resolving the pain. So I’m curious if anyone else has had similar surgery?

I’d be tempted to keep seeing physios until you find one who can be more useful- sounds like you are falling outside of the normal, relatively easy to fix MSK stuff and therefore need a very experienced practitioner. Start ringing around, tell them your issue and ask about how much experience etc

I had surgery to repair a fractured ankle which left me off work for 5.5 months.
Regardless of the outcome of your surgery, do not underestimate the effect of being unable to get around properly for a long time.
It has changed me as a person.
I wouldn’t undertake surgery like this lightly, although i accept this is easy for me to say when I’m not enduring the pain that you are.

I had a leg lengthening procedure done nearly 10 years ago (40mm total extension) when including the straightening.
An external frame was on the card, but I ended up with an internal nail, which was good and bad, traumatic procedure, but almost forgotten about once the wound healing was complete (a year later) – I chose to have a second procedure to remove the nail once the bone healing and strengthening was complete.
Maybe worth seeing if an internal nail is an option for you?

Feel free to pm if you want to chat