A 19-year-old Chinese girl has gone viral after posting a video demonstrating her unusual ability to pop her kneecaps out and then back in painlessly because of a condition she was born with.
The unnamed girl from Jiangssi claims that she never even knew her kneecaps were special until schoolmates saw her popping them out of their sockets randomly and then casually popping them back in. Some of them freaked out and told her to see a doctor, but her knees had been like this for as long as she could remember. Nevertheless, she decided to follow her friends’ advice and see a doctor, who confirmed that she had congenital “patella dislocation”, which caused her patellas (kneecaps) to pop out randomly and pop back in just as easily. The physician said that the condition was rare in girls, but reassured the youth that, as long as it didn’t cause her pain or impede with day-to-day activities, it wasn’t a problem.
“Patellar dislocation” refers to the situation in which the patella completely dislocates from the femoral trochlear groove during the flexion and extension of the knee joint. It can be congenital or acquired.
In the video she posted online, the Jiangsu youth said that she can pop her kneecaps out voluntarily, but that they also pop out randomly when she walks, or even when she is sleeping. Luckily, this causes her no pain whatsoever, which is why she never bothered seeing a doctor about it.
The clip was viewed tens of millions of times, and most comments were from people who had suffered knee problems at some point in their lives and were in disbelief at the girl’s painless patella dislocation.
“I also had congenital patellar dislocation. It was so painful,” one person wrote. “The recovery after the surgery was also very uncomfortable. I couldn’t even run.”
“Oh my god, I have a patella injury now, and it ‘s starting to hurt just looking at this,” someone else commented.
The girl thanked everyone for their concern regarding her condition but emphasized that the doctor told her that as long as she doesn’t engage in strenuous physical activities, her knees should be fine.
