How to Align Knock Knees

When your knees bend toward each other, you have a condition known as knock knees. There are varying degrees of knock knees. Sometimes, the knees only bend slightly toward each other, and no treatment is necessary. However, if your knees bend in any more than five to nine degrees, you should seek medical help from an orthopedist.

Instructions

• 1

  Seek medical attention from an orthopedist. Any treatment options you can do yourself, including shoe inserts and braces, will not correct knock knees. Physical therapy is also ineffective. If you or your child suffers from severe knock knees, schedule an appointment with an orthopedist.

• 2

  Find out if you have severe knock knees, or knees that bend toward each other at more than a five to nine degree angle. If the orthopedist determines you suffer from knock knees, surgery is the only treatment option. Surgery will not be recommended, however, for a child under ten years of age because at this age, bones are still growing, developing, and changing.

• 3

  Undergo surgery, if necessary. Your doctor will need to cut into your knee and align the bones. Metal implants will be used to keep the bones firmly in place while they heal. Metal implants consist of plates, screws, and pins.

  If your child is receiving surgery to correct knock knees and her growth plate is still open and growing, the doctor will start by tethering the growth place on one side of the knee through the use of staples. As the growth plate on the opposite side grows, your child's knee will grow at the correct angle.