How my research lead to new findings

After a few days of researching my condition, I came across a Facebook group called Knee trochlear dysplasia. This group consists of men and women, but predominantly women, who have Trochlear dysplasia sharing their stories, as well as their journey and challenges faced.

I wanted to find out from the group if they were aware that patella dislocations were more prominent in females than in men, as I was not aware of this, and whether they thought this was an important fact.

My post to the Trochlear dysplasia online group | Photo by me

The results of my post | Photo by me

After posting this message, I had no thought whatsoever that I would get a response. However, I received many responses from predominantly women talking about their personal stories and their journey with Trochlear dysplasia. With this, I found a trend that, from all the women experiencing knee pain, it had taken them so long to get a diagnosis of their problem (10-40 years) as they were all dismissed, not taken seriously or believed initially by medical professionals. They said they were told "It's all in your head", "You're focusing too much on your body" and that it's just "growing pains".

Considering this was a problem many women had experienced, I felt as though this was an issue. I then considered this as my new, original angle and a story to be told. It is a scientific fact that women are more prone to knee pain than men and, because people are not aware of this, this stresses that idea that this fact should be widely known.I also then proceeded to research about late diagnosis' and was overwhelmed by the various of academic studies, expert opinions and personal stories, so I believed this had to be true. However, there was only one way to truly conclude this and that would be by having concrete evidence (studies or expert research) and not just solely by speaking to women who had experienced this.

So, I'm now left with 3 ideas that I'm struggling to decide on.

Possible angles:

1. My trochlear dysplasia condition - how it is most prevalent in young, active females

2. How women experiencing knee pain have had to wait many years for a diagnosis of their problem (10-40 years) after being dismissed, not taken seriously or initially believed by medical professionals

3. How patella dislocations are more prominent in females than in men, tying in with my personal story

I will update you with a polished idea soon.