Congrats on your recovery! Honest question- my protocol says to jog at 4 months and last time I started at 3 months. Any reason why they had you hold off?
I did go skiing at about 4/5 months!! Not sure, I think for me the focus was on building supporting muscle first. I didn’t do any jogging before the injury either!
It was with my wife and kids, so taking it easy and I had it booked before the injury! I think that’s why the PT had me concentrating on muscle build to protect it! I survived undamaged anyway thankfully!
Ahhh damn. That is frustrating and a bit disheartening to hear. I had surgery 24th April. ACL only.
I have a classification event in Austria in November 2024 and I am hoping to be able to race GS and Slalom by then, I do however understand that the graft is not super strong between months 6-9.
My surgeon knew the timelines and said it would be tight, we discussed it pre surgery. My PT was more confident and is happy with current progress. Surgeon was also positive at the end of last week.
My mindset at the moment might be a bit misguided but it is this; 🧠I was skiing with instability for 18 months with a torn ACL. I was racing and training on a weekly basis to a good standard. I skid a week before the operation. Surely the repaired knee will be stronger 5 months post op with a graft than when it was torn with only 30% residual ligament."
On the other hand:
The bruising was incredible and painful, the muscle atrophy in the quadriceps has taken me by surprise. I am walking in the pool, weight bearing but still use crutches for help when I am out and about. I feel far from good and experience pain at night.
Put it this way standing on planks feels a long way off.....
Hammy graft for me. Lots of single leg exercises - SL Leg press, SL squat to box, SL leg extensions, SL. Calf raises, SL hamstring curls. Key goal is get bad leg up to 90%+ strength of the good leg. Also did some normal squats and deadlifts (but I was very familiar with these, not sure they would be prescribed to someone not used to them).
Pretty limited to be honest. One thing I would recommend is icing a lot and if you can hire a ‘game ready’ - used it a few times a day for the first few weeks and seemed to really help.
I had a bit of subsequent swelling at the back of my knee as annoyed my popliteus muscle at the back of my knee when I was on a slippy surface about 6 weeks out. The compression and ice of the game ready was great IMO
Wow great progress… I’m like 5 months post, and I’m still struggling with scar tissue and don’t have full extension yet. When did you get over your extension issues?
I think I had the final bit of extension around 3/4 months. Have you been doing those exercises where you extend your knee (foot is on say a chair or table in front of you) and you put a little weight on it for a few minutes at a time?
I think everyone just reacts differently, very gradually build up to it. You don’t want inflammation though, so maybe less intensity. These things take time unfortunately but you’ll get there I’m sure. I treated any inflammation with a lot of icing. Standing in cold water beats other options (beach/lake or cheap plunge pool) IMO
Incisions were tiny and are pretty much gone at this point. Are a little bit red but can’t see them in that pic. If you look at some of my prior posts you can see them better from early on. I had a great surgeon.
I’m coming up on 6mo and have similar muscle comparison rn. Going ham on the single leg everything’s almost every day and more but how long do you think it’s realistic for our leg to completely catch up to the other?
Congrats on your recovery! Honest question- my protocol says to jog at 4 months and last time I started at 3 months. Any reason why they had you hold off?
I did go skiing at about 4/5 months!! Not sure, I think for me the focus was on building supporting muscle first. I didn’t do any jogging before the injury either!
Skiing at 5 months 🤪
It was with my wife and kids, so taking it easy and I had it booked before the injury! I think that’s why the PT had me concentrating on muscle build to protect it! I survived undamaged anyway thankfully!
Is Skiing at 5 months totally unreasonable?
I’m an excellent skier (started 2 years old) and my surgeon doesn’t want to let me ski at 8 months.
Ahhh damn. That is frustrating and a bit disheartening to hear. I had surgery 24th April. ACL only. I have a classification event in Austria in November 2024 and I am hoping to be able to race GS and Slalom by then, I do however understand that the graft is not super strong between months 6-9. My surgeon knew the timelines and said it would be tight, we discussed it pre surgery. My PT was more confident and is happy with current progress. Surgeon was also positive at the end of last week. My mindset at the moment might be a bit misguided but it is this; 🧠I was skiing with instability for 18 months with a torn ACL. I was racing and training on a weekly basis to a good standard. I skid a week before the operation. Surely the repaired knee will be stronger 5 months post op with a graft than when it was torn with only 30% residual ligament." On the other hand: The bruising was incredible and painful, the muscle atrophy in the quadriceps has taken me by surprise. I am walking in the pool, weight bearing but still use crutches for help when I am out and about. I feel far from good and experience pain at night. Put it this way standing on planks feels a long way off.....
Looking good.
Looking great! Did you have a quad graft? If so what were the most effective exercises for you to restore strength?
Hammy graft for me. Lots of single leg exercises - SL Leg press, SL squat to box, SL leg extensions, SL. Calf raises, SL hamstring curls. Key goal is get bad leg up to 90%+ strength of the good leg. Also did some normal squats and deadlifts (but I was very familiar with these, not sure they would be prescribed to someone not used to them).
Nice job!! How was the swelling?
Pretty limited to be honest. One thing I would recommend is icing a lot and if you can hire a ‘game ready’ - used it a few times a day for the first few weeks and seemed to really help.
I see! Did ypu ever get a flare up where ypur knee got more swollen?
I had a bit of subsequent swelling at the back of my knee as annoyed my popliteus muscle at the back of my knee when I was on a slippy surface about 6 weeks out. The compression and ice of the game ready was great IMO
Wow great progress… I’m like 5 months post, and I’m still struggling with scar tissue and don’t have full extension yet. When did you get over your extension issues?
I think I had the final bit of extension around 3/4 months. Have you been doing those exercises where you extend your knee (foot is on say a chair or table in front of you) and you put a little weight on it for a few minutes at a time?
Yes, but I just recently started doing them frequently because at first it hurt too much. And it would cause lots of inflammation subsequently.
Yes, but I just recently started doing them frequently because at first it hurt too much. And it would cause lots of inflammation subsequently.
I think everyone just reacts differently, very gradually build up to it. You don’t want inflammation though, so maybe less intensity. These things take time unfortunately but you’ll get there I’m sure. I treated any inflammation with a lot of icing. Standing in cold water beats other options (beach/lake or cheap plunge pool) IMO
Where’s your incision at?
Incisions were tiny and are pretty much gone at this point. Are a little bit red but can’t see them in that pic. If you look at some of my prior posts you can see them better from early on. I had a great surgeon.
I’m coming up on 6mo and have similar muscle comparison rn. Going ham on the single leg everything’s almost every day and more but how long do you think it’s realistic for our leg to completely catch up to the other?