New exercise thrown into the mix today, dragging back a large beach ball with my heel is helping me straighten my leg as well as activate the hamstring.
90 degree ROM today which is great! Slightly ahead of schedule. Now have to hit 110 degrees ROM before my 2 week post op visit to the surgeon.
Straightening the leg fully is still difficult, I seem to have swelling right above the knee which is stopping my from achieving full extension. Got a new exercise to do where I lie face down on the bed with legs hanging off just above the knee. Hold for 1 minute and then 15 hamstring curls, repeat. Let's see how it works.
Walked home from physio today, I'd say it was about a mile...
Showing posts with label physio. Show all posts
Showing posts with label physio. Show all posts
Friday, October 22, 2010
Monday, October 18, 2010
First Day of Physical Therapy
Today was my first physiotherapy session and also my first time out of the house since the surgery. Felt great to be outside and the physio is only located a few blocks away in a cab.
During the session he measures my range of motion (73 degrees) and does some passive movement on my knee to loosen it up. The main thing is straightening the leg to zero degrees. Not there yet (about 3 degrees) but have exercises now to improve.
Also started electrical stimulation in the knee. This helps to get my quads to "fire". Two different settings, one which makes my quad contract repeatedly with an ice pack on my knee. Second setting where busts or current are passed through my knee as I flex my quads at the same time. This will help get the muscles and brain going again, getting used to using the muscle. Will post a picture soon.
The physio seems to know exactly what he's doing and has also rehabbed a few other patients operated on by my surgeon. This is definitely comforting, specially at the end when he says he's seen this a bunch of times before and that everything will be fine.
Current daily regimen is:
- 100 leg raises
- 100 passive knee bends
- 100 quad bursts
- 100 heel slides
No painkillers for the first time today even with the physio, so far so good. Still icing like crazy with the Game Ready.
During the session he measures my range of motion (73 degrees) and does some passive movement on my knee to loosen it up. The main thing is straightening the leg to zero degrees. Not there yet (about 3 degrees) but have exercises now to improve.
Also started electrical stimulation in the knee. This helps to get my quads to "fire". Two different settings, one which makes my quad contract repeatedly with an ice pack on my knee. Second setting where busts or current are passed through my knee as I flex my quads at the same time. This will help get the muscles and brain going again, getting used to using the muscle. Will post a picture soon.
The physio seems to know exactly what he's doing and has also rehabbed a few other patients operated on by my surgeon. This is definitely comforting, specially at the end when he says he's seen this a bunch of times before and that everything will be fine.
Current daily regimen is:
- 100 leg raises
- 100 passive knee bends
- 100 quad bursts
- 100 heel slides
No painkillers for the first time today even with the physio, so far so good. Still icing like crazy with the Game Ready.
Saturday, September 18, 2010
MRI Follow Up
So the knee is feeling a lot better today and I'm thinking I might have gotten away with a strain of some kind or a small tear that will heal itself. With a bit of physio and better stretching I should be OK in a week or two I'm sure.
The doctor walks in, I shake his hand and I'm quietly confident.
"So Nick, it's as we though. You've torn your ACL..... and your Meniscus."
Boom.
The doc walks me through the MRI and it's not even close. The whole ACL is not even visible on the MRI, it's completely disintegrated. The meniscus also has a tear in it (turns out about 70% of all ACL tears have some meniscus damage because of the twisting motion needed to tear the ACL).
The doctor tells me I don't have to have surgery right away, and in fact he says I don't ever need to have it. "With physiotherapy you could live an active lifestyle, but a return to "cutting sports" is unlikely."
It's a no brainer, I decide right there and then to go for the surgery because:
1) I want to play any sport I damn well please;
2) I don't want to risk further injury to my meniscus which may lead to arthritis; and
3) Physiotherapy to compensate for not having an ACL will probably take as long as rehab from surgery anyway.
The last thing the doctor tells me is that if I choose surgery I get to choose my own surgeon and that I'm not restricted to the ones at Beth Israel Medical Center. Interesting...
The doctor walks in, I shake his hand and I'm quietly confident.
"So Nick, it's as we though. You've torn your ACL..... and your Meniscus."
Boom.
The doc walks me through the MRI and it's not even close. The whole ACL is not even visible on the MRI, it's completely disintegrated. The meniscus also has a tear in it (turns out about 70% of all ACL tears have some meniscus damage because of the twisting motion needed to tear the ACL).
The doctor tells me I don't have to have surgery right away, and in fact he says I don't ever need to have it. "With physiotherapy you could live an active lifestyle, but a return to "cutting sports" is unlikely."
It's a no brainer, I decide right there and then to go for the surgery because:
1) I want to play any sport I damn well please;
2) I don't want to risk further injury to my meniscus which may lead to arthritis; and
3) Physiotherapy to compensate for not having an ACL will probably take as long as rehab from surgery anyway.
The last thing the doctor tells me is that if I choose surgery I get to choose my own surgeon and that I'm not restricted to the ones at Beth Israel Medical Center. Interesting...
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