Following on from this thread…

http://www.singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/oh-bum-part-2

I have finally had my cricket pad splint removed after tearing my patella tendon. Surgery has not been required and the consultants advice consisted of “try bending it a bit but don’t overdo it too soon”. That was about a fortnight ago. I am walking pretty well but need to build up the knee and my quads which have pretty much disappeared.

Whilst I’m not really one for the gym, a former team-mate who now owns a few gyms has offered me free usage to help me get right. I can’t run yet, even a short distance and my consultant doesn’t want me to do any cycling until after my next appointment at the end of August 😈 . My mate has suggested using a “power plate” but I’m concerned this may do more harm than good.

Managed 20 mins on a cross trainer today with no ill effect and am planning to go swimming later in the week.

Any ideas?

Thanks

Yes – get your doctor to refer you to a physio I wouldn’t do any exercise without the consultant say so although swimming is probably OK as its low load

See if your hospital has a knee group organised by the physio department.

I would lay off the swimming as you need a fair old bit of movement in your knee to get in and out of the pool and it’ll put a lot of stress on your patella tendon.

See a proper sports physio preferably one that is recommended and knows wtf they are talking about. i.e. one that has experience in sport. Sounds stupid but I know a few who are ‘branded’ sports physios and closest they get to any form of elite level sport is walking up the stairs at work. On the other hand I use one (two actually) that do the AB’s and black sticks as well as history in elite sport themselves. So they have a fair idea.

Yep. Suppose it’s obvious really but with the quack not really providing any real advice I thought I’d just sort it myself. Specialist sports physio sounds expensive but may be the way forward..

Why the hell would you need to see a sports physio? I read this bullshit all the time that you need to see a sports physio and find it offensive. The best physios I know take nothing to do with sports. A busted knee is a busted knee. See a specialist musculoskeletal physio.

5 weeks at Champneys Spa should sort you out.

A couple of years ago I dislocated my knee and damaged my patella tendon. Not as seriously as you it just stretched rather than tearing but it took the NHS a little while to get there act together about assessing and treating it so I had 3 weeks of doing nothing and the muscles in my leg wasted away to almost nothing.

In Aberdeen there is quite a good NHS physio team, they gave me a heaps of exercises to do to help strengthen my leg. Most of these involved a resistance band (a massive elasticated band) that was used in various ways to build specific muscles to help strengthen the knee. They also put me on weekly sessions on a ultra sonic machine thing (yes that is its technical name as far as I am concerned) which was to help break up the build up of scar tissue.

I would really advise against trying to run on you knee as the repetitive shock forces of running are really bad for recovery. Once you have got the full range of motion of your knee back I was advised cycling was a good exercise for it as it is low impact.

Basically my advice would be try and see a physio, as SBZ says any good physio should be able to give you a detailed program of exercises to aid recovery. If you are in the UK your GP should be able to refer you to one, if you have any private medical insurance through your company or maybe a bank account use it to get some.

Good luck with your recovery.

Sbz – disagree, If they are worth their salt they will understand better the active ways to rehabilitate than a regular specialist. Depends what the OP wants.

Nonsense. The bulk of private physios also work in the NHS – the NHS provides all this expensive training for free remember…

I did something to my knee years ago, doc said swiming was fine as soon as the scars from the operation scabbed over, they were more woried about infection than the joint itself, just use waterproof plasters/plastic skin to be sure.

Things to avoid
– kicking off from the end of the pool
– brestroke (crawl just lets the joints flop about, brestroke twists it)

And get in/out of the pool ‘backwards’ i.e. faceing the pool, and lowering yourself in/out bending your good leg.

I’m not a physio though, your injury may vary.

yoga teacher last night was telling us how good certain yoga exercises are for knees, might be worth an investigation

Mostly what Rusty Mac said.

I’m recovering from an injury last December (tore ACL, PCL, medial and lateral meniscus and patella cartilage degeneration – i think that means getting old). Waiting time to see a NHS physio here is 20weeks so I went to a private one. He had an interest in biomechanics and works with pro golfers and footballers. He did various manipulation tests to assess potential issues then some more to assess the strength of the different muscle groups in my leg. He also checked on my stance and walking to see if the weak muscles had resulted in compensatory side effects (i was turning my ankle a bit). He then gave me a set of exercises to address the specific muscles, some using weights, some body weight and some with the big elastic band. He ran through the exercises with me too to make sure iwas dooing them properly (correct posture etc). Also recommendation was to build up the strength before restarting the functional activity like running. All in all a 45 minute consultation for about £40, so doesn’t have to be expensive, provided you don’t need the physio to hold your hand to make sure you do the exercises every day. By the time I actually see the knee specialist Ithink I’ll be fully recovered. 🙂

Edit: Also been doing the yoga thing. If you do this make sure you tell the instructor about your injury – some poses could be harmful. I have difficulty with kneeling for example.

Things to avoid
– kicking off from the end of the pool
– brestroke (crawl just lets the joints flop about, brestroke twists it)

Yeah that sums up what I’ve been told too. Luckily my local pool has a graduated shallow end that you can just walk into. Going to give it a gentle go tomorrow.

Am I the only one who sees the thread title as ‘Kebab Advice’?

Sorry. Hungover. 😳

I got some benefit from a sports physio over my (fantastic) NHS physio… Not a quality of care issue or anything, just that the range of movement I needed in the leg was way outside what most people would need or want, and so the treatment plans and standard approaches wouldn’t quite cover it.

But yep, definately get proper advice, knees are total swines.