Recovering from a knee surgery

[Johnny Jacob]

Heya ppl ,

3 weeks back I tore a ligament in my right knee while playing
badminton. I had to go through a knee procedure
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anterior_cruciate_ligament_reconstruction)
and i'm recovering slowly (online resources have a timeline but i'm
recovering very slow). I've lost lost of muscle in my right leg
because of this (itz lean as a candle). I'm wondering has anybody had
gone through similar procedure? I would like to know how fast they
recovered and how long it took to get back to cycling/running. Just
want to track/benchmark my recovery.

Thanks!

--
Johnny [johnnyjacob.wordpress.com | johnnyjacob.org]

"May you share freely, never taking more than you give "

[Murali Krishna]

Hi Johnny,

I am sorry to hear that. I hope you recover soon and start playing again. 

Even I was a badminton player for many years, and I had to quit playing badminton for the same reason. I tore my left ACL and meniscus during a game, and the was the last time I played at competitions. I underwent a surgery outside India, and they also removed a part of the meniscus as the torn part was locking my knee. I did play again after one and half years, but not with the same agility and confidence. And if I played for long, I would end up with pain during the nights... but that stopped gradually over 2 years, but I never gained the same agility or confidence.

Now I seldom play badminton, and do more of cycling & swimming to keep fit. You will need a lot of time to recover and build the muscles back, and a lot of hard work & dedication. And based on my personal experience, don't even try badminton/football for at least a year. Swimming helps a lot to rebuild the muscles. Else one leg will be stronger and one leg will be weaker for many months even after you start walking. 

Assuming you have not injured your meniscus, I think you should be able to walk soon..running, please ask your doctor. running is something my doctors advised not to do since a part of my meniscus is missing, and I would end up with early arthritis if I did.. For me, Swimming & Cycling are the two best and safest of fitness activities. 

How recover and how you perform now depends on your doctors, and also yuor fitness levels before the injury.

Wish you speedy recovery.

- Murali

[Johnny Jacob]

Hi Murali,

On Sun, Oct 18, 2009 at 7:56 AM, Murali Krishna
<murali....@gmail.com> wrote:
> Hi Johnny,
> I am sorry to hear that. I hope you recover soon and start playing again.
> Even I was a badminton player for many years, and I had to quit playing
> badminton for the same reason. I tore my left ACL and meniscus during a
> game, and the was the last time I played at competitions. I underwent a
> surgery outside India, and they also removed a part of the meniscus as the
> torn part was locking my knee. I did play again after one and half years,
> but not with the same agility and confidence. And if I played for long, I
> would end up with pain during the nights... but that stopped gradually over
> 2 years, but I never gained the same agility or confidence.
> Now I seldom play badminton, and do more of cycling & swimming to keep fit.
> You will need a lot of time to recover and build the muscles back, and a lot
> of hard work & dedication. And based on my personal experience, don't even
> try badminton/football for at least a year.

Wow ! thatz a long time to wait :(

> Swimming helps a lot to rebuild
> the muscles. Else one leg will be stronger and one leg will be weaker for
> many months even after you start walking.
> Assuming you have not injured your meniscus,

My meniscus is intact.

> I think you should be able to
> walk soon..running, please ask your doctor. running is something my doctors
> advised not to do since a part of my meniscus is missing, and I would end up
> with early arthritis if I did.. For me, Swimming & Cycling are the two best
> and safest of fitness activities.
> How recover and how you perform now depends on your doctors, and also yuor
> fitness levels before the injury.
> Wish you speedy recovery.

Thanks a lot for sharing your experience. I guess i need to take this
little slowly and come out of denial. I've been impatient as i was not
able to move around. I'm currently working on bending my knee and
regaining full range of motion (so far managed to get only 40 degrees.
and on a cpm 80 degrees).

This is motivating. So far recovery has been slow and painful.

- Johnny

[Chidambaran Subramanian]

FWIW,

I tore a ligament in my right ankle  in 1997. After considering all options, I decided to keep surgery as a last option. I was managing with knee supports and had started to play sports. The Doc in Manipal hospital told me that the recovery time was 6 months, plus I would  have to strap up the ankle for playing any sports. I tried out Ayurvedic medication(mostly oil) and recovered in a year. When i said recover, the knee is still not normal and I strap it once in a while if I play sports like tennis but it is quite okay and i can do a lot of things(running/cycling/cricket) , without strapping it.

On a related note, i have a condition called Runners knee.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chondromalacia_patellae

It  was very severe at first (Oct 2008), I've tried courses of ayurveda and then homeo and all of them helped a little bit, alleviating my condition a little  bit but am still not fully okay. Did some physio for a couple of weeks, but have stopped it (indiscipline). i still can't stretch my left leg fully and cannot climb stairs. Want to avoid surgery unless I see no other option. 

Not sure if i am h elping you, but from your accounts, my resolve to delay or avoid surgery has been reinforced.

Regards

chiddu

[YVR VIJAY]

My Dear Johnny Jacob

I am Brig YVR Vijay newly posted to Bangalore. I underwent 2 surgeries
in 1996, the first to remove a torn meniscus and the second to
reconstruct my ACL ligament. As physiotherapy I purchased a good
exercise bike and was asked to cycle as much as possible every day.
Initially the seat is very high as the knee has very limited range of
motion. Every week the seat should be lowered by an inch. I 3 months I
was very fit in the knee and legs. I also did lots of quads semi-
squats at least 10 sets of 20 each every day in addition to 2 hours of
cycling.
My knee is still in good condition although a bit of arthritis is
settting in.
I recently cycled solo from manali to Istingri across the Rohtang
Pass. So take heart just remember the first 3 months after surgery do
at least 3 - 4 hours of physioteheraphy every day.
Regards YVR 9449007515

[Ramey]

Hey jonny,

Very sorry to hear it...,

All I would say is to be patient enough, I do realise it very hard for
people like us who were hyperactivity and all of a sudden be on the
bed rest.

I have gone through the same agony that you are...,

I tore my Left leg ACL while playing football, inspite of being fit
with all the routine exercise and had to undergo surgery recently in
the july09

4days of bed rest in hospital and 5 weeks at home with the supporting
strap on the leg,

then had to undergo physiotherapy for 10 classes for mobility and
muscle strengthing and they recommended to repeat the same in the gym,
like cycling, brisk walking,squating half and full with support,
weight lifting no running at least for 3 months minimum...,

it totally depends upon the doctor who has done the surgery as though
it has the same terminology, the recovery depends on case to case
because there is some thing on partial tearing, length of tear and
complete tear of the ligament...,

We have to be cautious and fully dedicated on the physiotherapy to get
recovery...

I have started running (jogging) on the thread mill as well on the
soft ground...,

there is nothing to worry but it takes time...,even my gym instructor
had ligament tear on both the legs one on the left open surgery and
the other on the right it was orthoscopic operation believe me he had
this injury while playing kabbadi...,

Do check the site for the exercise but take consultation of you doc
he is the better person

http://www.mcnicholaskneeclinic.co.uk/pdfs/aclreconstruction.pdf


Thanks,
Ramey

On Oct 17, 8:37 pm, Johnny Jacob <johnnyja...@gmail.com> wrote:

[Manoj]

Hey Johnny,
Get well soon...

3yrs after the ACL key hole surgery at Manipal, i still have a scar
which i show off to nearly everyone who knows me... 3-4months of rehab
and bragging rights for a lifetime... :)

I was operated in Oct 06, i ran my first half marathon post surgery in
May 07 and completed 78k ultra in Nov 07. Doc (of the Dr. Rajat
Chauhan fame) wanted to use me as a case study (the idea only lasted
as long as the run did)

You can read all the dope on the surgery on my blog at
http://visorview.blogspot.com/2006/11/hospitalized.html
You can read about my May 06 half marathon at
http://visorview.blogspot.com/2007/05/bangalore-midnight-marathon.html

What i did right was to focus on the rehab, make sure you do it
right... be extra conservative if you have to.. i remember, getting a
fever after a bending a mere 10% on day 1, i stuck to the job and was
good in about 3-4months time...

It still doesnt feel the same as my right knee (which is also not-
left), and feels slightly stiff when its cold, after a long run, etc..
but it has not come in the way of my training for the 100k ultra...

Net-net, there is much more good than there is bad.... enjoi traning
those muscles all over again.. gud luck with the rehab...

Cheers,
Manoj Bhat
098806 24910

> > "May you share freely, never taking more than you give "- Hide quoted text -
>
> - Show quoted text -

[Johnny Jacob]

Thanks a lot for sharing your experiences! I'm motivated.

I understand the importance of physiotherapy. Thanks for that!

- Johnny

[Silky Vaidya]

Hi Johnny,

 

I had an ACL reconstruction for a torn right knee ligament and meniscus at Hosmat 5 years back after a road accident (when the ligament tear could'nt get identified by X-Ray i.e. without MRI) followed by a bad landing (obviously!) during parasailing.

After a week post surgery, it took some 15 days of phsyiotherapy for getting the knee to rotate by 140 fully and started walking using crutches in between. I completed whole month of these exercises to strengthen the knee and build the meniscus- they say thsi part is more imp than surgery itself. So like after 1.5 months post surgery I could walk without wobble/crutches and it took some time to get back to aerobics and dancing, but in the same year i had started all that.

 

Over the years, I think my surgical knee is stronger than the other one :). I swim a lot, dance, run and can cycle like any one else.. and any derth of achievements in cycling to talk about is more to do with the process of buidling stamina than anything else like a knee problem for me :). If you have any specific questions, I will be happy to help, but keep those knee exercises going on and have a little patience :-)

 

All the best !

 

Cheers, Silky