The physio cycle begun in Week 15 has been extremely demanding and has resulted in consistent irritation and swelling. On the one hand the modified bridges with heels only on the Swiss ball encourages full extension with some weight pushing back the knee when alternating supporting foot. Hurties! On the other hand, the running has been very challenging, indeed, ‘running’ is over-stating the activity which is a fast paced walk on the treadmill with intervals of jogging. I started with 3, 2 minute intervals with 1 minute rests and have built up to 3, 3 minute intervals. It was originally hoped that I’d be up to 3, 5 minute intervals at this stage, but the side effects have meant that I haven’t pushed to that length of time, yet.
On the upside, there has been gain from the pain. After three weeks the bridging is much better and able to keep hips much more stable when switching legs (though they still dip a bit when supporting with the operated leg). All reps of the (horrible!) hamstring curls started with heels on the Swiss ball can be completed consecutively without any rest. Treadmill work does not cause immediate pain from the impact of running; side effects of swelling and stiffness are there, but the initial pain is down to 30% of what it was on first attempt. The key to the treadmill is a really good warm up and I start with 10 minutes walking, the last five of which on a very fast walk with incline, then hit my intervals (no incline), do 5 more minutes of fast walking (with incline) and then 5 minute cool down. If I skimp on the warm up or cool down the experience is much worse, during and after. I wasn’t able to balance BJJ and rehab as effectively over the past three weeks as the knee has been pretty pee’d off, but hope to get back to a weekly session as it settles.
Week | Physio | Milestones |
---|---|---|
16 |
|
Hitting my 3 times at the gym. motivation for the same-old-same-old minus being able to properly train is tough to maintain so powering through to get it done was the best I could do this week. Settling in for a long slog over the next 30 weeks. |
17 |
|
Started first of three treadmill session with 3 minute jogging/running intervals |
18 | Pain after running and an aftermath of swelling and stiffness on rest days is intractable and taking next week off of rehab work; sometimes it is importnat to lay off the active healing and do a little rest and I think I’m at that point. | Last bit of keloiding on the scars seems to have been resolved by more conscientious pressing out of scar tissue since Week 15. |
Disclaimer
Every ACL op and recovery will be particular to the person. The thoughts and experiences recalled in this series of posts is in no way intended as medical advice or as a replacement for seeking medical attention for any injury. This information is presented merely as a record of one personโs experience with ACL operation and recovery.
Photo by John Kasawa | FreeDigitalPhotos.net
3 Feb 2012 @ 2:03 pm
I’m very impressed with your discipline and dedication. And your sensible decision to take a break and rest! BALANCE ๐
Best wishes for continued smooth sailing….
13 Feb 2012 @ 9:58 am
Thanks, Georgette! It was really hurties and stiff last week, so I ended up doing a little, but mostly ‘Aquafit’ with my mom and the sextigenarians at our Florida resort. 90 mins of mobilisation and functional fitness that wasn’t taxing but really helped. Now back in the cold of London and can feel it in me bones ๐
5 Feb 2012 @ 11:23 pm
I am currently recovering from a jiu-jitsu knee injury myself. Nothing quite as extensive as yours, but I feel at least some of your pain. Your notes on your specific rehab strategies and exercises are pretty unique in the BJJ blogging world; thank you for sharing them.
Quick question: what did your doctor say when you described what sort of activities you do and what sort of range of motion, flexibility, and strength requirements you would have to meet to resume said activities? I have yet to meet a doctor that doesn’t give me a WTF face when I explain to him/her what BJJ is.
-Marshal
mcarper@gmail.com
marshaldcarper.com
13 Feb 2012 @ 9:56 am
Hi Marshal, thanks so much for your comment! I hope your knee is continuing to recover and you have a clear diagnosis and route to recovery. I’m glad you like the notes on the rehab and I do hope that they help others in the same boat. Knees are an endangered species in BJJ/grappling after all! ๐
My GP and my first orthopedic were clueless regarding what BJJ means in terms of movement and what being an amateur athlete ‘means’ in terms of lifestyle. We are very atypical patients and we don’t really fit in the guidelines. I talk about this a bit in paragraph 3 of this post https://megjitsu.com/acl-operation-recovery-week-2-of-36/.
I’ve dealt with this ‘disconnect’ in a couple ways. Firstly, I got a second opinion from an ortho recommended by a training partner with ligament issues; in contrast to my first ortho who really didn’t ‘get it’, he was unequivocal about the need for an op to fully enjoy my lifestyle without eroding the knee. This meant ยฃ200 of out of pocket expense for a private second opinion, though it should be possible through the public system too. For a couple hundred quid, however, I was able to get a swift second opinion and was then able to get referred to this surgeon’s public practice. So, the first thing to understand is that the medical profession’s point of view doesn’t really account for us – not their fault as we are edge cases – and therefore you must be a very strong advocate for yourself. Secondly, I work with a private sports physio. This is a significant out of pocket expense as she is private, but I make it a priority of my spending. While she doesn’t have grappling experience, we’ve worked together on knee issues over 4 years and on the one hand she takes at face value the importance of an active lifestyle (she’s a tri-athlete herself) and on the other hand I can show her the sorts of movements that I want to do and she develops exercises to complement a ‘normal’ rehab program to make sure I rehab sufficiently. Likewise, as a sports physio she has experience with other full contact people, like rugby players, so already has some visibility on a portion of the sorts of movements an trouble we can get in to.
Hope that helps!
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