Recovery time after immobilisation

robinph

Last week I managed to tear a ligament in my knee whilst skiing which has now resulted in me having my leg in a brace for what could be upto six weeks aparently. When the doctor was having another poke around at my leg the other day it was already quite shocking for me to see how much muscle wasteage there had been in just a week and a half of it not being used compared to my other leg.

I sure there are other here who have had legs in a cast or otherwise out of action at some point so was wondering what kind of time frame people have experienced between when they regain movement in the leg to it being usable again.

Hanley

Can't speak for the leg, but I had a shoulder operation which required my shoulder to be pretty much totally imbolised for 8 weeks after. I lost quite a bit of muscle too, but don't worry, it'll bounce back quickly.

My recovery was this;
-regaining full ROM (took almost 6 months)
-Light high rep work against bands
-isolated shoulder exercises
-compound exercises

Ligaments generally take a hell of a lot longer than bones to heal fully so take it easy. And whatever you do, stay away from leg extenstions!!

I injured my knee about 18 months ago, and I remember the specialist telling me that the weight of the leg extenstion machine acts at a 10x greater load on the knee joint than it does at the ankle. So a 40lb weights putting an equivilant of 400lbs of force on your knees. Needless to say, I stay away from leg extenstions.

J.S. Pill

A couple of weeks ago I was doing split squats and I got a very sharp pain in my left knee. I didn't think much of it at the time and just took it a bit easier that day.

However, the pain started getting worse over the next few days even when I was doing things like walking around. The pain is mainly under the knee-cap and above the knee-cap and gets quite intense when I put any weight on it. I decided not to do any leg work at all the next week but after 2 weeks there has only been a small improvement - I can walk fine now but I'd be very wary about putting any significant weight on my legs at all.

Does this sound more serious than I think it is or should I just give it another week or two to rest? I know this isn't a medical board or anything but I'm just wondering if I need to get this seen to.

I should also mention that I cycle to get around, would this cause undue stress on such an injury?

Thanks

Hanley

My quasi-medical opinion would be this;

I know the feeling you speak of, and it's something you should be very wary of. I would imagine it's being caused by your knees drifting inwards whilst you squat. Cycling puts a fair bit of stress on the knees, just look at all the cases of tendonitis on the Tour De France.

If I were you, I get it check out by a competent sports physio.

Dragan

J.S. Pill wrote:

Does this sound more serious than I think it is or should I just give it another week or two to rest? I know this isn't a medical board or anything but I'm just wondering if I need to get this seen to.

Indeed it isn't, but there nothing wrong with asking people for advice. It's not as if your asking for a diagnosis.

Sounds like a ligament issue to me ( possible pattelar given the location ) so like Hanley I would suggest you go and see a good physio about it.

J.S. Pill

Dragan wrote:

Indeed it isn't, but there nothing wrong with asking people for advice. It's not as if your asking for a diagnosis.

Sounds like a ligament issue to me ( possible pattelar given the location ) so like Hanley I would suggest you go and see a good physio about it.

I'm always very careful with my form for squats - how and ever there's no use fretting over the cause at this stage.

So, anyone know any decent physios in Cork??

robinph

J.S. Pill wrote:

So, anyone know any decent physios in Cork??

And for when I get back does anyone know of similar in Dublin?

J.S. Pill

robinph wrote:

And for when I get back does anyone know of similar in Dublin?

When I was in Dublin I went to this place.

http://www.physiotherapyclinic.ie/

Hanley

robinph wrote:

And for when I get back does anyone know of similar in Dublin?

No contest - http://www.sportsmedireland.ie/

KC81

You need to make sure that when the brace comes off you have a continual, gradual progression. Ligaments need a little increasity in the strain they're put under when ur recovering. so u start off with n high impact. twisting, lateral movements etc. just bearing weight on it. and then as the ligaments get stronger you'll increase proprioceptive training. When its able you'll exercise in straight line only.
What u can do in the mean time is isometric contractions shown to decrease the loss of muscle. Just tense up your quads and hams. Do it in repetition form.
also if u keep the other leg active i think it can reduce wastage also... (not sure about this) it could be that i read the other leg can experience muscle wastage as well.
knee injuries from skiing are notoriusly bad to heal.
Needs a good program from a physio or sports rehabilitator.

hunnymonster

I know several people who use (and recommend) Fiona Casey in city physiotherapy and sports clinic on Lavitts Quay in Cork.


In Dublin, lots of people on this board have recommended sportsmedicineireland but I am extremely confident in Nessa Smyth in Portobello Physiotherapy as an alternative. The time and care she takes to make sure a diagonsis is correct and design the proper treatment is second to none.

mloc

I tore my VMO in my knee (and badly dislocated my kneecap) and was in a leg brace for about 6 weeks too.

I'm not going to lie to you, its a whore. I tore it in mid Feb 06, and I wasn't walking without crutches until about mid april. Regaining full range of motion and building up enough strength and flexibility to get back into the gym and start squatting (to really build up the strength) took about another 2 months. I still have little niggles with it, but with a pretty intense training regime it's getting back to what kind of strength I used to have, about a year later.