PCL Tear

[michaeljohn]

Hi,

I was recently diagnosed with a tear in my posterior cruciate ligament. I am awaiting surgery in the new year. As i was normally an active individual, i played football regularly and went jogging. I was fit and in-shape, however, i have stopped all exercise at present in fear of further rupturing the ligament.

Could anyone advise of what sort of exercise i could avail of in order to keep fit and the weight down? For example, is cycling ok?

Thanks.

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[selym59]

hi there

my son was recently in a car crash and suffered a pelvis fracture and hip dislocation.
4 operations later he is safely home but stiff and sore.

any recommendations for exercises he should do before going back to the doc's mid january........what is good and bad given that he was nearly a month on his back with the leg immobile.

thanks
selym

[gcoe]

Hi selym59

Injuries like this are complex and exercises to be optimal need to follow a fine line between that which is safe yet be targeted enough to produce good results. Too much of one thing may be a bad thing but in rehab you want the exercises to be challenging enough to get a good result. therefore you have to have a full assessment of what is going on with your son.

I wouldn't know how your son is presenting so I wouldn't dream of offering a programme over the internet. Instead what about sending him to a good orthopaedic physio who can really assess what your son is up to and what he can work on. The physio should work along side your son's orthopaedic surgeon to ensure your son gets the best result. Without knowing exactly what the surgeon has done the physio would be working in the dark.

Sorry if this seems unhelpful. However given the age your son and the years he has ahead he has a right to the best rehab that can be offered.

All the best for his rehab - hope 2010 is less dramatic for your family!

[gcoe]

HI MichaelJohn
Not a great feeling loosing that fitness eh! How long since the injury? And was it a partial rupture? The physiotherapy management for PCL is a bit controversial as there has been surprisingly little quality research in this area. Firstly I wouldn’t do anything that stresses the knee without getting a go ahead from the surgeon.

In many protocols cycling is can be introduced two weeks post-injury, but it must be pain free and you need to have the range of movement to do it. I would get advice on this

One completely safe thing to do is to get an aerobic workout without exercising your legs. So if you enjoy swimming and can get to a pool you have the perfect solution. Freestyle, and backstroke would be fine but make it all an arm activity – use a float between your legs to provide buoyancy. Aqua-jogging and introducing kicking might be ok later in the piece but get advice on this.

If you have access to a gym you can do upper arm weights, and an arm ergometer if they have one is great for aerobic. Just avoid anything involving weight bearing through the legs – eg know squats etc. You can also work the uninjured leg - why not get a physio who works in a gym to devise a programme.

You should be able to work on your quadriceps and hamstrings muscle if you are more than 2 weeks post injury. In fact the stronger the knee muscles pre-surgery the shorter and better the rehab. But it needs to be controlled. - again get advice from a physio who has assessed your knee.

Get some help, Michael. No need to turn into a potato! Even getting some dietary advice might be sensible thing so that you don’t start packing it on when it is hard to burn that fat off. It is much harder to get rid of it than prevent putting it on.