I don't ride even though I have a very nice diamond back mountain bike in the garage. I wish I could but I never liked having a swollen knee for a few days after.
I had replacement ACL surgery a few years ago. I used an allograph (Cadaver Tendon) replacement. I spent a day or two on crutches, a few days in pain, and the rest of the year learning to walk, run and stretch again without thinking about it.
I have ridden bikes for several decades and the doc said that was the best PT I could be doing for knee surgery recovery. I went to PT for about a month and then rode several days per week along with stretching.
NOTE: if you knees swell after riding you are doing what most inexperienced riders do, riding too big a gear. Ease up, shift up the rear cassette, and spin those miles away. You should never be mashing on the gears, always spin and select a higher gear as soon as the going gets hard. Try counting your pedal strokes. You should be between 80 and 100 revolutions per minute.
Bicycling or a stationary bike is the best recovery PT you can do.
Also continue to work on getting full range of motion, no pain, no gain until you get that motion back.
It's amazing how much motion I can lose in that knee if I go more than a few days without some kind of cycling or stretching motion.
Oh boy, where do I begin? I've had one arthroscopic surgeru on my left knee, three on my right knee, before there wasn't anything left in my right one to operate on, and had a total knee replacement three years ago now. I don't kow why the docs took SO long to go replacement, but the insurance companies want to exhaust all possibilities before taking the last step!
I have had two scopes on my left knee to remove torn cartilage. It used to pop out forward and the pain was intense. Years of crappy jobs and poor choices trashed my knees. I wish I could go back and change some of things I did to them. I was told the last time I basically don't have cartilage left to remove anymore and my next surgery would not be a scope. I haven't been back.
Both my knees hurt if I overdo anything. Standing a long time or walking a long time makes them ache. The only time I would consider running now is if I was being chased by a nut with a gun. I walk on the treadmill at the gym but even that takes its toll sometimes. I went Monday and have been limping since Tuesday morning.
Hyper flexed my right knee out in the woods, didn't go see the Doc for a few days, looked down and it was the size of a watermelon. Couldn't even push the gas pedal. Doc removed 97% of my medial meniscus, just left a button nub on the front of my tibia to prevent the femur from falling off! He said it looked like hamburger.
dad has the same exact problem except he wont have surgery, every time we went riding dirtbikes it seemed like he would screw it up again by stretching his leg out to far. doc said at this point if he has the surgery he has a 6 month recovery and still possibility of arthritis in 10 years. or not have surgery, and have possibility of arthritis in 10 years.
had to quit riding dirtbikes due to that, bought my toyota in hopes that was something else we could do together but he has no interest in it what so ever.
Well I had my physical therapy appointment today. Attempted some full range of motion stretches and leg lifts to keep strength built up. Not a whole lot of fun but the stretches were nice at the time. Couldn't wait to get back home to get the polar care pad back on my knee because it's sore as the new guy in prison.
It's 2009 I want my bionic knee! Come on they made the million dollar man in the 80's.
This is what it looks like. Both of mine were done at the smae time. Surgery was the easy part; the therapy was about four months of very hard work, but it was certainly worth it.
This is what it looks like. Both of mine were done at the smae time. Surgery was the easy part; the therapy was about four months of very hard work, but it was certainly worth it.
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He said it looked like hamburger.
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