1 Year Post-Op Summary
- Running about 2-3x a week on the treadmill – 2-7 miles each time **My knee cap/patellar tendon has been hurting to the point where I can’t run, so taking a hiatus from running until it starts to feel better – any tips from runners? I’ve tried icing, heat… nothing is helping!
- Circuit/tabata workouts 1-2 times a week – with HIIT – sprints on the treadmill, ab work, etc
- heated workout classes 1x a week
- Yoga 1-3 times a week – mainly practicing at home
- Still experiencing issues with my IT band, where it connects on the side of the knee. I feel a little bit of instability and there is clicking still happening behind the knee. I know my ACL is ok, so I am wondering if where my meniscus was shaved down actually caused more issues. I am using a foam roller to try and work out the band, so fingers crossed I find relief.
- I read an article about the mentality of athletes coming back after knee surgery – and a lot of people never really fully go back. I know I still baby my knee and worry about stability, but it’s mostly due to my meniscus. Does anyone else still have doubts or fears post-op of going back 100% to a sport? I am not a professional athlete by any means, but I am nervous I will always be afraid to be fully active again like I was in high school. I really only feel fully comfortable if wearing a brace or taped up with KT tape.
- There has been some cracking/popping inside my knee lately, and I am wondering if it is scar tissue breaking up. It’s not super painful – uncomfortable more than anything. Has anyone experienced this?
- Tweaked my wrist doing yoga back in December, and it got to the point where it hurt to bend my wrist and put weight on it. Heat didn’t work, oils didn’t work… then I iced and put some Lavender oil on it – the next day, it was fine! I got X-Rays just to make sure nothing was wrong, and everything checked out ok 🙂
- Stretching 20-30 minutes after every workout – more specifically, my quads & hips. I never realized how tight I was! My end goal is to be able to sit in hero pose – see below – without any issues. I still feel some swelling when trying to sit back, but after a lot of stretching, I am able to sit a little more comfortably. Has anyone ever experienced issues with this 1 year post op?
- With all of the stretching of my hips, I was able to get into pigeon pose and have my toes touch my head! this was after 1 month of stretching with a strap everyday 🙂
- I am almost finished with my Rolfing sessions! Here are the improvements I have noticed so far:
- breathing – running not as difficult, cardio greatly improved
- feel more balanced – when i walk, when I stand
- IT band issues – no problems on the right hip after running now
- Tightness on right side of body – all up and down back/shoulder/leg – only experiencing a little bit of tightness in the upper part of my body now, which I know is from the way I sit at work.
I am signed up to run a half marathon this year with my awesome coworker, and I begin training next month for it! I’ve signed up for Yoga Teacher Training in Belize in May and am incredibly excited for this! I am also flying out to Florida for a weekend workshop in March & to visit family. And to top off all this traveling/training I’ve been doing, I decided to buy a guitar and learn how to play… and I LOVE it! I have so much free time that all I want to do is be active and learning new things. I’ve never loved learning growing up, and now I can’t get enough of it 🙂 I guess this is what happens when you don’t own a T.V. – more time and less distractions (minus the sex & the city marathons I’ve been having every once in a while on my phone ;)) Wouldn’t it be awesome if we could all stay in our 20’s forever??
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Awesome work!! I just celebrated my 2 Year Knee-A-Versary last week! And you recounted in your 1 year list almost every single weird little thing that I still remember experiencing at 1 year post-op! I’m so glad it wasn’t just me! And believe me, those weird little things go away with time – you’re doing everything you can to strengthen yourself, just keep on building it up and everything will be 100% 🙂
Ahhh that’s so comforting to hear! Happy 2-year knee-versary! 🙂
Yea Nina! You are an inspiration! Beautiful pictures. Funny thing about essential oils, they are like a key and you have to find the one that fits the lock…literally. Use your intuition.
Thanks, mom! Peppermint and lavender seem to be working really well for me lately 🙂
Hi, I just recently had my second ACL reconstruction on my right knee in the same year, because I re-tore it playing sports 🙁 the good news is it happened playing contact sports and the same incident would have torn an organic/regular ACL. So it was a bummer to have to have surgery again (1 week ago), but I think if the physios and the surgeon clear you for sports again, I would ease into it and keep strengthening all muscles around your knee until you are very comfortable with all movements and strength tests. Like Jess said, it was very much getting better for me as time went on and any little things that bothered me went away up until my 1 year mark. The only knee brace that truly protects you is the orthodic brace custom built for your knee/leg as the other braces (without the structural support) won’t stop your knee from moving in that awkward position where the ACL tears. I wore the McDavid knee brace ($250 from your local sports store) and re-tore my ACL, so I can say first hand. It didn’t really do anything to support my knee when I needed it to. I also felt great doing all non-contact sports without a knee brace.
In terms of the cracking/popping I think that that would be scar tissue or menisci related as I get that in my other knee from a big snowboarding crash. It feels tight, not necessarily painful, and straight up annoying. I think I have damaged menisci and I’m sure I have scar tissue in there so that is my guess, It cracks/pops daily unfortunately, and feels much better after I crack it.
When kneeling down I just kept slowly working it in so it wasn’t painful or tight, it took multiple stretches every day for quite a while but I did get there where it was 90% comfortable (before I re-tore it) – you will be able to get there.
All in all it sounds like you are on the right path taking the right precautions. I felt great until I got hit in hockey and re-tore mine. I was cleared for sports after 10 months, was running 5 miles at a time, running sprint and pivot soccer drills, doing crossfit and all sorts of other stuff feeling great the entire time. The key is stretching, strength training, physio exercises and consistently doing all of them to build the strength in your leg/knee area to support your new artificial ACL.
Hopefully my story helped and good luck on the rest of your recovery!
Hi Chris – thank you for taking the time to respond!! I appreciate the advice, it’s ways hard to mentally come back after something as traumatic as a torn acl. I hope your recovery goes smoothly!! I will work a lot of strength and agility.. Thanks again!!
Congrats on your one year mark. I’m almost at 5 months post op and I’m only at 125 degrees flexion, but my surgeon says everything looks good and I just need to strengthen my quads. When I compare your journey to mine, it was so much different. I felt so behind. Everyone keeps telling me that it’s because I used my patellar tendon graft, therefore recovery is longer. I haven’t even started running yet. It has been a tough recovery. I’m an athlete and have played basketball for almost 18 yrs, but I think I’m not comfortable going back to the sport. I’ve noticed I’ve babied my knee quite a bit. Congrats again.
Hi Dora! 125 degrees is great! I have talked to so many people who have had this surgery, and no one person is the same. I had half hamstring/half cadaver for my new acl, so my recovery went pretty quickly. The patellar tendon does take longer to heal, but the good news is that it’s the strongest surgery option out there. I was going to PT 2 times a week, yoga 2 times a week, and on my days off, I went to the gym and did my PT exercises. You just have to put the time into the recovery and have a LOT of patience!! Yoga has been a lifesaver in getting my flexion back – i took a lot of heated yoga classes, and it really helped loosen my muscles up – I definitely recommend!! I had to just stand or sit in yoga class at first because there was no way I could do a lot of the moves. Just be patient – it sounds like your recovery is going very well!!
I am just over seven months now. I have cadaver tendon replacement. Due to my work, I had to return to the field approximately 10 weeks post surgery. I felt I was able to walk about, and carry what loads I needed to, and returning to work proved not to be a problem. The problem I had was the lack of movement and mobility while sitting for long periods of time and being in cramped places such as cars and air planes. Just like you Nina, I have issues with tight IT bands, and tendons coming up from the calf. where all that meets on the outer area of the knee makes for a lot of popping and cracking sounds. Check out Dr. Kelly Starrett on his mobility WOD videos on you tube. He has some that speak to this very situation. Foam rolling is good, sometimes I need a harder roller, and then good deep tissue massage/manipulation has proven to be very helpful for me. When I visit Australia, I am able to have the Osteo perform “dry needling” on me. It is similar, but different in purpose to acupuncture. Sadly I have not been able to find this readily in the US. It really helps “wake up” areas of the leg, and induce the body to want to heal and repair in that area.
Like you, I had a lot of disturbing pain under the patella. I returned to my PT for this. They indicated is may be from how my quad was firing. I was put on the leg press and squat rack…… and left to my own. Due to a lack of attention from my PT I walked out. The lesson remained though, focus on the quad for a while and test for results. I gave some extra time on the leg extension machine, put in a lot of single leg press. I tried to offer variety here by doing a lot of slow, controlled range of motion movements. At the same time, performing some in quicker succession. I have also used a TRX and perform some lunges. I don’t mean to say that people need to leave their PT, but I assure you…. they do not hold the key to getting you back 100%. There is so much involved with you overall mobility, from ankles to hips. Many problems with the knee stem from issues above and/or below. So as we all rehab the knee, lets not forget all the other mechanisms that control and support our functional movement in our lower body.
I think we all know the importance of the squat. In the gym, sport, and daily life. I think we all should look to the box squat in our times of need. Look at the angle of the knee in our basic body squat. What affect is that having on our joint that is still healing? With a properly performed box squat, we can focus on vertical shin position. Keep the knee angle healthy. still get great activation and call from the quad and hamstrings.
Last thing here, is for warm up. I have found getting on the bike for a good 20 minutes has been better than just a quick 10. If you have the time. I like to do a lot of single leg pedaling as well. Alter the setting, and get the burn and feeling back in the leg. I still suffer from a lack of sensation in parts of my leg. So I like the “burn” that I get on the bike. Reminds me that all my muscles are still there.
sorry for the long post. thanks for your blog. good work!!
Hello! thank you so much for your long response! I have been watching Kelly’s videos on youtube – is there one in particular that addresses the IT band? I watched a few on using a lacross ball and some stretches, which I think will be very helpful. I am also looking into dry needling, which there are a few options in the ohio area that I could go to. I will be focusing more on my form when squatting, as I haven’t been doing too much cross training and have lost a little bit of muscle from PT. thanks again for commenting, it was very helpful!!!
Little bit of a late comment, I am nearing my 1 year mark with just weeks left. I have definitely noticed that mentally I am not 100%, but on that same note, I spent 10 years with the injury that my family doctor would not send me to a specialist for until I actually asked him to myself… I needed 2 ligaments repaired. I don’t know that this changes much of the recovery but the years I spent pre surgery was frustrating due to how I adapted to the injury for so long, as well as felt the injury change. It’s so strange feeling how strong it is post op as compared to what I have been used to.
I started Bikram about a year and a half before even being diagnosed. I am so grateful that the studio opened up in my little town when it did. I had never done any yoga prior to Bikram and I instantly fell in love with it. Physio felt that much of my initial recovery was much smother due to the yoga.
I truly appreciate the comments about all of your experiences with the post op period, I too continue to have the “clicking” in my knee and the IT band pains. I also will get intermittent shooting pains from my knee to ankle, often just as I’m trying to settle in to sleep. I feel great when I’m using my knee though, it seems addicted to exercise now.
In the Bikram series, my heart is set on doing “Fixed Firm” pose to the full expression, something I was able to easily do pre op. It’s almost been a year but I am so close to getting my butt fully on the ground, its so exciting and frustrating at the same time.
Im glad I came across this post, I feel more normal in my recovery now.
thanks and good luck on all the recoveries out there!
Hi Starla! congrats on making it to the 1 year mark! That generally means your ACL is pretty much in the clear and fully healed. I was in the same boat as you – did not have an ACL for 8 years until I had surgery, and my body had really compensated in order to help out my bad knee. That is awesome to hear about Bikram! I attribute it to speeding up my healing, as well as making me super flexible! Not sure what the clicking is, I assume it is from scar tissue on the hamstring. IT band problems – just make sure you stretch after every run… also, stretching out your psoas muscle (hip flexors) & quads will really help take the strain off the IT band. stretching right after you workout/post Yoga class will help immensely! Fixed firm pose is a toughie – some days I can do it, other days my knee feels swollen. just be patient! You will get there 🙂 I am so glad you stopped by, its great to hear about different peoples experiences and recovery! best of luck to you!
Hi Nina
I’m a year out and about 1 month back felt a snap like a rubber band. Dr said it was likely scar tissue. I’ve held back a bit and feel a lot weaker. ..I need some good strength exercises? Any ideas ? I was thinking of trying acupuncture any ideas on that?
I appreciate your help. I really thought I’d be able to snowboard by now.
Hi Judy! Was the snap painful? I’m not a dr, but I would agree with your doctor on scar tissue… Your leg probably feels a little weaker because it broke up some of the scar tissue back there. If you are feeling a bit nervous still, I would work on building up strength in your hamstrings and quads. I still felt a little cautious after 1 year, so you are not alone! What type of workouts are you doing? After I got released from PT, I stopped doing the exercises and only ran… I didn’t do much cross training and ended up getting runners knee. So my recommendation to you or anyone else in the same boat would be to cross train and incorporate some of your old PT exercises into your workouts! I hope everything works out, and that you can snowboard soon! I hope this helps – let me know if you have any other questions, I am glad to help 🙂