Ruptured Quadriceps Tendon

[robwalk]

Stuart,
I, too, am diabetic, and my doctor has never told me, diabetics are prone to this injury. However I suspect Lipitor has something to do with it. I asked my Cardiologist, and she said it would have caused severe pain in the muscles, then continued to tell me it does affect the tendon. If you read my post, you will see I did a slip and fall in June, and was not operated on until July 26, 2006, and I had "Bilateral Quadricep Tendon Ruptures"...if you only had one leg ruptured you are luckier than I, because I did not have another leg to help. To make a long story short, yes I had a lot of discomfort, I would not call it pain, but I did swell, and even today I have a burning sensation in my legs, and feet, and have been told I have "neuropathy"..whether this is because of the diabetes, (and it does cause neuroptahy) or not I do not know. I have read, and continue to read as much as I can about this and have to ask my Primary Care Physician about it, even though I have mentioned the numbness, and burning sensation I get.

I had braces for about 4 months, and they took them off when I was in PT. I now go to the gym 3 days a week, and do other exercises at home. At the gym, I do a warm up the PT gave me, and I do Calf Raises, Leg Curls, Leg Extensions, Leg Presses, and I ride a bike for 35 minutes, 5 mins being a cool down, in addition to upper body exercises, and I am able to do 150 Crunches, (before my accident I was doing 300 crunches 5 days a week, and running). I have tried walking on the Treadmill, but fell, even though I did not go all the way down, I feel it must be because I have more strength. It is frustrating, and there are days where I think it will never end, and I will never be the same, however the doctor has told me not to get despondent, that I will be fine in 1 year. I use a cane mostly, but do use the walker at the gym, in order to navigate the crowd of people there. I now go out for dinner, and entertainment, i.e. movies, symphony, etc. The only other problem I have encountered is trying to cross streets, and I must have someone with me because I need to place my hand on their shoulder to balance in order to get across, otherwise I can walk fine with the cane, and around the house I walk without it most of the time. I do drive, and am able to get to the bank (drive up ATM, and the post office, again a drive up Mail Box).

You will be better, I know I am, I just have a problem with hills, going down them that is, I have no problem going up, (I live in San Francisco California), which has lots of hills, but they tell me it takes more strength to go downward.

Best of Luck,

Keep Posting, I am interested in all who have had this.

Also, I found a site you might want to read, it is a professor at University of Virginia, who fell in while on business in Istanbul, and ruptured both of his tendons, , it is:
http://faculty.darden.virginia.edu/clawsonj/HTML%20DATA%20and%20LINKs/Bilateral_Quad_Tear_Blog.htm

Copy that and read the whole story it is interesting.

Regards,

Rob

[sball]

Hi Rob and Fred

How are you guys doing? Progressing well, I hope. I haven't had the chance to visit the board for awhile.

I'm almost 12 weeks out now and see my surgeon on the 12th for my 12 week checkup. Physio is going well and the pain is lessening now with much less pain at night and better sleep.

I'm not doing any gym as such yet - the physio is waiting for clearance from the surgeon before I start the serious stuff. He says I'll start with lunges & squats. That's gonna be fun! My biggest goal is to be able to ride by motorcycle again (and support its weight on my right leg). That's what keeps me going.

It still hurts when I move it too much but more of an ache now with the odd sharp pain. I've started walking in the swimming pool against the resistance of the water and I hope this is doing me some good. There's also a slope in the pool and its possible to go down the slope with the added bouyancy of the water. I can't go down slopes on land yet. s soon as I exercise it, the knee stiffens up so I go into the pool with a relaxed knee and come out with a stiff knee. Then I go into the sauna and it relaxes again, only to stiffen again later. Did you have a similar experience and is it still the same for you or has that now passed?

I'm having trouble getting back into normal walking motion. At present, I lock my right leg back before putting weight on it and this has become my normal walking habit. I have no idea how to get out of this habit ans back into the normal bent knee walking motion. Do you have any advice?

Rob, I had a look at the guy's story on the website you gave me - quite a story. I don't know how you (and he) managed with bilasteral ruptures. He also has some interesting things to say about the statins and I've stopped taking the Lipitor until I know more. I've just read an artical by Patrick Holfird that says that Niacin (vitamin b3) significantly outperforms any of the statins in the reduction of cholesterol. He also says that 500 micrograms of Chromium per day outperforms Metformin in the lowering of blood sugar levels. I'm going to give these a try - certainly can't hurt. He says you should never take Metformin without taking vitamin B12 too, as Metformin knocks out B12. He also says you shouldn't take statins without supplementing Co-enzyme Q10 (CoQ10) because the statins reduce its production and it is a nutrient for the heart and reduced levels induce heart muscle dysfunction. In fact, he says that 19 out of 20 healthy people taking statins have abnormal heart rhythms. Scary.

Keep on walkin'

Stuart

[frederico]

Hi Stuart - glad to hear that you are almost at 12 weeks....that was a big milestone for me. I have been progressing slowly.  I cleared seven months a last week and have been working my quad. muscles at the gym.  I have to say I still feel some tightness and discomfort from time to time, especially if I overwork the leg with exercise.  I recently was working out in the yard and going up and down a steep hill with armfulls of fire wood.  Boy, was my leg sore the next day.  But of course, I haven't done anything like that in 7 months......that's where I slipped and ruptured my quad. 

I still have can't go down stairs perfectly normal yet. It will take more time.
 
I had some problems resuming my normal gait walking as well.  I tended to swing my bad leg out to the side.  The only cure was just concentrating and practice.

The pool exercise sounds great.  My wife tried to encourage me to do it, but I was bull headed about not going. I just couldn't envision myself doing it.

I can relate to the motorcycle in that I ride a bike and standing up and cranking on the pedals was a big breakthrough moment for me when I could finally do it.  Your leg will let you know when it's ready.

I surprised the P.T. said he would start you on lunges and squats.  I was told to avoid them for a while yet.... or at least do them in a very limited manner.

Glad to hear the pain is lessening and you are sleeping better - that is an improvement in itself.

Regards,

Fred

[robj]

I ruptured my quadricep tendion on January 6, 2007.  Had surgery on January 12, 2007.  Started PT on January 18, 2007.  I had to wear a leg brace for the first 6 weeks.  At 7 weeks after surgery I was able to take off the brace and start driving again.  At 8 Weeks I started to squats and lunges.  I was off from work for 11 weeks.  I started back to work 3 weeks ago.  My knee feels great.  I go down the stairs slow but normal.  My Doctor said that it will be 6 months from surgery before I can start back running again. Every once in a while my knee will buckle when walking but is getting much stronger.  I walk about 2 to 3 miles every other day.  My walking is real slow.

[John42]

Hi

You are doing very well after such a short time -  watch your driving as you need full strenght for braking.

Keep up the PT and walking.   How did you rupture your Q Tendon?

Best wishes

JohnK/ Manchester UK

[cynthiab4]

Hey just reading some of your posts from your surgeries. I'm having surgery on a ruptured tendon myself and just curious as to what you have experienced. i am wondering how soon i can start doing pt., and how soon you all were able to get back to work.  im supposed to be in a full brace for eight weeks. any feedback would be helpful thanks

[frederico]

Cynthia,
I started gentle P.T. about 6 weeks post-surgery.  I went back to work 2 weeks after the surgery, albeit somewhat liimited duty.  (I am a dentist) 
I had used my leg brace, an IROM brace, for about three months and then weaned myself off it per instructions from my surgeon. 
As mentioned in posts above, take it slow, but always try to improve, don't try to rush anything, and don't expect any great leaps in improvement.  It just takes time!  I am 9 months out and still am working on building up my quad muscles.  My flexibility is good, but I still occasionally have some stiffness in my tendon. 

Best of luck with your surgery.  I'll pray for an uncomplicated recovery.

Regards,

Fred 

[cynthiab4]

Thanks so much for your reply.  I had therapy till Jan of this year.  My quads are strong as well as hamstrings.  Just afraid of them failing like they did on lr.  I  appreciate the slowness.  I want to get better. I work retail and at a grocery store so I doubt i will be back after two! He said four but i was out six just for the lr, of course thats when i fell and ruptured tendon.  Anyway thanks agian for the feedback I'll keep you updated date is set for june 20th

[sball]

Hi Fred & Rob & now Cynthia

Haven't visited the site for a while.

I'm 4 weeks out now and faring much better. The pain is almost gone and mainly stiffness and discomfort now. Some days are stiffer than others and there seems to be a correlation between exercise & stiffness. If I over exercise it stiffens up. If I don't exercise at all it stiffens up. Seems there's a happy medium somewhere - just have to find it.

Frederico - are you the same dentist who's story is on Jim Clawson's blog? You probably spend a lot of time on your feet - was that hard ot handle? Have you seen Jim Falvo's most recent addition to Jim Clawson's blog about the nerves getting reorganised? If not, have a look - makes good sense.

Cynthia - Fred gave me some very good input - it will get better, the pain will recede, progress is slow and don't push it too hard or expect rapid improvement. This helped me get through the first 12 weeks. I can now go up stairs with some discomfort and have even started going down stairs left leg first (I ruptured my right quad tendon). Seeing very slow but steady progress every week now.

I think the main problem for me now is that its still going to be a year before I can trust my knee and start using it normally again - this is the feedback I've had from sufferers and the medical proffession alike. One just has to get used to the fact that there will be a certain degree of incapacity for a long period and perhaps even forever. My surgeon said I am likely to regain about 90 - 95% of the power in my right leg and that's OK for me, although 100% healing remains my goal and ambition. As long as it takes, I'll be working on it.

Averaging 42 degrees C (108 degrees F) here in sunny Dubai as we move into summer. Within the next 3 weeks, the temps will increase to around 47 C (120 F) and humidity will climb up to 95% and remain this way until end August. Things here shut down now, many expats go home to avoid the heat and one cannot go to the beach or walk around, so there goes my exercise for the next couople of months. Looks like I'm stuch to squats & lunges at home.

Good luck and good health to all

Stuart in Dubai

[John42]

Hi Stuart   

I read   your   input - must say that your sumary is just about right in as much you should end up with about 90/95%   ROM. 

Send us some sunshine please  - we have a typical Bank Holiday weekend, cold, wet     dismal

Best wishes

JohnK/ Manchester    UK

[frederico]

Stu, Rob, John & Cynthia,

Greetings to all and hope all is well. 

I had a potential setback last week, the effects I still haven't fully discerned.  I was abroad and walking down the sidewalk, which had been recently washed off.  I was looking up and around instead of where I was walking and stepped on a slanted piece of pavement, sliipped and instinctively stopped my fall with my repaired leg.  IT WORKED.  I had a moment of panic because the move was exactly like how I originally tore my tendon.  The down side is I felt some burning/discomfort on the medial and lateral sides of  my knee (retinaculum) and for the rest of the day it felt strained.  I had some increased stiffness in going through the ROM. 
A week later it feels better but I have this uncomfortable feeling that I have may set back or strained some ligaments such that I will have to be careful not to subject them to further stress for 6-9 weeks again. 
I'm debating about consulting with my orthoped M.D. but I think he'll just dismiss it since everything is working. The rest of trip I made a point to stop walking if I wanted to look up at the architectural details of the buildings! 

BTW Stuart, no, I'm not the dentist in Jim's blog.  I didn't have much problem standing....I sit mostly. It was more the up and down thing that was difficult when I was first back to work.  I learned to use my opposite leg more and control the foot pedal with the good leg as well.

My little reminder of how quick it could be to be back in a leg brace has inspired me to re-up my membership at the gym for a few more months to work on my muscle strength. 

Best regards to all,

Fred

[Mage66]

Hi all...

On May 23rd of 2006 I fell down some stairs and landed on my left knee. It was quite painful and I couldn't get up from the floor. A few people helped me up onto a chair and after a few minutes of rest, I tried to stand. My left knee buckled and I fell again. At that point, we called an ambulance and waited for it to arrive.

As I was waiting I noticed that there was a depression in my left leg just above the kneecap that wasn't there before. It was VERY odd.

I pointed it out to the EMT who took me to the hospital and again in the emergency room when I got there. They took X-Rays of my knees and after a few hours released me with a pair of crutches, a leg immobilizer, and a prescription for pain relievers. They said I had a "Deep Muscle Contusion" and I should be ok in 3 to 5 days.

A friend picked me up and took me to my car, and after wrestling my way into it, I was able to drive home and get down my steps into my home without major trouble. About an hour after I got home, I wanted to change out of my bloody pants (I had badly skinned the right knee), and took off the immobilizer so I could remove the pants.

Shortly thereafter, my left knee buckled and I fell again. I lay on the floor of my apartment for an hour until the world stopped spinning and I could climb up a chair and get standing again.

I was fine for several days, and went to see my GP who prescribed Darvocet and Therapy which I would start the following week. I mentioned the dip in my left knee to him, but he didn't think anything of it either.

Two days later I was going out my front door to an appointment and fell again, this time landing on my back on the concrete and hitting my head again. This time, the fall now added chest pain whenever I went from supine to standing position and moderate back pain.

The day before I was going to start therapy, I fell one last time. I was getting dressed holding on to my kitchen counter while I put pants on as I made breakfast (toast and coffee), and my left leg gave. On the way down I grabbed the counter and tried to catch myself with my right leg, but it made a snapping sound like a tree branch breaking and I fell to the floor.

I tried for two hours to get up and couldn't. Finally I used my broom to knock the phone off the hook and call an ambulance, and they took me to another hospital than the one I went to from work the week before.

That was a year ago today.

An orthopedic surgeon saw me and said I had ruptured not one but BOTH Quadriceps. Which he said was unusual. He'd only seen it once before. And he gave me the choice to do one at a time, or both together. I didn't see the point in waiting, so we did both at the same time.

He told me that anyone who told me I had a deep muscle contusion was just wrong. Judging by my description of the first fall, and the dent in my knee... Undoubtedly that's when the first quad ruptured. The second rupturing that morning.

The following day we did the surgery and reconnected both quadriceps.

Being diabetic they weren't optimistic that 6 weeks would be long enough for me to be weight bearing. But through watching my intake and doing lots of in-bed exercise, at 6 weeks I was walking again with a walker. 6 more weeks I was released to my home. I did in-home therapy for about a month, and then graduated to a local Therapy Clinic where I continued therapy until about March of this year.

They say that by tomorrow I'd be at 100% of whatever my 100% will be. But, I'm still having trouble going up and down stairs and can only carry a fraction of the weight I used to.

Oh... I finally insisted on an MRI due to a lot of pain in my back, a knife-like pain in my right leg and numbness only in one foot. Turns out I also ruptured 3 vertebrae.

It was a long road. Not particularly hard. Just had to keep my spirits up and keep doing the next thing.

I'm walking with a cane and do most things except carrying anything heavier than about 10 or 20lbs and especially carrying things up or down stairs.

I recovered at the Moss Rehab Center in Philadelphia, and they were wonderful, as well as the Willowcrest Extended Stay Nursing Facility in North Philadelphia where I did the bulk of the 12 weeks.

Magnesium helps with the back pain, and I try not to take the Darvocet that much.

I've had several slips. But, no falls. I'm able to catch myself fairly well.

But my legs and calves are still half their original size.

That's it...

[John42]

Hi

Read your interesting post - you have certainly been through the mill - a pity that you did not seek a second opinion after the first fall - however, thats all water under the bridge.

You have made good progress in the last twelve months and assume that you have made adjustments to your daily life - Every day is a blessing and one hopes that you gain more and more strenght in your quadriceps.   

Have you returned to work?  are you allowed to drive? 

Best wishes

JohnK/ Manchester UK

[Mage66]

Hi

Read your interesting post - you have certainly been through the mill - a pity that you did not seek a second opinion after the first fall - however, thats all water under the bridge.

You have made good progress in the last twelve months and assume that you have made adjustments to your daily life - Every day is a blessing and one hopes that you gain more and more strenght in your quadriceps.   

Have you returned to work?  are you allowed to drive? 

Best wishes

JohnK/ Manchester UK

I've had the immobilizers off since about October of last year and was cleared to go back to work at the end of December. But, because I can't carry any weight or navigate stairs carrying anything heavy I don't do the job I used to do. Which was, onsite computer repair.

Now, I staff the help desk. I answer the phone and write service tickets for the other guys. I have to say I feel blessed that my company kept me on in this position at the same salary. I can't complain. My company has been really good to me.

I am able to drive. I started driving in October of last year short distances. Just to and from PT and to the local market which are quite close by. I've been driving to and from work since January which is about a 20 minute drive away, mostly on a highway so I can use cruise control.

I've twice driven to visit my sister in New Jersey which is about 1 1/3 hours drive. That is hard, but doable. The last time I did that, which was last week... It was much easier than the first time.

A positive attitude is the most important thing, I believe. I also made my room a safe haven for the nurses. I was never cross with them, always smiling and happy and often playing nice music. It meant that the few times I needed help each week, I got it fairly quickly and with kindness.

My therapist was funny. Every time I said I was having pain, he'd say..."There's no Pain, I don't feel a thing!".

I always tried to over-perform in PT. Always trying to a bit more reps than they asked for, or turning up the treadmill a little.

I'm not good at home, by myself. But I have an exercise bike, leg and hand weights, a ProStep (for Hamstring Stretching), and a hot/cold belt for my back.

My apartment complex just opened the pool, so hopefully this weekend I'll be able to use it.

[cynthiab4]

Wow thanks for some feedback.  Mine is coming up quickly June 20th.  He said that when he goes in to repair the quad tendon he has to put an allograft in?? Has anyone else had this done?  Also just preparing myself for foodwise how long in bed will I be after surgery?? I know at least a week.  Just the nervous and anxious feelings before surgery. I at least get a vacation out of the deal going to Yellowstone Park next fri with family for a week right before surgery. HOpe everyone is doing well.  I'll keep you updated!