Ruptured Quadriceps Tendon

[bill.cochrane]

Hi Joe,
strength is about at the same level as pre injury but speed and agility still has a way to go.I am improving every day but as I said in my previous post the knee joint itself is not yet as strong as I would like it but again it is improving all the time. Mobility is not a problem but speed has room for improvement.I can run in a straight line without any worries but as for rapid changes of direction and running backwards I still have to try them out,I`ll let you know how I go.
I have been cleared to jump by my army doctor and now by my orthopod and I have already done a few jumps so as I said with more gym I should be back to 99-100 percent soon.

Cheers,
Bill

[Newgene]

Hey folks,

So many threads to keep up with, but I admire everyone's positive attitude.  I had a little bit of a setback, and I'm not sure if it was something I did to overwork it or some crazy arthritis.  I lost 5 degrees of ROM and had so much pain, I couldn't do a leg raise.  Really was weird because it went away this week.  I just hit my strongest on the biodex machine, and I have all the lost ROM back and a little more.  The good thing is that my confidence is back, and I feel like I could even jog a little slowly.  I guess the point is that if you would have asked me how I was doing last week, I thought I had re-ruptured it, and it was all downhill.

Geesh...what a difference a week can make.  Cheers everyone.

Take care,
Newgene

[subail]

Newgene...could it have been a bit of scar tissue?

Sue

[Newgene]

Newgene...could it have been a bit of scar tissue?

Sue

It may have been.  But my OS seems to think it is a pre-mature arthritis situation.  I pretty much wore a spot in the cartilage under my pattela, and he believes that is what I had.  I wound up cranking up the ibuprofin and went back on Ultram, and the problem is now completely gone.  The strength and ROM is right back on track.

I have also learned that the best thing for me for ROM is to lay on my back holding a towel under my thigh, and with my thigh perpendicular to the ground, let a weight hang from my ankle.  I'm a 135 with a slight push in.  So, I'm probably real close to getting a full ROM, or at least I should by the time all this is fully recovered...I hope.

[subail]

That's great ROM to have back! Congratulations!

My OS never wants to see me again and that's a good thing!

Happy weekend...

Sue

[ufcike]

   Hey all my quad tendon ruptured friends. This is Andy. I am 4 months now post op on my bi lateral quad tendon ruptures. Life is pretty normal. Little or no pain in either. However when I bend them, it still feels like a rubberband stretching inside. I am able to do the eliptiical machine and ride the bike no problem. However last week I was walking and I tried to mix in a slow shuffle jog. Felt no pain and it was fine but the next day my right knee was swollen pretty big. So I am gonna back off on any jogging for another month.

   If you are new to this board, don't ever stop believing. In March I was in a wheel chair for a week, then a walker and didn't have one good leg to stand on. LOL. 

     I really believe my OS's approach of having me in immobilizers for 6 weeks without any kind of bending was the best choice.  Others may disagree but I am very happy with the progress and results.

    Take care everyone and don't forget to cheer for my World Series bound  Milwaukee Brewers!

[bill.cochrane]

G`day all from OZ,
I have just returned from remote NW Australia where I was instructing on a Military Freefall course and did 30 jumps without any problems so I am nearly back to where I was 9 months ago.I am just about to go to the gym to do a workout, my treadmill running is fine but road running is not too elegant yet but it is coming.ROM is now full range and there is no pain.The repair feels strong and scar is fading rapidly.Life is back on track,something I didn`t think possible just after my injury.I am not bragging but just trying to let all my fellow wounded know that they too will get back on track.This forum was my inspiration back when I did this life changing damage to myself, it is a life changing event but it can only be a short one if you apply yourself.Good luck everyone and thank you all for your mails,they heped me to get here and I couldn`t have done it without your encouragement.

Hang Tough.

Bill.

[Jobo Pooks]

  High all. Stumbled upon this site weeks ago and download these pages to read offline. A great site and so much info.  Rather than bleet on about my injury, which is so much like many of yours here I decided to knock up a page on my website with my story and progress. You're welcome to visit and take a look.

My Quad tendon rupture

[John42]

Hi

What an excellent write up - can learn a great deal from your webpage and very unseful information to other sufferers.

I should have added that you should try and sleep with a cushion/pillow between your knees.

You should also applly to your local council for a car disability badge - you qualify for one, and indeed in time very useful for parking at Tesco`s etc .... contact mke if you wish any further advice.

Best wishes

JohnK/ Manchester UK

[Jobo Pooks]

Thanks for the reply. Yes I know about the pillow between the knees, I used it years ago when I first injured my spine and have used it on and off for a long time.

I first injured my spine 34 years ago and was told no more weight lifting and take things easy and all the usuall stuff doctors and experts tell you. I got to know my own body and listen to it and have been training with weights and doing a hard manual job ever since.

But hey, what do I know, it's just my body after all.

 

[beezkneez]

Hi everyone. It's been six months since the injury.
 
And since my last post (a long while back), I've had a 2nd surgery (arthroscopic lysis of adhesions) to clean out the scar tissue and manipulation (MUA) to find my potential range of motion. Was on a CPM continuously for 2 1/2 days following, during my hospital stay.

I changed physiotherapists - the first wasn't sure how to work with this kind of injury, so I moved onto to a sports PT. Turned out to be the best decision I've made - this fellow really has been into getting me better. We were at it 4 days a week, 3 hours a session, hard for 4 months. The muscles had shrunk a little so we've had to lengthen them (still do) while working on the ROM. Went from 50* before the 2nd surgery, to 90*, then improved in 5* increments almost every 10 days over the last 6 weeks or so. Our last big push got it to 118* and we know 120* is there for next time.

I can again ride the bike (after a good 5 min warm-up to lessen the stiffness) and have recently began working in the pool, which I find is the right thing at this point in time (maybe I shoulda/coulda started the pool-work sooner ?).

To-day I saw my OS, who's ecstatic, and wants next to see me April '09, "to just touch base". He cautioned me about pushing it beyond 120*, fearing that I may risk breaking the re-connect. He wants me to be happy with this level : walking normal (95% there) and running again (dunno when).

Now, I feel I'm improving at about 1% each day in knee-speed, strength and control of motion. I begin seeing the PT only once a week, as I think most of the improvement going forward will be from walking, biking and being in the pool.

It has been a long, long journey back to this point. BUT I KNOW now that I will be at 99.9% by the anniversary of the stumble that caused it all on March 7th, 2008. Many times, I didn't think I'd get this far or even close to this, but by "investing" through hard work at physio, believe me, it DOES pay off .. !!

"Best wishes" to those who unfortunately follow. Experiencing a QTR is a absolute bummer. But time, optimism, and true, consistent effort WILL help you get your life back. Trust me - I've been there and I'm (almost) back. And after all the humbling crap I've been through, it's beginning to feel like MY knee again.
           
darrell   
 

[spt]

Hi everyone again.  Just a quick update - broke my femur and partially severed my quad tendon about 11 months ago when a car decided to take me out whilst cycling.  Still some way to go for me.  Can cycle 20 odd miles no problem (except cars too close that is  ) but cannot walk more than about a mile with significant leg pain.  Metalwork problems I think but that's not really for this board (having an x-ray and seeing the OS next week to find out more).

Just really wanted to know if anyone has had any problems with clicking/grinding knee cap as a result of their injury.  PT says that its caused by tightness in the quad and tendon and also a general weakness of the quad (kneecap not running smoothly in the groove).  She says it should improve with stretching/strengthening but not much improvement happening thus far.

[Newgene]

Great update Darrell.  I have to agree with you 100%.  Now, I'm relatively young for this injury (32 when it happened), but constant PT is what got me back to where I am now.  I made 6 months since the surgery yesterday, and other than a bad scar and some tenderness when I try to run or walk fast, I really don't notice it in normal day to day stuff.  The key to all of it was finding a PT who wanted to get aggressive with it.  She's had me doing single leg presses on the sled for the past couple of months, and she to heavy enough to where I can barely do more than 12 reps on my bad leg.  She doesn't like me going too far parallel, but I try to go as deep as I can with no pain.  I even sneak in some leg extensions on the bad leg!

I can't stress enough pushing the limit on the bad leg.  Do whatever it takes.  I know am the proud owner of a new top-end elliptical machine, which by the way is one of the best exercises you can do for this type of injury.  I do it every day, and I swear by it.

My outlook now is so very different than the first few weeks post-op, that I am surprised I was even thinking the way I was.  I really thought that this was the end of everything.  In fact, I think I have found some weird kind of motivation to come back, and it seems to be pushing me with getting leaner and building more muscle everywhere else.  Again, I just can't describe how different I look at the outlook now than back then.  Intense physical therapy got me here, and I can't stress it enough.

Take care, all.

[nhbob]

Hi all,

I thought I would sign back on to this board that helped me so much a year ago when I was way down in the dumps.  I see a lot of new names (and still some some old names here too), so I thought I would give an update, especially for the "newbies" to the Quad Rupture world.

A quick synopsis (I had some bad luck, as you'll see)... 07 Sep 24 I ruptured my left quad completely while hiking down hill, repair was done a few days later, unfortunately the suture anchor snapped in the repair, and I had to have a second surgery a few days after the first... not a good start.  Things were slow, but then to even compound everything, in December, I foolishly lifted a 50 lb bag of rocksalt without proper body mechanics (I was protecting the healing knee), rupturing a disk fragment onto my S1 nerve, and essentially killing off most of my calf muscle in the same bad knee leg (how's that for screwing things up!!!)....  all I'll say is take it easy and don't be a hero while heeling!

I thought I would give my one year update so the new folks know things WILL GET BETTER, even after all the screwups I did!  I am able to cycle my touring bicycle again fully loaded in the mountains (about 50-60 miles/day), I do notice some lack of pre-injury strength, I would say I'm about 80-85% (of course a lot has to do with the ruptured disk, unrelated to the knee injury).  I am back hiking, a little bit slower, but not too bad... the tough part is going downhill still... after a long hike with a long downhill, the knee will be sore when I get home.  Most of my problems seem to be related to the calf weakness from the disk rupture, even though I do see slow improvement (very slow!), I'm told it may take up to 2 years to regain the strength from that nerve damage... we'll see.

Anyways, hang in there!  The first few months after surgery I thought my active life was kaput, and I can tell you, things will get better!!! but it will be slow!!

If anyone is interested in my story, I kind of did a journal of my misadventures, up to the point I took my fully loaded bike to the road this past summer:
http://www.crazyguyonabike.com/doc/?doc_id=2732

Bob

[golfproquad]

Gentlemen,

It's been a while since I was last here visiting the site, but I must say WOW! Lots of good advice and some hard luck stories too! Just a little update for those who may be getting towards the end of(or you think is the end) of your rehab. Don't stop. Next Friday Oct. 31st will be exactly 1 year to the day from my rupture of the right quad tendon. I think that I was extremely fortunate to have such a great rehab guy that I have come back in the best shape of my life. WHat did it for me and why i kept goiung even though it was a little (ok a lot ) tedious, was the thoughts he gave me about not the immediate results of the rehab, but the long-term results and what shape i will be in 10 years from now. He basicaally said if you want to be able to do the things you do now in 10 years you have to keep up with the program!

I am happy to say that I played my first scrimmage of basketball in a year this past Wednesday and I know that i went pretty hard but not all out. The leg held up perfectly and I had no swelling what so ever.

One bit of advice I would like to pass on is that we used a topical anti-inflamitory creme called: Tremeel. It is sold in helath food stores here in Ontario Canada. We put it on the scar tissue and used the ultrasound and the gel (lots of gel as the creme doesn't conduct so about a 3:1 ratio) used it at a .60 kilajewel setting. This broke up the scar tissue and reduced the swelling and fluid andreally helped speed the healing process.

I hope that those who are just post-op can understand that you will get out of your rehab what you put in so good luck and for those who are farther down the rehab road...keep up the hard work!

Cheers,

GolfProQuad