Ruptured Patellar Tendon Surgery

[bustedwheel10]

Bustedwheel10. Won't bore you with my whole history. You can check anyone's story by clicking on their name. I had a very good PT who put me on a bike on my first visit,at 2 weeks,  and had me go gently back and forward as far as I could. By the start of my second week, 4th post surgery I could do a full revolution and never looked back. At 6 weeks was back to hiking up a local mountain (Grouse Grind) taking the gondola down.
  I am one of those who believe rehab protocols are for the most part stuck in the 1980's which to my kids is antediluvian. Trust your body and your PT, at this point you should be good to go!

Thanks man.  Will definitely look at your protocol.  Now off to heavy squats. J/K

[John42]

Hi Bustedwheel10

Have you thought about purchasing a floor cycle - on Amazon, about £35 or $50 -

You can sit in your favourite chair and pedal away in your own good time

JohnK/ Manchester UK

[JC55]

Bustedwheel10 as opposed to the other busted wheels on this site...your story brought back memories of my injury.  I'm really not sure if I shared this but I too was high jumping in competition (senior level at age 50). I had been a high jumper in HS and played basketball thru the college level.  I've stayed very active and was actually below my college weight when my injury occurred.  Scared the p/$$ out of me...thought I had been shot in the leg.  I looked down and was really mad at myself...OS told me I probably had tears in the PT and just didn't know it.  Anyway, thought you'd get a laugh so you'd know you weren't only high jumper in our little group.  You can check out my story...my biggest issue was mental (ie: anger at myself, feelings of despair, disappointment, etc.).  I'm not really proud of my reaction, but I decided to share so anyone else who experienced those feelings wouldn't feel alone or ashamed. This forum was a Godsend for me...thanks again to John for keeping it going and peace to all my RPT brethren.

[nmacseven50]

Hello all,

I was here a couple months ago telling my experience. In December 2014 I had surgery to repair a partially torn PT and to clean out bone spurs.

PT had been going very well about 1 month ahead of schedule. I had graduated to jogging and running about a month ago and 2 weeks ago I was cleared to do all non contact basketball drills or activities. Well tonight I went to the GYM and I did a bit of jogging and jumping (5 dunks) and it was a bit sore. At least it thought it was. I figured my knee was just sore and similar to the soreness I've felt through the whole PT phase. Now that it's been a couple hours it hurts to walk (mainly when my foot hits the ground) and to bend my knee it feels very swollen and I feel a burning/tearing feeling in the tendon itself.

At this point I am fearful of a re tear. And also a bit angry at my PT and myself more so for the clearance back to basketball stuff at only 4 months post op. I have done research and have read that a lot of PT are unaware of this type of injury and don't see it often. Anyhow, this is behind me now and my mindset is that once something is done all you can do is learn from it and move on. The problem is that I used all my PT and surgeon visits through my insurance (I am 19 and I go to school so I can't afford quality insurance). Now there are orthopedic surgeons at a different hospital by me that I can see, or should I try to beg and plead the insurance to see the original surgeon? If I did see a different one will they be able to read the reports and images from the past doctor to come up with a treatment plan?

[darrellb85]

Hi guys, just a quick update. Tomorrow will be 8 weeks post op. PT has been going pretty well, doing the bike (still can't do a full revolution just yet), wall sits at around 55 degrees, and some other mobility and strengthen exercises. Was able to get passive ROM to 80 today, so pretty happy with that. Quad strength is coming along: TKE's, wall squats, and other strength work are progressing the quad nicely. Slow and steady (but consistent) will hopefully win the race. Went back to work full-time this week, so pretty excited about that. I'm able to walk around my office with a slight limp without my brace on, and driving to and from work is getting easier. Hope everyone is doing well.

nmacseven50, I'm sorry to hear about tweaking your knee during your hoop session (I'm a lifer hooper myself, and itching to get back). I would say if I were in your position I would want to work with my original surgeon again just because he/she knows of your situation and your injury and repair, versus starting over again with someone new. On the other hand, a different set of eyes and experience/expertise may work in your favor in this situation. Hopefully you didn't experience anything more than just a minor tweak at best.

Take care all and will post an update sometime next week.

[Dan]

Hi bustedwheel10, looks like your rehab is going really well.
But, having two "bustedwheel"s here at the same time is too confusing 

Nmacseven50, don't really have any advice, just hoping you didn't re-injure it and it will start to feel better soon.

Darrelb85, you've passed me on ROM by a few degrees.

As far as my progress, my PT's say I'm doing well on the various strength and balance exercises they have me do every visit. But I have hit a plateau in ROM. In the last week and a half I was only able to increase from 70 to 77/78 degrees, with a lot of effort from my PT.

So the Dr ordered me a JAS flexion device.
http://www.jointactivesystems.com/JAS-Systems/1/5/JAS-Knee.aspx.
Started using it yesterday, so we will see if it helps.

[John42]

Hi Dan

Would again suggest get a floor cycle from Amazon - not expensive - about $50, but well worthwhile.

JohnK/ Manchester UK

[nmacseven50]

I posted here 2 days ago, but I wanted to post an update and say another thing.

I had surgery Dec 4 for a significant partial tear of my PT. I had weak tendons for a while and the doctor said it was a chronic tear, and I had probably been playing basketball on it for 2-3 months.

Basically over the past 4 months I had been really improving and seeing change every day. In the past 2 weeks or so I feel as if I have made no progress, if not gotten worse. I've read that some people have complications with surgery where quad strength and mobility don't return to normal or even close in some cases. I've really started wondering about this over the past couple weeks. I noticed about a week ago when I was doing single leg floor touches that the knee was instable and seems to want to move side to side. My quad on non injured side has gotten really strong, but the injured side is still atrophied and small. I am 4.5 months out. And lastly, the range of motion seems to have completely stopped improving. When I am standing on my un injured leg I can't even pull the bad leg up even close to being able to grab it and do a hamstring stretch. It just won't go any further.


When I went to shoot hoops a few days back, I tried a few single leg layups off the injured side and it was very weak and shook when I went to explode off it and I'm lucky to get an inch or 2 off the ground.

I basically came here for some advice. Is it too early to be worried about the weakness and mobility?

Should I back off and bit and take it easy, or start pushing harder?

[alexws]

A little update from me.  Tomorrow I go back into the os for a 16 week check up (actually 15 weeks but the doc is out of town next week)  Day to day life is almost normal, I can almost kneel on the bad knee without much discomfort as long as its on soft ground.  I beat myself up at the gym almost daily which is helping alot.
To anyone who is just getting going on the recovery, I have been a bit depressed since the injury.  Really messed up my life (I used to be in charge of a valet staff at a 5 star hotel and had to quit my job because of it) but it gets better.  If you work as hard as possible you should be back in no time. 

I started doing light jogging on level ground the other day with little discomfort and no pain once I'm done.  I hiked about 5 miles the other day and I'm guessing mountain biking and rock climbing will be in the not so distant future.  I think by next winter ill be back skiing as hard as ever and am sure ill have about a 90% recovery.  I dont know if you can ever expect 100% after this but having a little soreness from time to time is something I can live with.

If anyone wants my personal workouts I'd be happy to share, my insurance is out of network where i live now so i have only been to PT a handful of times to get clearance to move onto the next set of workouts.  I got lucky and a trainer at my gym had the same thing happen to him about 6 months before me and he has been nice enough to give me pointers along my way.

[jgreen1990]

hi all just joined this group I had surgery on my right knee two weeks ago as I ruptured my patella tendon I had my staples out today so thought would post on here to see information where people are at in there injuries and any pointers will be greatly appreciated

[John42]

HI Jgreen 1990

Welcome the the RPT thread of KneeGuru - you have sustained a very serious and rare injury with a long rehab.

Would suggest that you start to read some of the previous posts on this thread - ASK questions - and click on the attached thread with contains a number of documents which I have put together with KneeGuru.

How did you sustain your RPT injury?  Where do you live.

Keep posting and remember "PATIENCE" is required - a lot of PT in front of you for some months.

Take care
JohnK/ Manchester UK 



https://www.facebook.com/QuadricepsPatellarTendonRupture

[jgreen1990]

hi john i live in essex and i did it playing football was more impact to the floor because the ground was solid and i was falling awkwardly i have my first physio session tomorrow which is just going to allow me to put a little pressure on my leg i am in a brace set at 30 degrees the surgery was done within 2 weeks of happening so from what i have read the earlier the surgery the better. I was told surgery was successful so hopefully i will make a full recovery, how often do people see physios after the 6 week mark? I am not sure if to try paying for an extra session a week private after the 6 weeks have passed

[John42]

Hi JGreen1990

Once a week should be enough, having removed the brace at the six week mark, your leg should have a  30/40ROM, then aim for the next milestone 10/12 weeks 90ROM, after three months aiming for 120ROM, but rehab is going to take up the best part of a minimum of six months.   Don`t push it, listen to your knee -   Don`t drive until you have clearance from your OS - roughly three months after the surgery, even then with the drivers seat placed back as far as it goes.

You might be wise to go onto Amazon, and purchase a floor clycle - about £30, then you can sit in your own chair and pedal away, once the brace is removed. but take it easy as the tendon takes about three months to heal.

Keep posting

JohnK/ Manchester UK 

[jgreen1990]

Do you know how long it will be before i am walking again they said full weight at 6 weeks i am a plumbing supervisor aswell so when i can walk means i can get back to work im not looking to rush back as i have read that patience is the main thing but getting back to my day to day life will help me get back to normal

[jgreen1990]

Also reading alot about cpm machines is this something that could help the recovery process even if i had to hire one they are about £200 a month which in hind sight is not a lot of money to help make a full recovery