Ruptured Patellar Tendon Surgery

[Bascat]

Happy Christmas everybody and a peaceful new year. Wishing you all progress and recovery with the knees. Cheers 😎

[diane72]

Just wanted to pop on after a long day and say 'Happy Christmas' to my lovely Knee Geek friends and send lots of get well wishes.

Diane x

[Norene]

Happy Holidays to all.   After a few days on my feet for hours getting ready for the holiday my knee is not happy.   It is stiff and throwing off lots of heat.   Such is life.    Wonderful fun days with family & friends.   Hope all of you had a good holiday.

[Chiropractor2001]

Merry Christmas to everyone...
Wishing  all the best and speedy recovery to all...

[Chiropractor2001]

Hi all
Does anybody has this problem? I stretch the heck out of my knee. I passively bend it to 130 and two hours later the knee is back to 110 and cannot go any further?
I am sure some of it is knee inflammation. However I think the fact that it bends to 130 means that there is less scar tissue ... I am at 11 weeks post op...
I am hoping that within the next few weeks my heel can touch my behind... ( full range)...

[John42]

Hi Chiroprator2001

I believe that you are pushing the ROM TOOOO hard - Patience is required

JohnK/ Manchester UK

[Chiropractor2001]

Thanks.. however I am almost 12 weeks post op.. I am afraid if I don't get it back now then I won't get my range back at all...
I am at 115 which is behind for 12 weeks. My good leg in passive is 148.
There is a big difference..

[John42]

At 12 weeks you should be no more than 90ROM  - You be most careful, the tendon has not fully healed -    Listen to your knee - once again - you are expecting too  much - so be careful.

JohnK/ Manchester UK   

[Chiropractor2001]

Thank you for your feedback.. not sure anymore
My pt who has done this for many years and my OS say that I should push it at this point otherwise I won't get the ROM back...
How was your recovery? Is your rom back fully..
I am 45 and  athletic..
Confused now..

[Norene]

Hi Chiropractor2001  -   out of town right now so responding on my phone.    I am a 61 year old,  slightly overweight woman who walked 7 miles a day before my accident.   As I previously mentioned I was at about 124 ROM at 14 weeks.    As soon as my brace came off my OS told me to listen to my leg but I had no restrictions.    I started walking up to 4 miles a day.    I did leg lifts with 1 lb weights on my ankle.   I have had setbacks!  Some days you wake up and your knee does not want to do what you want it to do.    Some days my knee gives off so much heat.    Tomorrow will be 11 months since my accident.   Did a 10 hour car ride today with no problems.   Walking around in the damp air this evening it is a bit stiff.   I  was discharged from PT last week.   PT doctor told me to just listen to my knee.  There is no set recuperation for this injury.   Everyone works differently - the most important thing is to listen to your knee.   If you push it - give it time to rest.

[Johanna]

Happy holidays, RPTers...

I am feeling much more comfortable being mobile these days...even in totally cold weather, for real, out here in SoCal...we've had temps down in the low 30s and gusty winds...brrrr, for this California gal wimp.  It does serve as a gauge, however, for knee issues.  Prior to my TKR, my knee would be giving me lots of drama...protesting the chill by getting super stiff and painful.  So...glad for small improvements, for sure.

At my last therapy session, I began modified squats to strengthen my quad(s) more as prep to try and lead with my left to step up a stair.  I'll need to be able to do some of this prior to getting my right knee done, I believe.  And, so far I feel the lower quad firing up better.  It felt quite wobbly only a month or so ago, when I tried this move.

I think I'll ask to have my ROM measured at my next session.  I believe it may be 135 or better.  I often sit watching TV with my knees bent at 90 degree angle on my recliner.  I think little by little it helped me achieve it.

I'd like to be strong enough to get my right knee fixed in early spring.  I so much want to avoid being laid up all summer long again, and I don't want to deal with it during the holidays either.  Being house bound is such a bummer.  With any luck, I'll experience a typical recovery on this next TKR.

My main battle again is managing weight.  I was in a major funk after the election, silly me trusting the folks here would have a clue.  And, I lost my two precious birds within a month of each other in the same time frame.  I didn't binge eat, but with my overly sedentary lifestyle it doesn't take much.  I am trying to galvanize myself once again to get a grip and get with the plan to achieve my goals. 

I think I'll set forth some indoor walks until it doesn't feel so uncomfortable going outside for them.  And, using the exercise bike is feeling more normal, so I may be able to add that at home, too.  We have a gym here where I live, no excuses.  I did learn the hard way that I must be very thoughtful adjusting the bike seat to avoid hyper-extending my right leg.  What a pain that was for about 3 weeks.

I fully empathize with athletic posters here how slow and tedious a recovery this entails.  And, when I was reading through the thread, I read of devastating setbacks for some who suffered a repeat of the injury, or getting through it with one knee, only for the other to go bad.  I hope you all find a way to cope with the pace of this grueling ordeal.  The uncertainty of it all is the worst.

Wishing you all mobility freedom...

~ Johanna ~

[John42]

Hi chiropractor 2001

There has been over 200 RPT`s on this valuable thread during the last ten years or so and would say that the majority suffer some set back or other.

I don`t doubt your enthusiam to get back to normality, but in fact it takes up to a year to reach nearly full ROM.

One doubt in my mind , ask your PT - "" have you seen anybody else with a similar injury" as a RPT injury is so rare. - PATIENCE is required.
Best/ JohnK/Manchester UK

[Chiropractor2001]

Thank you all for your replies.
John..
I do My therapy at the hospital where they see patellar repair and total knee replacement all the time.
It is a major hospital . ( same place where 6 orthopaedic surgeons operate out off) 3 of them only for lower extremity.  And I have asked the pt if she has seen this before. Apparently it is more common than I thought.
Anyway, the OS and the pt have told me , I have 6-7 months maximum to get most of the rom back and after that it is done and the scar tissue cannot be broken off.
I have heard of people on this site that got their ROM back fully within the first few months and I wonder how they did it??
I certainly hope we all get better day by day..
Again thanks to all....

[Bascat]

Hi Chiro, my ROM improved once I got my lower quads firing. Not sure what my ROM is-  about 130ish . More concerned about what I can do rather than fixating on measurements. Improvement is subtle. Eg this week I've noticed going down slopes is a little easier. You're still early in the process so don't be dismayed at inconsistencies. Would agree that good to get to rom. Looking back through my notes and the OS wanted passive rom of 90 at 2 weeks and 120 past this . The carers never followed this instruction and I didnt have access to the notes and had to push hard to get things sorted. The downside of not doing this was atrophy in quads which I'm still working on. The instruction was from the surgeon and designed the repair to take this so don't think a blanket approach can be applied and each individual case needs evaluation.

[Chiropractor2001]

Hi basket
Thank you for your input. I greatly appreciated.
I actually took a day off of doing anything.  Just rested the knee in extension for half a day.
And I have decided to go easy for the next 2 weeks and then start pushing it one day on / one day off.
Thanks...
I am just hoping to get at least enough rom so I can kneel down..( I need it to be able to work).
I had some tibia pain ..I am sure it is referral pain from my quads ..
I am doing quads work out ( no weights) just leg raises and stuff with vibration plate and stim ...( no weight) To. Make sure the quads fire enough..
I definitely don't want to re rupture...
Thanks
And I wish you speedy recovery..