Recovering from a fractured knee and PCL / PLC
Discussion
Haven't posted in here for a long time, couple of you may remember me but still been a long time lurker.
I managed to fracture my knee in 6 places on 1st July, in the process driving my knee cap through to tear my PCL and hurt my PLC (not even sure what this is) in a completely non alcohol related injury. But that's another tale.
I've had the obligatory 4 weeks on crutches, further 2 weeks of light cycling and now 2 weeks of full physio.
My question I guess is, they've tasked me with smashing quad, calves and hip excercises, with a view to getting me back to a full 'match' fitness if I were a sporty type.
Has anyone suffered similar injuries, if so what was the full recovery process like? And how long did it take?
I managed to fracture my knee in 6 places on 1st July, in the process driving my knee cap through to tear my PCL and hurt my PLC (not even sure what this is) in a completely non alcohol related injury. But that's another tale.
I've had the obligatory 4 weeks on crutches, further 2 weeks of light cycling and now 2 weeks of full physio.
My question I guess is, they've tasked me with smashing quad, calves and hip excercises, with a view to getting me back to a full 'match' fitness if I were a sporty type.
Has anyone suffered similar injuries, if so what was the full recovery process like? And how long did it take?
I had a tibial plateau fracture earlier this year, short thread in All Creatures Great and Small, basically rugby tackled at full speed by the dog and his mates .
3 weeks in plaster, first two weeks non weight bearing. Then 3 weeks knee brace, locked in straight position. At that point a different consultant was unhappy that I was weight bearing as he recommends eight weeks non weight bearing.
glad to know left hand talks to right hand, not.
Anyway another 3 weeks, after he'd checked the knee stability, with knee brace unlocked to allow full movement.
Start of physio, gradually weaning me off the brace, exercises designed to build up muscles and ligaments, straight leg lifts, bends, calf stretches, plus have been doing walks, up to an hour a day with the dog, with assistance as for a long time didn’t have the strength to hold him if he pulled hard on the lead. 45 minutes usually OK, an hour starts to hurt.
Now doing lower limb gym class, stretching, cycling, crunches, step exercises, and lots of balancing on one leg, some of them yoga moves, plus lots of walking still. Still doing the earlier exercises too. Only recently stopped needing paracetamol to get a decent night sleep.
Still have trouble with stairs, only recently been able to walk upstairs using alternate legs and not relying on handrail for significant assistance. Downstairs and down steep hills is still a big problem due to the eccentric muscle activity being the last to recover.
Have been warned that in later life to expect arthritis and a knee replacement, though as mentioned earlier it depends on who you talk to on this.
Someone in the class with a knee injury lot worse than mine originally, and much much younger, has been going three years.
Sounds like your injury was worse than mine tbh. There have been occasions where the physio has advised to stop pushing so hard, just ease back for a few days and let things catch up.
Anyway don't know if that helps any., hope it answers the question.
3 weeks in plaster, first two weeks non weight bearing. Then 3 weeks knee brace, locked in straight position. At that point a different consultant was unhappy that I was weight bearing as he recommends eight weeks non weight bearing.
glad to know left hand talks to right hand, not. Anyway another 3 weeks, after he'd checked the knee stability, with knee brace unlocked to allow full movement.
Start of physio, gradually weaning me off the brace, exercises designed to build up muscles and ligaments, straight leg lifts, bends, calf stretches, plus have been doing walks, up to an hour a day with the dog, with assistance as for a long time didn’t have the strength to hold him if he pulled hard on the lead. 45 minutes usually OK, an hour starts to hurt.
Now doing lower limb gym class, stretching, cycling, crunches, step exercises, and lots of balancing on one leg, some of them yoga moves, plus lots of walking still. Still doing the earlier exercises too. Only recently stopped needing paracetamol to get a decent night sleep.
Still have trouble with stairs, only recently been able to walk upstairs using alternate legs and not relying on handrail for significant assistance. Downstairs and down steep hills is still a big problem due to the eccentric muscle activity being the last to recover.
Have been warned that in later life to expect arthritis and a knee replacement, though as mentioned earlier it depends on who you talk to on this.
Someone in the class with a knee injury lot worse than mine originally, and much much younger, has been going three years.
Sounds like your injury was worse than mine tbh. There have been occasions where the physio has advised to stop pushing so hard, just ease back for a few days and let things catch up.
Anyway don't know if that helps any., hope it answers the question.
Edited by FiF on Friday 26th August 08:57
FiF said:
I had a tibial plateau fracture earlier this year, short thread in All Creatures Great and Small, basically rugby tackled at full speed by the dog and his mates .
3 weeks in plaster, first two weeks non weight bearing. Then 3 weeks knee brace, locked in straight position. At that point a different consultant was unhappy that I was weight bearing as he recommends eight weeks non weight bearing. glad to know left hand talks to right hand, not.
Anyway another 3 weeks, after he'd checked the knee stability, with knee brace unlocked to allow full movement.
Start of physio, gradually weaning me off the brace, exercises designed to build up muscles and ligaments, straight leg lifts, bends, calf stretches, plus have been doing walks, up to an hour a day with the dog, with assistance as for a long time didn’t have the strength to hold him if he pulled hard on the lead. 45 minutes usually OK, an hour starts to hurt.
Now doing lower limb gym class, stretching, cycling, crunches, step exercises, and lots of balancing on one leg, some of them yoga moves, plus lots of walking still. Still doing the earlier exercises too. Only recently stopped needing paracetamol to get a decent night sleep.
Still have trouble with stairs, only recently been able to walk upstairs using alternate legs and not relying on handrail for significant assistance. Downstairs and down steep hills is still a big problem due to the eccentric muscle activity being the last to recover.
Have been warned that in later life to expect arthritis and a knee replacement, though as mentioned earlier it depends on who you talk to on this.
Someone in the class with a knee injury lot worse than mine originally, and much much younger, has been going three years.
Sounds like your injury was worse than mine tbh. There have been occasions where the physio has advised to stop pushing so hard, just ease back for a few days and let things catch up.
Anyway don't know if that helps any., hope it answers the question.
Very useful thanks!3 weeks in plaster, first two weeks non weight bearing. Then 3 weeks knee brace, locked in straight position. At that point a different consultant was unhappy that I was weight bearing as he recommends eight weeks non weight bearing.
glad to know left hand talks to right hand, not. Anyway another 3 weeks, after he'd checked the knee stability, with knee brace unlocked to allow full movement.
Start of physio, gradually weaning me off the brace, exercises designed to build up muscles and ligaments, straight leg lifts, bends, calf stretches, plus have been doing walks, up to an hour a day with the dog, with assistance as for a long time didn’t have the strength to hold him if he pulled hard on the lead. 45 minutes usually OK, an hour starts to hurt.
Now doing lower limb gym class, stretching, cycling, crunches, step exercises, and lots of balancing on one leg, some of them yoga moves, plus lots of walking still. Still doing the earlier exercises too. Only recently stopped needing paracetamol to get a decent night sleep.
Still have trouble with stairs, only recently been able to walk upstairs using alternate legs and not relying on handrail for significant assistance. Downstairs and down steep hills is still a big problem due to the eccentric muscle activity being the last to recover.
Have been warned that in later life to expect arthritis and a knee replacement, though as mentioned earlier it depends on who you talk to on this.
Someone in the class with a knee injury lot worse than mine originally, and much much younger, has been going three years.
Sounds like your injury was worse than mine tbh. There have been occasions where the physio has advised to stop pushing so hard, just ease back for a few days and let things catch up.
Anyway don't know if that helps any., hope it answers the question.
Edited by FiF on Friday 26th August 08:57
I was lucky enough to not have a plaster due to the ligament damage, they were more concerned with getting me straight in a PCL brace to limit movement but encourage some mobility.
The pain isn't, too bad though I find it aches like mad in the morning. First 2 days out of this beauty now https://www.mediuk.co.uk/products/m4s-pcl-dynamic/
The physio wants me back to running, which I couldn't do previously due to a bad pain in that knee, he seems convinced that this will rectify the existing condition so every cloud I guess.
Jimbo NW said:
The_Doc said:
Who's your soft tissue knee surgeon?
Those are quite fearsome injuries.
No surgery, though the NHS did say I was on the edge of requiring it.Those are quite fearsome injuries.
My question is, basically, who's looking after you. Not many non-knee orthopaedic surgeons even know where the PLC is. As for A+E/GP/etc.......
Case in point: I never operate on an isolated PCL injury, but would do in conjunction with another ligament.
eg https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schenck_classificati...
Just make sure that your specialist know's his/her beans.
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