Printable View
My good friend is 2 1/2 weeks out of ACL surgery and on tues doing therapy got to 120, her therapist was super stoked but when she went to the doc the next day - he said it was way too quick and that it made him uncomfortable which freaked her out a bit.
Anyone have any thoughts/opinions on this? Thanks.
I too have been cautioned against working my ROM, both flexion and extension. Apparently too much too soon (or hyperextending) can be really bad. I am unaware of the physics behind it, but don't mind complying . . .
interesting. for my doc it was all extension. getting to zero was the number one priority. i aparently was some freak case as i had zero on my first post op doc visit. never had to work for it. and lead my surgeon to proclaimed i was in the 95th percentile of extension havers. (not sure if he was just tring to give me something to be proud of, or if it is actually a good thing to get extension dialed rigth of the bat.) my other knee goes -5 degrees, and at about 4-5 months my operated leg got to that same hyperextension, just by doing my normal pt program (never did any of that lying on your stomach with the wieghts on your ankles pushing the extension, but several other PT graft rehabbers seing my therepist had to do these for several months post op)
as far as flexion, this was not pushed at all. basicly as long as i had enough to peddle the bike they were happy. i was told the flexion comes back naturally as the swelling decreases, and to push it before the swelling is gone just puts extra stress on all the tissues in the joint area, as all that fluid needs somewhere to go. so i never really tried to get symetry back, and still have more flexion in my non oporated side (i can kneel on my non operated leg and comfortably sit my ass on the back of my heels, but it does not feel great to do that to my operated leg)
From what I know, I think it really depends on which type of graft she got. I think for PT graft you get to be more aggressive on this. I just had an Allograft (two weeks ago - Apr 1) and my program was: 90 degree- week 1, 100- wk 2, 110- week 3, 120 week 4. From what I was told you need 115 to be riding a bike.....but due to my graft they dont want me on a bike until 4 wks out anyhow.Quote:
Originally Posted by MuleSkinner
I also heard extension was key....with the Allograft I was at 0 in the first few days, so this wasnt an issue.
Side note, I just gave up my crutches on Friday, and am walking fairly normally in my Donjoy (instead of the monster black brace. YEAH!!
I'm seven days post-op with an achilles allograft. I have -5 (or is it +?) extension and 115 flexion. I rode the bike comfortably in PT yesterday. I had good extension day 1. I rested my heel on a tubular pillow often during the 1st few days. I've been doing lots of quad sets and it's been great to feel the graft ACL raise my heel off the floor.
I see my OS today and after reading some of the threads here I'm a bit freaked about my ROM - is it too soon? Have I been f'ink up by going too fast?
I'll let you folks know if I learn anything about this subject (good or bad).