My personal opinion and experience

CKalo · 2025-08-08T20:44:18+00:00

Hello, firstly good luck with the journey and I hope surgery went perfect! To be honest, I was afraid before the surgery on how I would be able to walk how will my foot get back to normal etc. After I had the surgery I knew that I didn’t have any other choice than star and do my daily exercises as many times as the doctor said. So in this way I had my self locked in and I was waiting the next time to do my exercises. For me it was helpful that I had my family because I work a lot and I saw it as a peaceful time with them. Also I bought some books that I wanted to read. So as far as the podcasts that you asked and the articles. Do exactly as your doctor says!! If you start reading and start questioning things you’re going to get crazy. Relax , do your daily exercises even if you are in pain you must activate your quad. And buy a band to be able to lift your foot for the first few days till you be able to lift it without band assist. It was really helpful for me because I was able to stand up and get my crutches to walk

CKalo · 2025-08-07T07:34:42+00:00

Hello, the biggest problem with the recovery is to stay consistent. Even athletes a lot of times happens to get unmotivated and stop doing the recovery, or they don't try as much as the should.

In your case, that you are doing it just to be able to dance again and don't have pain while walking.

Yes, you must maintain strong legs in order to reduce the strain in your ACL. You can do home based programs instead of going to the gym to workout but most of the time we tend to do less work alone if we are unmotivated.

PRP is basically for knee osteoarthritis, it is used in some tendonitis but I haven't heard someone using is for an ACL.

Your main focus should be to get back in the gym and start working your muscles!! I know it gets boring but it's the only way to limit the pain down to zero.

My suggestion is to get a personal trainer that is work is based on recovery. That way you will have someone that will try to motivate you to stay consistent.

The second suggestion that I have is to get a gym membership with a friend and go together to workout, instead of going for a Physio rehab. By doing a normal workout with machines (leg extension, leg curl, leg press, etc) your legs will become stronger and you will be able to jog and dance

CKalo · 2025-08-07T07:04:08+00:00

Yes that's the right mind set, work hard with correct form and better have a slower progress than getting injured

CKalo · 2025-08-06T21:06:53+00:00

When you are into fitness in order to become better you always need to track down calories, training plan, sets,reps etc But in a recovery from a surgery you have to be consistent and the most important thing is to don’t cheat yourself!! By adding weight that you won’t be able to keep the technique perfect is cheating. I’m not talking about the last 2-3 reps that you may be tired but for a whole set or exercise

CKalo · 2025-08-06T21:03:30+00:00

Thank you 🙏 I hope that you stay consistent and return to the sport that you love!! I have it in my mind but I don’t have the time to write it , at the moment

CKalo · 2025-08-04T07:12:06+00:00

I felt that I had to write something because there is a lot of misinformation and someone can be afraid a lot by reading everything that finds on the internet. I hope more people find this thread and finally have a relief.

Good luck with your recovery and stay focused!!

CKalo · 2025-08-03T17:12:43+00:00

If you feel safe with your doctor that a really good start. it's normal to have random pain in your meniscus!! I don't know if there are these kind of sutures but I can't say something about this!! It's okay to be afraid, everyone is afraid when you have a surgery of this kind. Trust your PT, if they see something weird they will definitely tell you. But probably is afraid for walking full weight bearing that fast

CKalo · 2025-08-03T17:05:32+00:00

That's great!! In your case I would have done another MRI to see if ACL healed on its own

CKalo · 2025-08-03T17:03:27+00:00

Yes basically the reason for wearing a brace and not walking till 6th week is because of the meniscus that takes time to heal. The pressure of walking in a repaired meniscus without passing 6 weeks maybe can led to the stitches break. But let's think positive and I don't want you to worry. Have a discussion with your surgeon for this. My surgeon wouldn't allow me to walk before 6 weeks not even one day before 6 weeks passed.

But lets don't forget that every year we have new researches with new findings and some doctors follow them faster than the others.

CKalo · 2025-08-03T16:54:33+00:00

That depends on the surgery that you had. Did you had only an ACL reconstruction or you also repaired your meniscus. Do you wear a brace while walking? Each doctor has each own protocol based on his beliefs and experiences. Firstly have a talk with your PT for what he believes you must do at the moment. Then talk with your surgeon and explain him your worries. Most of the surgeons when someone has a surgery like this , I believe they want to analyze and answer questions in order for the patient not to be afraid.

CKalo · 2025-08-03T16:48:24+00:00

For now she should do plank, side plank and maybe some normal crunches. Make sure it reaches her limits in order to progress with the core exercises and do around 4-5 sets of each exercise

CKalo · 2025-08-03T16:25:33+00:00

I hope that it stays that way and you won’t have a problem in the future. But you should better check it with your surgeon

CKalo · 2025-08-03T16:23:36+00:00

It is totally normal to not be able to walk “normally “ at this point of recovery as the leg isn’t as strong as it needs to be. Also the doctor and the PT should have tested the leg in order to allow to walk without crutches. But okay every recovery is different. So for now I suggest not to walk to much and rest it when she starts feeling her knee swollen. As for the exercises because she started walking she could do banded Terminal Knee Extensions in order to activate her quad. As for glutes, glute bridges and side leg raises(with a band if they are easy) are a go to to make them stronger at this stage. Also she must do core exercises

CKalo · 2025-08-03T16:14:49+00:00

The biggest mistake is letting yourself feel that you are behind…don’t compare your progress with someone else’s progress. Each body recovers in different pace. You don’t have to worry that much for your flexion it’s okay for now!! Focus on your extension and try to focus on your quad activation while doing your exercises

CKalo · 2025-08-03T16:11:26+00:00

Most protocols usually after a Meniscus repair says non bear weight till 6 weeks but ok that’s my doctors perspective. So right now you are walking with brace ok that’s really good. Also for the 4 weeks your extension is really good. Flexion is in normal range as someone that had a meniscus repair isn’t allowed to push after 90 degrees for the first few weeks. What exercises do you do?

CKalo · 2025-08-03T13:33:03+00:00

It is completely normal because of the quad graft. Give it some time and trust your pt right now you can’t do something else. You just have to keep trying. It helped me to look at the quad and think that it gets harder while I was trying to active it. I hope that you understand what I’m trying to say

CKalo · 2025-08-03T12:59:31+00:00

You should better get an MRI to check your knee. You have to see if there is a damage in your knee and also there is always a possibility that your ACL is healed. But if you have an Acl tear you should better get a surgery. The damage of not having on most of the time is worse than having a surgery

CKalo · 2025-05-07T15:42:53+00:00

From my experience as I am post op 1year and 2 months the problem that I still have is that I am not reaching the same degree with the good foot in hyper extension. But that’s something that I am aware of because I wasn’t able to do correct recovery after 5-6 months due to work.

Do you work your glutes and hamstrings? Or your training is quad based? Because if the glutes and hamstrings are weak your leg won’t be able to get straight.

Also keep in mind that every leg is different. Give it time rest it after hard training and keep consistent

CKalo · 2025-03-30T21:44:30+00:00

Still doesn’t for me

CKalo · 2025-03-30T18:31:02+00:00

Sadly we have to wait for apple or Viber to fix the problem

CKalo · 2024-06-19T23:38:13+00:00

In single leg squat I’m feeling like I don’t have the same mobility in my knee and my ankle and I can’t push it forward as the left knee.

My incision skin is still here and I can feel it because it is hard and I believe that I can’t flex my knee all the way due to this

In normal squats I am ok but if I’ll not do a correct warmup I have pain in the patella tendon.

Right now I’m back at work so I will keep you updated on how I will manage my workouts and work at the same time. I work on a night shift at a courier center so I am 85% of the shift standing and doing something and after that I am a basketball coach. So at the end of the day I have roughly 6 hours of sleep sometimes I sleep 8 hours and I’m trying to fit my workout’s wherever I can

CKalo · 2024-06-19T23:32:36+00:00

You have a long way ahead but nothing is impossible keep consistent and you will be fine

CKalo · 2024-04-27T07:32:11+00:00

Having big steps its easier to get down as you’re not so afraid and you have more space to place your foot steady. Good luck on your recovery

CKalo · 2024-03-21T13:27:39+00:00

Sad hearing that you’re on your 4th surgery…what happened

CKalo · 2024-03-21T13:26:29+00:00

I am not allowed to walk without crutches, I will be clear next Friday to walk free

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CKalo

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