Had my knee operated on to fix a flap of cartilage on Friday. Has anyone got any advice on how to speed up recovery and length of time before I should start back running?
Had my knee operated on to fix a flap of cartilage on Friday. Has anyone got any advice on how to speed up recovery and length of time before I should start back running?
Your physio and/or surgeon should have given you a progressive re-hab plan... follow it diligently to the letter (no matter how dull and repetitive) and don't rush things. If they didn't give you a plan, ask for one.
Think about biking before running and take it steady. I had mine done 6 years ago. I took 12 months for me to get my full confidence back. In the long term it'll be worth it. You'll soon get the feel of it and know when you've done too much.
Fitness can't be stored. It must be earned over and over, indefinitely.
15 years ago my surgeon told me that the success rate for knee operations is 50%. As you see from my photo at the end of the Veitsch 57km mountain race, I was in the right 50%.
Don't aim to "speed up recovery" but rather aim to eliminate the cause/s. When you start running again I'd suggest you don't run on roads.
I had the same in January.
When I was told it would be 6 weeks before I should start running I was pretty peeved (having recovered in 2 - 3 weeks 15 years ago when I had a similar op on the other knee).
Fernando Torres (Liverpool and Spain) had the same op. and on the same day and the Liverpool medical team were saying he'll be back in 6 weeks.
Hmmmm thought I. Is he going to be back playing Premiership football, twisting turning, stopping, starting etc - in 6 weeks, and I'm not allowed to run atall 'till then .....
Anyway - I did what I was told and am still on track. Torres is back in the medical room with a recurrrance.
So - don't rush it.
I've surprised myself by not trying to do anything too soon.
Doc said you can cycle in 10 days, I waited 2 weeks.
He said you can run in 6 weeks - I felt I could probably be running at 4 weeks but I waited 6.
How to speed up recovery -
in these first days keep as mobile as possible without pushing it. gently flex your knee, first passively (letting fall under gravity) then actively (use your musckes.
You should be walking by now - take the opportunity to do this but don't go too far to make things sore or swolen.
Do your exercises every day.
Most importantly keep your quads active and strengthen them to protect the joint. At this stage that may just mean clenching them with leg straight.
After a few days you might want to think about sdoing squats (no weights ) on both legs so as not to over stress the operated joint.
Like I said 15 years ago I was able to run after just 3 weeks
Now I'm in my 40's it was probably 4 - 5 weeks - I waited 6 as I was told.
I think if you go into the op as a fit runner your recovery is going to be quicker than the average (6 weeks) but you will do yourself no harm by waiting.
I'm finding the clearance of all symptoms and sensitivity is taking a good while - knee still feels a little swolen after a run.
When you do strat running you need to be prepared to take your time building up.
I believe I have helped this by doing plenty of cycling to keep fit - some pretty hard interval sessions on a bike down the gym have kept the high end.
I strated gentle cycling 2 weeks after the op (16 days)
For the first week I felt very wary - low gears and cautious pace, no fast acceleration.
A weekend off allowed a step improvement and I felt more confident to push a bit harder, the next again week I was able to go up the gears a bit.
All this based on being honest about how it felt and being quite prepared to ease off rather than push on.
If you do use a bike avoid accelerations and heavy gears.
was that rambling enough...?
hi, all good advice, i had the same op in december, im still not running any reasonable distance, my knee still feels unstable and cracks on the stairs.
what you do for your day job plays a major part in recovery, i had a month off work and took it easy when i started back, i still managed to agravate it which kept setting me back.
if you have a manual job, stay off work as long as you can. start cycling, im getting good progress from mtbing and your still getting out on the hills, you may not feel the urgency to start running again as long as your getting your fix of fresh air and views.
good luck
mark
Please don't rush it. Follow the advice of your physio.Originally Posted by Gazmuz
I had mine last September and currently I am no where near full fitness.
A running friend who is a physio had his last November, raced for the 1st time last week BUT all his fitness rehab has been an the bike. NO impact to the knee.
Do be carefull and don't rush back.
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