I’m almost there…
15 months have now come and gone in my recovery journey of my partial knee replacement. It seems like a lifetime ago my surgeon was sharpening his scalpels with a crazy grin on his face.
Since my last update, I have taken leaps and bounds in my recovery as I continue to build strength, range of motion, and correct my biomechanics. It’s difficult to pin-point exactly what is helping the most but I suspect it’s a combination of treatment, daily exercises and good old fashioned ‘time’. In my quest for getting back to a full recovery I have been experimenting with three methods to accelerate the process:
Strength Training
Without question, strength training is an essential part of recovery. However the usual strength training protocol for exercises in rehabilitation is often prescribed as light resistance and lots of repetitions (ie. 2-3 sets of 15+ reps). Upon visiting a knee specialist physiotherapist late last year, the latest research seems to have flipped that theory on its head and now studies are revealing greater improvements for heavy weights (as heavy as you can with-stand) to be lifted and less repetitions (ie. 4-5 sets of 8 reps) causing a greater strength response from the deteriorated muscles. Obviously this method should only kick in when healing around the joint has occurred and it must be completed in a pain free range. Incredibly once I implemented this protocol my leg strength rapidly increased and my quadriceps muscles began to appear again. This had huge implications on my cycling as I felt power quickly return. Happy days!
Wedging
My physiotherapist is one of the best in her field as she not only has experience working with elite tennis athletes (Serena Williams, Lindsay Davenport, Kim Clijsters to name-drop a few) but also one who continues to learn and try new techniques. One of those new techniques she recently added to her bag of tricks was ‘wedging’. Not the kind that makes your undies almost disappear, but one that involves placing small wedges under foot to retrain correct foot mechanics throughout phases of your gait. Seemed unusual at first but after daily practice I noticed that I began walking much freer and less compensating for my operated knee. Normal walking – tick!
Cupping
The last and most recent method I’ve employed is cupping. The pain I still feel comes from the lengthy scar from the operation where tissue of muscle and fascia were cut to give access to the inside of the knee. After a little research I decided to give cupping a go to help break up adhesions within the scar. After just three sessions I have gained further pain free range in my squats and lunges. This I’m VERY happy to report.
With these new methods implemented, just last week I completed my first 4km run outside. I can’t tell you how amazing this felt as this was an activity I really wasn’t sure I’d ever be able to do again pain free. Being able to run without the all too familiar discomfort in my knee along my local bike path was an AMAZING feeling and something I will never take for granted. Now to just get through this last 10% in my recovery and this whole journey will be SO worth it.
