A friend of mine has the following injury/ treatment plan.
first scan of knee showed bone oedema (bruising) on medial tibial plataeu and medial femoral condyle. I am clear now on MRI with regard to bone injury. the pain I get now is hamstring insertion tendonopathy and irritation at pes anserinus… most likely a bursitis and tendonosis. it has been injected with cortisone which helped a little and I am currently doing VMO strengthening and glut med work which is all helping. I additionally have specific release/massage work done to my ITB, gentle glides to patella, quadriceps, long adductors and popliteus.
What kind of movements he/she has to avoid doing? What is the current “limit” level of the athlete training-wise? When was the cortisone injection done?
Not sure when the cortisone was done. All training is being done on grass at this stage and adjusting things as they develop. The way the knee is she can’t cope with intensity or volume (yeah!), tried some moderate incline accelerations over 15-20m last night but I don’t know how they went. Can’t lunge or squat (has a previous back injury that I’m sure required surgery), can do hang power cleans though and upper body. Going to try some explosive med ball on Wednesday and see how that goes. It really is a case of trying to do a bit more and seeing how it goes. I’m thinking of using some max upper work to try and get some CNS stimulation going.
I’ve heard from a doctor that cortisone can make the tendon “soft” and needs attention to high intensity work for some time after. Hence my question, although I don’t know if this stands 100%. Others?
Let us know how the incline work was. Just as a precaution, I would keep the athlete on the flat for now. But you’ll soon have your answer, I guess.
I suppose, you can push these other elements, yes.
Hi John, I’m not sure I can help, but since you asked me… here’s my own experience:
I kept fit for 9+ months during my kneecap fracture solely by doing isometrics (1hr+ each day, about every 3 days, off), and for a period of 2 months during the summer, I was also swimming.
It worked for me… But to be honest, I’m not sure if iso’s slowed down my recovery process, because if you don’t do them right pressure goes on the knee. And forget lunges.
The first doctor had told me I would need 3-6months, but it took nearly a year. Although others told me that such injury takes 6-12 months… So I dont’ know.
Of course I was never too nice to it… you know me.
Swimming bothered me sometimes when kicking, but 90% of the time it felt fine.
I’m sure it varies with the injury.
Deep water running was great, as long as I controlled the angles, since certain degrees felt uncomfortable.
Swimming every day for prolonged time was too boring for me. Not so much the effort itself, but the whole process… swim suite, goggles, towel, sandals, cap, changing, showering, swimming… then showering and dressing again… bliah.
Learning and experimenting with strokes was very fun though =)
Isos are more boring as a task, but I could just stop what I was doing at any time and work almost all the muscles in one hour.
The program I used not only helped my strength, but aerobic conditioning as well, as the heart rate jumped up pretty fast.
For now, whenever I get knee irritation, quad strengthening is the key. Just 5 minutes of wall sit does the trick for me.
I’m not sure if it is kosher to piggyback on this thread but I am going to.
I’m having knee issues as well, I was hoping I could get some guidance. The rear interior side of my right knee has been bothering me for about 2 weeks now. The pain feels awkward in a sense that it feels like the tendon or ligament there is slipping out of place causing discomfort.
At first I thought it was just some tightness or that I slept on it funny but then I was told by a PT friend that it my be hamstring related so I did some deep tissue with a softball and the knee felt a little better but the pain reoccured. Then I though it might be a calf issue from a cramp I had a little while back so I did some more self tissue work and got minor relief. I have also taken some time off and it still hasn’t gotten better.
Sorry for such a long post but I feel that this has been hampering my performances as of late.
