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RUPTURED PATELLAR TENDON
I fell down three steps and ruptured my patellar tendon. My injury occurred 12/14/06, my surgery was 12/18/06 and they discharged me from the hospital on 12/19/06. 1/3/07 at the docs he said to do quad flex's 30 times twice a day and 10 heel toe points every hour. Next appointment on 1/18/07 I get the x-ray like usual then go into the exam room. He comes in, takes off my brace, throws it on the counter and then tells me to lay down. (i truly think he told me to lay down so I couldn't punch him when he did what he did next.) Next he grabs my knee cap and starts yanking it side to side and massaging my knee very roughly. He tells my wife she has to do this twice a day, ten to fifteen times and then pick up my knee so it bends a little 3 to 5 times. He then told me I couldn't have my brace back and sent us home with a script for Physical Therapy. I guess my question is, it has only been 4.5 weeks since my surgery and now i can't have the brace? Fast forward to today 1/31, only 6 weeks since surgery. Doc had me put my leg off the edge of the table then proceeded to push down on it little by little until I was literally crying. I'm a 39 year old big guy that doesn't cry. I'm really concerned that this guy is too agressive and he is going to rerupture it. I'm a 350lb guy and I really don't want to have to go this surgery again. Should I start looking for another doc?
I did mine on the 21/03/2014 (2 days after the injury) after the tendon on my left knee was completely torn while playing in a basketaball match. For my repair they sutured the torn ends of the tendon together. To avoid it tearing in the early healing stage, they passed a couple of wire loops through the quadriceps tendon (above the kneecap) and ran the wire down to the top of the shin bone and through a bone tunnel together with loads of supposedly self dissolving stitches. After 5 days in the hospital they got me up and walking on crutches and sent me home. It took me about 3 weeks before I was confident enough to get around under my own steam.
Stiches were removed after 2 weeks. I started physio after about 3 weeks and I'm sorry to say this is where the real pain starts. According to the surgeon and depending on the condition of my torn tendon the plan was as follows: 2 weeks 0-30 degrees, next 2 weeks 30-60 degrees, next 2 weeks 60-90 degrees, afterwards 90-full bend. So far i have reached 90 degrees active and with the push of my physio around 100 degrees. The problem is that it seems like me leg is stuck a bit the last 10 days to the same degrees as a further push by my physio is trully killing me. Any advice please?????
I recently visited my surgeon and he told me that removing the wire is not a must unless it causes pain or any other sort of discomfort. That will not take please until the first 4-5 months of the surgery anyways. Today I completed 3 months post surgery and me ROM is at 90-95 degrees active and 110 passive. For my good surprise i tried 2 days ago to use the sitting bicycle on the gym and with lots of pain i did 5 minutes. Yesterday i completed 10 minutes. I can walk with small dificculty and my physiotherapist told me to do exercises at home at least 5 times per day and no more than 20 minutes (it includes several sets of bends with each bend lasting around 20-30 sec).
Stiches were removed after 2 weeks. I started physio after about 3 weeks and I'm sorry to say this is where the real pain starts. According to the surgeon and depending on the condition of my torn tendon the plan was as follows: 2 weeks 0-30 degrees, next 2 weeks 30-60 degrees, next 2 weeks 60-90 degrees, afterwards 90-full bend. So far i have reached 90 degrees active and with the push of my physio around 100 degrees. The problem is that it seems like me leg is stuck a bit the last 10 days to the same degrees as a further push by my physio is trully killing me. Any advice please?????
I recently visited my surgeon and he told me that removing the wire is not a must unless it causes pain or any other sort of discomfort. That will not take please until the first 4-5 months of the surgery anyways. Today I completed 3 months post surgery and me ROM is at 90-95 degrees active and 110 passive. For my good surprise i tried 2 days ago to use the sitting bicycle on the gym and with lots of pain i did 5 minutes. Yesterday i completed 10 minutes. I can walk with small dificculty and my physiotherapist told me to do exercises at home at least 5 times per day and no more than 20 minutes (it includes several sets of bends with each bend lasting around 20-30 sec).
My name is Tom and my email is ***@**** On 7/19/13, I suffered bilateral patellar tendon ruptures. Surgery on 7/21/13 and then into a rehab for a week followed by 5 weeks in the immobilization. Looking for help with a bilateral patellar tendon rupture protocol as most are for unilateral ruptures. If anyone is watching, feel free to email as I would appreciate the input.
Hoping to discover something &/OR MAYBE a new direction BUT IT IS MORE LIKELY FOR ME "It is what it is" truely since it has been forever. Due to the HORSE I rode jumping a fence that the hadn't cleared & the horse fall also. FYI....
I had survived a TRAMATIC BRAIN INJURY that happen due to that HORSEBACK RIDING FALL in 1977.
AS TO many years of Therapies + ALL of my parents caring patients + efforts, I've rehabilitated my basic body movement & many mental abilities someWHAT FROM MANY YEARS OF THE intense PT, SPEECH & OCCUPATIONAL THERIPIES. AHEAD OF THE ADVANCEMENTS OF ALL THE AVAILABILITIES OF THE PUBLIC HEAD INJURY SUPPORTS TO THE FAMILY MEMBERS & MYSELF TOO DESIGNED PRESENTLY. through many efforts REGAINED MY SPEECH, COGNITIVE & MY BASUC PHYSICAL ABILITIES --- attended several years of HORSEBACK RIDING THERIPY + SWIMMING THERIPY. ALTHOUGH INDEPENDENTLY WALKING IS STILL UNREACHABLE. FOR YEARS WAS USEING A WALKER INDEPENTALLY........
ALTHOUGH MY CRAZY KNEES ARE WORN OUT, WHICH BEGAIN IN GRADE SCHOOL, BUT NOW WERE MUCH WORSE!!!!
HAD TOTAL KNEE REPLACEMENT SURGERY 4 TIMES NOW!! ALL DONE ON MY LEFT KNEE, LAST IMPLANT -- SURGEON EXPLAINED WAS THE LAST RESOURT A "ROTATING HENGE". WHICH THE PATELLA --- (kNEE-CAP) SHIFTED ABOVE CENTER OF NORMAL KNEE-CAP AREA OF LEG.
SURGEON EXPLAINS HOW MY LEGS ARE NOT STRAIGHT & WITH THE STRUCTURE OF MY LEG -- WHO KNOWS WHAT HAD CAUSED PATELLA TO RELOCATE & MOVE. THIS PREVENTS ME FROM STRAIGHTENING TO EXTEND MY LEG. UNABLE TO USE THIGH MUSCLES,but if any other person or A stable object forces this left LEg STRAIGHT it is nOt PAinful at all to force straight.
WELL SURGEON SAYS MY KNEES HAVE A MIND OF THIER OWN!! I was reminded.......DUE TO HOW I HAD CAUGHT A INFECTION "MRA" EARLIER, MY TOP SURGEON IN THE AREA. IS AGAINT RESETTING MY PARTELLA BY SURGERY--DUE TO THE RISK OF ME CATCHing MRS AGAIN. ALTHOUGH IT IS ALSO A RISK DOING THE SURGERY FOR my RIGHT KNEE-REPLACEMENT NEEDED ON MY RIGHT KNEE TOO. BUT SURGENT WILL BE DOING THAT HE AGEES AT SOME POINT & TIME........PRAY FOR ME & WISH THE BEST RESULT PLEASE?!!
I had survived a TRAMATIC BRAIN INJURY that happen due to that HORSEBACK RIDING FALL in 1977.
AS TO many years of Therapies + ALL of my parents caring patients + efforts, I've rehabilitated my basic body movement & many mental abilities someWHAT FROM MANY YEARS OF THE intense PT, SPEECH & OCCUPATIONAL THERIPIES. AHEAD OF THE ADVANCEMENTS OF ALL THE AVAILABILITIES OF THE PUBLIC HEAD INJURY SUPPORTS TO THE FAMILY MEMBERS & MYSELF TOO DESIGNED PRESENTLY. through many efforts REGAINED MY SPEECH, COGNITIVE & MY BASUC PHYSICAL ABILITIES --- attended several years of HORSEBACK RIDING THERIPY + SWIMMING THERIPY. ALTHOUGH INDEPENDENTLY WALKING IS STILL UNREACHABLE. FOR YEARS WAS USEING A WALKER INDEPENTALLY........
ALTHOUGH MY CRAZY KNEES ARE WORN OUT, WHICH BEGAIN IN GRADE SCHOOL, BUT NOW WERE MUCH WORSE!!!!
HAD TOTAL KNEE REPLACEMENT SURGERY 4 TIMES NOW!! ALL DONE ON MY LEFT KNEE, LAST IMPLANT -- SURGEON EXPLAINED WAS THE LAST RESOURT A "ROTATING HENGE". WHICH THE PATELLA --- (kNEE-CAP) SHIFTED ABOVE CENTER OF NORMAL KNEE-CAP AREA OF LEG.
SURGEON EXPLAINS HOW MY LEGS ARE NOT STRAIGHT & WITH THE STRUCTURE OF MY LEG -- WHO KNOWS WHAT HAD CAUSED PATELLA TO RELOCATE & MOVE. THIS PREVENTS ME FROM STRAIGHTENING TO EXTEND MY LEG. UNABLE TO USE THIGH MUSCLES,but if any other person or A stable object forces this left LEg STRAIGHT it is nOt PAinful at all to force straight.
WELL SURGEON SAYS MY KNEES HAVE A MIND OF THIER OWN!! I was reminded.......DUE TO HOW I HAD CAUGHT A INFECTION "MRA" EARLIER, MY TOP SURGEON IN THE AREA. IS AGAINT RESETTING MY PARTELLA BY SURGERY--DUE TO THE RISK OF ME CATCHing MRS AGAIN. ALTHOUGH IT IS ALSO A RISK DOING THE SURGERY FOR my RIGHT KNEE-REPLACEMENT NEEDED ON MY RIGHT KNEE TOO. BUT SURGENT WILL BE DOING THAT HE AGEES AT SOME POINT & TIME........PRAY FOR ME & WISH THE BEST RESULT PLEASE?!!
Cool seeing all the stories on here.
On June 21, I was playing field hockey and got hit in the knee by someone from the opposing team with a stick (it wasn't accidental either but that's another story...). I knew it was bad as soon as it happened - had enough minor bumps and bruises to know I'd done something major.
Turned out I had a fractured patella and the patella tendon was detached as well. Because it was a compound fracture, they operated the next morning, re-set the fracture (luckily I didn't need any metal hardware) and reattached the patella tendon.
Anyway for the first 6 weeks I was pretty limited. Brace locked at 10 degrees to allow the fracture to heal. It was hard for me as I'm massively into sport and fitness. I couldn't drive myself to the gym but got some DBs at home to do some upper body stuff. Since then I've been able to get to the gym 3x week but doing upper body stuff only obviously, and mainly seated. Pretty frustrating given I could squat 160kg (double my body weight) before it happened, but still awesome to be able to work out again.
Saw the surgeon last Fri and he cleared me to start physio and open the brace up to 30 degrees. It was a little tight at first but by the next day I was locking the brace out with no tightness or pain at all. Going to plan, in 6 weeks time I'll be up to 90 degrees ROM and out of the brace!
Started physio yesterday. Couldn't do a straight leg raise there, but went through some basic strengthening exercises, and she measured my quads. The right one was 46cm circumference - the left (injured) leg was 41cm. To be honest the difference actually looked like a lot more, probably because of the (lack of) muscle tone!
Anyway when I got home I managed to do a straight leg raise. It was tough , not so much painful as just quite tight through the kneecap and a lot of hard work, but still awesome to nail it that given I'd only just started rehab. That gave me a lot of confidence about the road ahead! I'm dying to get back to all the fitness stuff I loved, and my goal is to be in seriously good shape for snowboarding for next winter here in the Southern hemisphere... given I've missed snowboarding this winter.
On June 21, I was playing field hockey and got hit in the knee by someone from the opposing team with a stick (it wasn't accidental either but that's another story...). I knew it was bad as soon as it happened - had enough minor bumps and bruises to know I'd done something major.
Turned out I had a fractured patella and the patella tendon was detached as well. Because it was a compound fracture, they operated the next morning, re-set the fracture (luckily I didn't need any metal hardware) and reattached the patella tendon.
Anyway for the first 6 weeks I was pretty limited. Brace locked at 10 degrees to allow the fracture to heal. It was hard for me as I'm massively into sport and fitness. I couldn't drive myself to the gym but got some DBs at home to do some upper body stuff. Since then I've been able to get to the gym 3x week but doing upper body stuff only obviously, and mainly seated. Pretty frustrating given I could squat 160kg (double my body weight) before it happened, but still awesome to be able to work out again.
Saw the surgeon last Fri and he cleared me to start physio and open the brace up to 30 degrees. It was a little tight at first but by the next day I was locking the brace out with no tightness or pain at all. Going to plan, in 6 weeks time I'll be up to 90 degrees ROM and out of the brace!
Started physio yesterday. Couldn't do a straight leg raise there, but went through some basic strengthening exercises, and she measured my quads. The right one was 46cm circumference - the left (injured) leg was 41cm. To be honest the difference actually looked like a lot more, probably because of the (lack of) muscle tone!
Anyway when I got home I managed to do a straight leg raise. It was tough , not so much painful as just quite tight through the kneecap and a lot of hard work, but still awesome to nail it that given I'd only just started rehab. That gave me a lot of confidence about the road ahead! I'm dying to get back to all the fitness stuff I loved, and my goal is to be in seriously good shape for snowboarding for next winter here in the Southern hemisphere... given I've missed snowboarding this winter.
Thank you for posting this timeline. It's very helpful and I plan to do the same so others can gain insight.
I'm a 45year old male. Competitive cyclist, skier, etc. I had a full rupture of my patella on left leg just below kneecap. I was jumping on a trampoline dunking basketballs at my 9yr old sons birthday party. Came down on trampoline and it just went. Hurt like hell and my poor son had to watch me carted away in ambulance but he's fine now. I'm 2 weeks post surgery in a leg brace Doc has opened it up to 30 degrees (when seated) and I can bend it without too much pain. I keep it locked when standing. He said to add +10 degrees each week till my next appt. He said at 5 weeks ill start passive PT.
I've heard different opinions from docs on how aggressive to go with activity and PT but I think I'm just listening to my doc who teaches sports medicine at a top hospital in Philadelphia and seems very knowledgeable.
I've taken it on my own to go to gym on crutches and carefully do upper body machines since week 1. I've also been doing the hand bicycle trainer for 40 min which is great for getting your heart rate up. It feels so good to get the blood flowing and a good sweat going!!! I highly recommend it.
Keep the faith and remember this is nothing compared to what I've seen some friends deal with in battling cancer.
Thx for sharing. And if anyone has any experience skiing post recovery I'd love to hear it and if you feel comfortable.
I'm a 45year old male. Competitive cyclist, skier, etc. I had a full rupture of my patella on left leg just below kneecap. I was jumping on a trampoline dunking basketballs at my 9yr old sons birthday party. Came down on trampoline and it just went. Hurt like hell and my poor son had to watch me carted away in ambulance but he's fine now. I'm 2 weeks post surgery in a leg brace Doc has opened it up to 30 degrees (when seated) and I can bend it without too much pain. I keep it locked when standing. He said to add +10 degrees each week till my next appt. He said at 5 weeks ill start passive PT.
I've heard different opinions from docs on how aggressive to go with activity and PT but I think I'm just listening to my doc who teaches sports medicine at a top hospital in Philadelphia and seems very knowledgeable.
I've taken it on my own to go to gym on crutches and carefully do upper body machines since week 1. I've also been doing the hand bicycle trainer for 40 min which is great for getting your heart rate up. It feels so good to get the blood flowing and a good sweat going!!! I highly recommend it.
Keep the faith and remember this is nothing compared to what I've seen some friends deal with in battling cancer.
Thx for sharing. And if anyone has any experience skiing post recovery I'd love to hear it and if you feel comfortable.
hi every one.
here`s my story
away on holiday and briskly jogging and my leg slipped and planted to the ground I heard a loud pop and fell straight to floor fast and hard
was in a lot of pain. my friends carried me straight to the car I could not bend my leg at all and if it moved I screamed in pain. my knee cap may half way up my thigh which I tried to move back but it sprang straight up my thigh again. I sat in AE for about 2 hours then had and x ray and doctor confirmed I had completely ruptured my patella tendon. surgery took place the following day.
they said they were going to drill 3 holes in my knee cap and put a box wire from my thigh to knee cap and shin.
they said surgery would take an hour but it took 3 said there was other things they had to do but all in all it went well. I was in a lot of pain for the next 2 days but they put me in a material brace and got me on crutches so I could go home were they said I must go straight to my local hospital to get further treatment. it was the second day after surgery when I was on crutches and it lots of pain and really was struggling on the crutches. that night before I was due to go home there was a lot of blood leaking from the brace it was leaking up my leg and dripping on to a towel I kept passing out. the following day I got to my local hospital and they said I had an infection in my knee resulting in massive swelling and me staying in hospital for another 5 days on drip and antibiotics. I'm now on week and when I toe touch on crutches I get pins and needles straight up my leg and sharp pains in my knee and thigh. I cant weight bear at all even on pain killers. I'm desperate to get back to work but there telling me I have to have the wires removed which involves more surgery. does anyone have any ideas on when I could get back to work. hospital are saying minimum 8 weeks from surgery.
here`s my story
away on holiday and briskly jogging and my leg slipped and planted to the ground I heard a loud pop and fell straight to floor fast and hard
was in a lot of pain. my friends carried me straight to the car I could not bend my leg at all and if it moved I screamed in pain. my knee cap may half way up my thigh which I tried to move back but it sprang straight up my thigh again. I sat in AE for about 2 hours then had and x ray and doctor confirmed I had completely ruptured my patella tendon. surgery took place the following day.
they said they were going to drill 3 holes in my knee cap and put a box wire from my thigh to knee cap and shin.
they said surgery would take an hour but it took 3 said there was other things they had to do but all in all it went well. I was in a lot of pain for the next 2 days but they put me in a material brace and got me on crutches so I could go home were they said I must go straight to my local hospital to get further treatment. it was the second day after surgery when I was on crutches and it lots of pain and really was struggling on the crutches. that night before I was due to go home there was a lot of blood leaking from the brace it was leaking up my leg and dripping on to a towel I kept passing out. the following day I got to my local hospital and they said I had an infection in my knee resulting in massive swelling and me staying in hospital for another 5 days on drip and antibiotics. I'm now on week and when I toe touch on crutches I get pins and needles straight up my leg and sharp pains in my knee and thigh. I cant weight bear at all even on pain killers. I'm desperate to get back to work but there telling me I have to have the wires removed which involves more surgery. does anyone have any ideas on when I could get back to work. hospital are saying minimum 8 weeks from surgery.
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