She's one tough Cookie
Before you become "Bionic Woman"Before surgery, depending on your surgeon, you will most likely go through physical therapy for a certain amount of time. In physical therapy, the main focus will be your range of motion and strength. The idea is to get your range of motion as close to normal as possible, so that after surgery the range of motion is easier to get back. Strength again, is important to maintain because you will lose it as soon as you get surgery. Also depending on your surgeon you will most likely wear a large brace before surgery in order to protect the knee from further damage. Again, all activities besides physical therapy you will not be able to partake in. | Life as "Bionic Woman"Recovery for an ACL reconstruction is 6-9 months. I would be lying to you if I told you that it wasn't going to be long, hard and painful months. Almost immediately after surgery you lose your strength and the simple task of lifting your leg off a bed becomes almost impossible. DON'T PANIC. BREATHE. KNOW THAT IT GETS BETTER. You will work towards lifting that leg by yourself everyday, you will work on range of motion every day. Eventually, you will walk without crutches, then without the brace and then sooner than you know it you will be running. It's a long recovery, but think about the one goal you have to get you to the end. The more you push yourself the better you will be when you return to being an athlete. Then you can stand there and say, I'm better than you and I went through ACL reconstruction (click for a typical timeline for recovery). |
Know any good Knee Doc's? Why yes I do
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