I had a knee surgery four months ago. The doctor did a tendon debridement. While I have gotten much of my range of motion back (90%, let’s say), I am having a serious problem with a very tight sensation across the patellar tendon, where they did the surgery. Doctor’s office says this is likely scar tissue and that it should go away maybe in 6-9 months. When I had the surgery I was told that I should be able to run in 2-3 months. Wrong! Not even close. I do ride and swim, although the latter seems to make things tighten up quite a bit. Spinning classes really bother it. Riding on a trainer is not so bad. But I am really frustrated, and I am not noting improvement. Anybody else go through a similar surgery? What were your experiences?
I had knee surgery in april of 2011. Scoped to remove some scar tissue. Took much longer to get back running. Instead of dwelling on my lack of running I chose to focus on cycling for the season which was enjoyable. Base came very slowly and I was adamant about PT and staying healthy. I did an olympic tri in late aug with success. My recent seasons have been very succesfull with complete recovery. It takes longer than you want. Be patient and take it slow.
I have no trouble focusing on cycling–that is my favorite discipline, anyway. But I am worried that I won’t be able to do that much. I’m taking a week or so off of any cycling or swimming, seeing if the rest will help things.
Had surgery to repair a ruptured patellar tendon January. Just got past 98 degrees yesterday.
If you can ride a bike your at least 115 degrees bend. You can’t pedal at 90. So keep biking and rolling the scar tissue with the stick.
Bending the knee to relieve scar tissue is a total mental issue dealing with pain. Bend it everyday going to the point of screaming hold for 3 seconds and do that 5 times twice a day. You can do this!!! Your knee is healed from the repair.
In my own experiences, I have found that scar tissue doesn’t really “go away” just waiting on it. Anymore, it’s something I have work on diligently to keep things loose enough to function. Rolling, stretching, strength, massage, etc.
And really breaking through it hat first time after surgery is hard. ROM work can be horridly painful and hard, and sometimes youneed the help of a professional to do it right. Are you working with a PT?
I was working with a therapist. They were working on making my knee stronger. I stopped. It didn’t really help. I have been seeing a massage therapist who helps with range of motion. that has helped with my range of motion. That is much better. But the scar tissue isn’t. What are you suggesting for working on it? I will try anything.
rolling? with a hard Styrofoam cylinder?
5 weeks after having mine done. Just got rid of the crutches but still in brace. Dr told me it’d be 8 mths till full recovery; I think
beginning to run was 4.5 mths after surgery ??
Hoping to ride in 3 more weeks (stationary) but since I’m only at 70 % ROM not sure , can’t remember if I get
to increase more than 10 % a week now. Not sure when I can get out the road.
Had it done by the guys in Park City that have the rep for doing it right
best of luck to you
What kind of surgery did you have?
patella tendon debridement, patella realignment along with “other” clean up they found when they were in there
I had PRP done twice on it to no avail
wanted to get back to running at some point
.
Sounds like me. I had PRP done (only once). Maybe 8 months is realistic. I just wish I had been told this. I was in the brace for two weeks. I was on a stationary bike within 15 days, I think. I rode outside after 2 months. Although there was still some significant tightness, the riding initially felt very good. Swimming has been off and on. Sometimes it’s good and sometimes not. I was up to a mile, but lately I have had to scale back quite a bit. I know that stretching is very important to me. I would appreciate hearing more about your recovery.
Scar tissue is a bitch to get through. What I am doing and seems to work well, lay on a bench high enough for your leg to hang. Then tie a strap around the bad leg’s ankle and pull. Try to get more range of motion each time. For the tightness, you will need to do strength work. (Squats, static lunges, step ups and calf raises). you need to move the hinge joint and all muscles around to get it working properly.
I think you said that your patella wasn’t tracking right and needed to be repaired? Could be wrong. But if so, you might need to get it looked at again. If the Patella is out of track it affects how the hinge “knee” works.
Hope this helps
CJDuncan
Rolling, strength training (focusing on a lot of core), rolling…ultrasound from the PT.
The problem probably is a tracking problem. I am doing stretching. Prob could do more. I am making progress on the ROM. Sometimes when I do the quad stretch I am able to get the heel of my foot to my butt. That is definitely progress. I am more likely to do that after cycling for a bit and after other stretches in warm places like the hot tub. The tightness around the tendon is the problem, though. It does feel better after stretching, but often doesn’t remain better. The ultrasound from a PT does sound interesting. I have had that done to the knee before, and it didn’t help–pre-surgery. The scar tissue seems to bug me the more I am on my feet, the more I walk. It doesn’t bother me when I am lying down.
Rupturing my Patellar tendon is probably going to end my ultra running am IM career. Told my PT yesterday that I would have rather blown out an ACL or MCL, then fore sure I would be able to run and do IM’s within a year.
Patellar Tendon rupture is no joke!!! Keep working on it.
CJDuncan