Last weekend we took a trip to the desert for a long weekend in the sun. Temps ranged from 44-65F which was quite perfect. We brought our little awesome trailer and camped for free next to a river on BLM land. I love that trailer! It was a hiking trip, not many mountain bike trails near Capitol Reef National Park. I did 4 days of hiking all in all. One was a 5 mile hike that was pretty technical for me. I taped my knee up and used hiking poles, and I was able to "walk" normally without planning which foot has to go first. There were some serious rock stairs on the descent too! If the hike were flat and easy, then I would not tape up my knee. No flare ups, just a tad sore. Functional progress. Overall I'm 20.6 months post op from ACL reconstruction. I'm just over 9 months into the proximal muscle rehabilitation and taping with my DPT in Australia (yes she is still guiding me!). Lately I've been going about life without any taping or Ace wrap to the knee. The effects of detraining: Often I've wondered if I am 9 months into new rehab, why aren't I comparable to someone who is 9 months post surgery? Seems like it would make sense? Mick Hughes another great Australian physio recently shared a white paper "Prescription of training load in relation to loading and unloading phases of training." Basically it's a formula that can suggest how many weeks does it take to get back to full training levels before a break/rest/injury/illness. This is a great explanation of why at 9+ months post op, I'm not comparable to someone who is really 9 months post op. I had this huge long rest/break and it really does affect the overall outcome and time frame. It makes complete sense now! Not paying attention to training loads after a break can lead to injuries as well. This is how to safely resume load levels while minimizing injury risk. Out of curiosity I calculated what my modified weeks would be until I'm at full training levels. I'm assuming 50 weeks of inactivity pretty much at 0%. That includes the time just after injury. I had some weeks of rehab in there before things went off track, but I'm not counting them because it just wasn't a lot or very effective (and really painful!). The formula suggested I have 81 weeks before I am back to full training levels. That's about 18 months. I'm 9+ months in so far. I've actually said out loud that I feel like I'm only halfway through this strengthening phase judging by front of the knee pain and how functional I feel. I even asked Mick how long does it take to get PFPS under control he said if you had 11 months before meaningful rehab started then he said it "would be fair to say that it may take equal that time maybe even a little longer to get on top of things." Basically it is hard to actually put a real time frame on it. I understand that, no one can predict, but I like to use research to kind of give me a ball park. 18 months puts me at July 2019. Maybe that will be when I'm ready to start running/jumping/agility. Wow, if that is anywhere near reality, I'll take it! I'll have to make another post next summer! After reading this and looking back to my 3 week hiatus back when my dog passed away, I probably shouldn't have upped all my weights when I resumed rehab! If you have not reached out yet to me, I'd love to learn why you visit my journey!
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorA 45 year old active female who tore her ACL in January 2017 (at the age of 40). Reconstructive surgery in February 2017 with bone-patellar tendon-bone autograft. Archives
November 2022
|