Rehab after knee surgery

[jamiep123]

Hello all,

I had knee surgery on 23rd December to repair a torn meniscus. I haven't used the erg since April 2010 and have done very little exercise in the last eight months so I didn't aggravate my knee any further. I need to see the surgeon on 2nd February for a follow up appointment. I have almost complete motion back in my knee and the feeling of weakness that was there before has gone. Although most people on the forum are not medically qualified to advise on this (the surgeon is probably not a rower either) is there anyone who has had knee surgery and can advise on exercises for the knee to rebuild the muscles and how long I should do this for? The doctors I have seen have given me very little information on this, it was more of a get him in, get him out, then on to the next one kind of approach. My weight has increased due to lack of exercise so I'm looking at cycling and swimming to lose weight before going back to the erg seriously again. If anyone has some ideas on the right approach for post knee surgery rehab I would be grateful.

Thanks for any advice
Jamie

[Cyclist2]

Did your doctor prescribe physical therapy? Those people are great, usually, at knowing what exercises to do, and if you can or cannot use particular machines. They may even have an erg for therapy - I've known several people who got hooked on the erg because of their physical therapy sessions. Good luck!

[grams]

I had an ACL replacement in my left knee several years ago, at age 65. The doctor also repaired a minor tear in my meniscus. I'm not a speedy rower; however before the surgery I used to do long slow rowing to keep in shape. So here is my advice (I am definitely not a medical expert).

Before the surgery I had been rowing about an hour or more three times a week. Not high resistance, and with steady 20 strokes per minute. This worked for me to maintain my weight at a good level.

I started back on the rower gently. I had good flexibility in my knee so I didn't need to use slides in order to row. What I did do was not apply very much pressure with my left leg. I used fairly short strokes to minimize the flex angle and I kept the resistance down low – around one and one half or two. My goal was not to do an intense workout, but simply to get some aerobic exercise and keep my leg muscles in some sort of shape. Yes, I had gained weight over the previous few months, however my immediate goal on the rower was not to lose weight. It would've been too hard on my knee and I would have had to do sessions that were too long. I was in physical therapy at the time, and coordinated with my therapist regarding how much stress to put on the knee.

I found the rower to be better for getting my leg back in shape then the exercise bike that we also have. That is because I could adjust is one pressure simultaneously on both knees because I had both feet on the rower, whereas on the exercise bike I had to apply pressure one leg at a time. I found that to be too much stress on my knee initially.

If you're not sure about it, perhaps you could locate a rower that has slides and give that a try. Previously I had had ankle surgery, and borrowed slides from our friends and use the row or with my cast on a rollerskate. It sounds extreme but it did work.

My advice:
Don't set your goals too high initially. Losing weight may have to come in a few months, not now.
Don't have your resistance sent too high on the machine.
Pay attention to pain. Don't push it.

Good luck, grams

[jamiep123]

Thanks Grams and Cyclist, very useful advice from you both. I'm joining a gym and hiring a personal trainer which I have never done before so I am taking this really seriously. He knows about my knee condition and this will be just help with strengthening my knee then weight loss (no exercise means weight gain for me) however your advice will be very helpful throughtout rehab and when I start using the erg again.

Thanks
Jamie