tibia fracture acl repair physical therapy?

[kamerin99]

So heres my question... on 3/14/10 was my accident on the 29th I had surgery they put a plate and 10 screws in and sewed my acl back into place.. For several reasons have not been able to get the physical therapy I know I so desperatly need - So my question is what exercises should I be doing to help in my recovery, any advice would be so greatly appreciated.... Since the accident my life has completely turned around and would like to work on recovery...

[mangledsteel]

We should talk!!! i just had a tibial plataeu fracture pretty bad, still cant feel the entire right side of my leg after surgery, move my foot fully, my leg shakes if i try to move it, i cant tighten my entire calf muscle and when i try one half spasms like crazy....... send me a message with your AIM screen name, or phone number or something, after a while it gets depressing, and will drive you insane, especially if your house isnt setup properly. have i got some storys to tell you!! but i also have alot of excercise advice. its better we speak about it all in length. i discovered alot of different things i can do to excercise and regain some motion and strength! and im still try to recover, at home just like you. i will be having physical therapy a month from now almost though but meanwhile its all excercises at home and the doctor didnt explain enough and i had no MRI's, they said worry about that another time since i have no insurance and im getting screwed over. the even said i will need a new knee in a year or two, if i can even walk with this one. why do they wait then ? because they dont care. i have also shoulder problems, herniated disc, hip problems, and both knees are shot. let me know if you want to talk, its 7:30 am here, and i havent even slept yet because of pain.........

[mangledsteel]

another sleepless night....
how are you doing ?????
I Always think about this post....
I hope you get in touch some time. Another sleepless night for me..
I really think they damaged some nerves during surgery.

[kamerin99]

sorry it took so long to respond but ya my number is 714-478-2606 call sometime it would be nice to hear from you

[kamerin99]

my facebook page is kamerin pieper

[Savanah21]

Hello! I just finished reading your quote and was hoping to get some information on your healing process as well. I just had my surgery for my tibia plateau fracture and had 3 plates and 10 screws put in.. I hate sitting at home not knowing what I can be doing to heal faster, physical therapy etc.. and was hoping you could give me some advice? It is so comforting knowing someone else is having to overcome this too, just reading your post gave me hope.. anything would be appreciated and thank you so so much.

[QuadRidinDad]

Hello! I just finished reading your quote and was hoping to get some information on your healing process as well. I just had my surgery for my tibia plateau fracture and had 3 plates and 10 screws put in.. I hate sitting at home not knowing what I can be doing to heal faster, physical therapy etc.. and was hoping you could give me some advice? It is so comforting knowing someone else is having to overcome this too, just reading your post gave me hope.. anything would be appreciated and thank you so so much.

I fractured my Tibial Plateau last January.
1 plate and 6 screws
I had them fix my old ACL/PCL issues from a skiing accident while they were in there. Now my bad knee has become my good knee.
I was very much useless for the first four weeks. Even though the pain was gone, my body was still in recovery mode and I did a lot of sleeping.

The good news is things do get better. But it does take some work.
I went thru 12 weeks of Therapy 3 times a week - I had insurance that covered it at the time.

The exercises are not heavy or hard, they are just little things you can do to work towards finding stability again.

Don't rush into therapy - you can cause damage if you push it to hard to early.

I started with light exer-cycling no resistance for 20 minutes.
Accompanied with an hour of basic mobility exercises, laying on my back on holding my leg up for 30 seconds for 10 times, then on my side and hold it up/out. again, 30 seconds, 10 x.
Eventually I started adding resistance with giant rubber bands.
We also did a lot of calf building exercises like standing on my toes in sets.
We also did a lot of just basic stretching exercises to get the muscles loose.
Then we worked up until I was able to pull my therapist around the room sideways like a lineman shuffle.
I could get you more detail, but I dont' want to drown you with info either.
The best thing you can do at this point is just working on keeping it stretched out. Then you can start with short sets of basic mobility, don't push it beyond your comfort.

I am one year out now and I walk like a normal person, but I still do not have all the strength back in my knee. I still tend to jump a little sideways as I find myself favoring that leg. The more I work at it the more strength I get back but it takes ongoing work to make it happen.


Don't loose hope, it does get better and before long you won't even remember all the stuff you had to go thru to get better.

[Andy]

Thats so sad to hear that yes thats correct patient should not loose hope becuase physical therapy is a bit lengthy treatment so patient must have to be patience.........