Posts Tagged ‘range of motion’
Bending, Bending, Bending
Posted on: December 26, 2010
Because my right leg was in a straight brace for 2 days after my injury, it was very difficult to regain my range of motion. Bending hurt a lot. Draining my knee helped to increase my degree of flexion but I was nowhere close to how much I could actually bend before the injury.
I didn’t know how far I should have been able to bend since the doctor simply said to “continue bending as far as you can, but to stop when the pain was unbearable.” I am a very ambitious person; I was determined to get back my range of motion. I had no idea if it was a good idea but what I did worked for me:
Kneeling
Every night when I iced my knee for 2 hours in 20-minute intervals, I would kneel and “sit” on my knee so I could bend my leg more. My goal was to reach a degree of bending that would allow for me to sit like the woman in the picture on the left. My goal each night was to increase my ability to bend by a few degrees. I wasn’t able to reach this position until 2.5 – 3 weeks after my injury.
Heel slides
For 20 minutes, I iced and then for the next 20 minutes, I kneeled. Iced, kneeled, iced, kneeled. I have no idea if this was an appropriate thing to do but I was stubborn. In addition to my kneeling exercises, I did heel slides using a towel to aid me.
How It Happened
Posted on: December 26, 2010
My injury happened the second week of November in 2010. I was playing flag football like I had been doing every week since school started.
I was ready to cut past my opponent when I heard 4 loud pops from my knee. The popping happened when I decelerated and planted my right leg, extended, into the ground. Studies have shown that a person is more susceptible to an ACL injury when using cleats.
The next thing you know, I fell to the ground, curled into a fetal position, and was clawing the grass with my fingers because the pain was unbearable. Initially, my right leg was numb; more than 5 minutes later, when I was taken to the sidelines, the stabbing-like pain went away.
I had never broken a bone but I instinctively knew I did not. I went to the ER that same night and the X-rays confirmed my guess. The doctor prescribed two painkillers (one was Darvocet — it was recalled 2 weeks after my ER trip!) but I never bought them from the pharmacy. Instead, I took Advil. I was given crutches and my right leg was put in a cast-like brace (the photo isn’t me) that prevented me from bending. I wore this brace day and night (including sleep) until I went to the orthopedist 2 days later.
Between the time of my injury and my first visit to the orthopedist, I iced my right knee for 2 hours each day in 20-minute intervals without the brace. I lost all range of motion (couldn’t bend at all) and my right knee was the size of a grapefruit. My leg was elevated above the heart using pillows placed under my foot and calf rather than under my knee.
The 21-Year Old and Her Tear 