PKR 6 months after Mako PKR on medial right

PKR-mako-Soccer

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Hi All - new to this forum.

I had a Mako PKR on medial right on August 13, 2019. Mostly due to a couple of bad meniscus tears and associated meniscectomies followed by getting back to sport too fast and being on the 50+ team.

I am trying to get back to amateur soccer and skiing and am hopeful that at the 12 month mark I'll be a lot better off.

I workout a lot - mostly resistance training these days - and take good care of myself otherwise. My Doc said he fully supports going back to these sports and that a growing number of surgeons do as well. According to him, in the early days of PKR no one really knew what to expect and therefore surgeon's were conservative - now there growing evidence that babying things doesn't help. Anyway - that's definitely what I wanted to hear and so here I am.

I went to about 3 months of PT three times a week in addition to my regular workouts. I've got 0 degrees on extension, and 145-150 degrees on bend depending on the day. I am back to full leg routines twice a week with decent weight although not too heavy - back squats, hip thrust, RDLs, leg extension, split squats, walking lunges, etc.

My right VMO is definitely not back, and I started trying something called a Kneehab XP about a week and a half ago - supposed to speed VMO return by 2x - I'll report back what I learn - it's basically NMES with a lot of muscle area coverage and routines that fire the muscles in specific order. I haven't tried Russian Stim with it yet, but will do so once I can max out the settings for 20 minutes at a time.

Anyway - I've run some, but it doesn't feel great. I've done stationary cycling as a warm up nearly every leg day for ten minutes with no issues. Ellip feels good while I'm doing it, but often doesn't feel great later.

Goal is to get back to competitive amateur soccer at the 12 month mark. Last weekend I went out and passed the ball around, did a little running and took maybe 25 shots. Felt ok while doing it, but hurt for a week after - mostly laterally when I'm sleeping on my side.

Long Post - but I'm really interested to hear from anyone who's aiming to get back to side-to-side, cutting sports - someone who has done so - timing for your experience. Anything related!

Thanks and glad to be here. Once I learn a little more how it works, then I'll start giving back.
 
Forgot to add that I rented a Game Ready therapy device for two months and used it three times a day minimum for 30 minutes a shot - that helped with swelling and pain big time. There's nothing better. I paid around 300 USD/month for it and I highly recommend it.
 
I’ll be interested to hear from people about cutting sports. I’d like to play some Ultimate Frisbee. I was terrible at it when I tried because I couldn’t cut.
 
Thanks for the interesting post. Many of us are not as athletic as you are, but are very active and want to continue to be, so your information regarding knee replacements and sports is very helpful. Do continue to share.
Did or do you have any arthritis in either knee?
Did or do you do specific exercises to strengthen the lateral part of the knee with the medial PKR?
 
@PKR-mako-Soccer, welcome to Bonesmart. I'm sure you'll have some responses to your question soon. We normally don't suggest aggressive PT, but it sounds like it's working for you.
 
I love being active and your post is quite invigorating....You are one of the lucky ones who has been able to be quite aggressive in your recovery, congratulations. I would like to see how your continued activity plays out at the 12 month point. Please keep us posted!?
 
Thanks for the interesting post. Many of us are not as athletic as you are, but are very active and want to continue to be, so your information regarding knee replacements and sports is very helpful. Do continue to share.
Did or do you have any arthritis in either knee?
Did or do you do specific exercises to strengthen the lateral part of the knee with the medial PKR?

Hi @marieltha

I had osteoarthritis in the medial compartment on the right knee, which is what forced me to the PKR. I tried PT, cortisone shots, OrthoVisc shots, PRP shots, and wearing an offloader knee brace - all of which worked a few weeks or until I did a little too much, then I'd be limping in agony for a couple weeks.

My exercises are not divided between medial and lateral. My leg day workouts typically look like this:
  • Everytime
    • Stationary Cycling for 10 minutes to warm up
    • 4 sets of Walking Barbell Lunges or 4 sets of Bulgarian Split Squats
    • 4 sets of Barbell Romanian Deadlift
    • 4 sets of V-Squat machine
    • 4 sets of single leg press machine (this one really helps with range of motion)
    • 5 sets of single leg extension machine
    • 4 sets of barbell hip thrust
  • Sometimes
    • 10 sets of weighted Sled sprints
    • 4 sets of standing or seated calf raise
    • 4 sets of standing leg curl
    • X-band walk / Crab Walk
    • Abductor machine, Adductor machine
I've been able to do that twice a week for a couple months now. I drop one exercise or swap another in from the sometimes list to mix it up - usually between 25-35 sets is my target though.

Both my legs are feeling strong, just not ready to all out sprint and stop and change directions and jump, etc.

I'm going to take it easier for a month and see what happens. No rush...

I'll keep posting and am happy to answer any more questions about exercises or my experience.
 
I love being active and your post is quite invigorating....You are one of the lucky ones who has been able to be quite aggressive in your recovery, congratulations. I would like to see how your continued activity plays out at the 12 month point. Please keep us posted!?

Definitely!
 
My weekly PT that began some strength-building in January that includes a few of the exercises you list, daily I also do either walking or recumbent bike for 30 minutes and then I also alternate pool therapy for my back. I had my spine surgery 2 months before the TKR.

The nice part for me is working with a PTA who stresses form and consistency. I really have noticed a big jump in my stamina, which I can only contribute to the strength exercises. I agree you don't need to rush, but you are at a point where the strength will prevent injuries if you are doing running and cutting movements.

I know that I won't be doing any organized sports, but I do want to continue hiking and canoeing in the area where we now live...I'm hoping to be ready with good balance at that one year point too!
 
Awesome - your workouts sound great. Form and consistency are way more important than weight and number of repetitions. A lot of people don’t realize that resistance training can be a High Intensity Interval Training workout and because of that improve your stamina greatly.
 
Very helpful. Thanks!
PS What is a seated calf raise?
 
Remember Bonesmarties, the exercises PKR-mako-Soccer is doing is extremely rare for most of us in this recovery. Don't try to do anything that gives you pain and swelling. Let your knee's reaction be your guide.

Agreed - I'm definitely not pushing anyone to do what I do - I'm just sharing my experience and looking for people to connect with that are doing similar.
 
Calf stretches are a helpful exercise for most people - with or without a knee replacement. That's essentially what this machine is doing. A person can get the same exercise (and it's one often shown by therapists during knee replacement recovery) at home without a gym and machine.

1582050233042.png

Here your body serves as the "weight" when you lower your heels below the stair step level. As you come back up, you can elevate your body on the balls of your feet on the step. The movements should be done slowly and you hold at the top and bottom of the movement for a count of five.
 

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