Exercises after knee dislocation

EmilyEmpowered

I dislocated my right knee a week ago today, doing wide stance lunges with 40 pounds of weight (20 lb dumbells) Anyway, the extent of the injury is that I have chips in my knee cap, tore some ligaments, and am therefore stuck in a knee brace for what appears to be the rest of summer (at least 6 weeks, probably another 4 since I plan on declining surgery at this time.) I really want to keep working my lower body and at least retain some of the strength I have worked so hard for.

So I know, I know- consult my doctor. The problem is, my doctors approach is to relax with my foot up, literally, and not do a damn thing to help my knee heal. I feel that working it and avoiding scar tissue and stiffness in the future is important, just as important as being careful not to further injure myself. I have not read a lot about what PT do to help rehab athletes knees, etc, since that seems to be the most common place for an injury like mine (football, basketball, etc) but I am looking into it, just having trouble with answring my direct questions. My question is in regards to strength training

1. Are there any quad/hamstring/glute exercises that are effective but wont hurt my injured knee? I am thinking hip raises, maybe just without weight for now? Not sure what else I could do though

2. THis is probably REALLY stupid, considering I cant seem to find the answer I am looking for online. IS it ok to do standing upper body strength work, like OHP, with the brace on my knee? I cant fully straighten my leg with the brace on, so I am thinking I have to wait but I do want to keep my training on track as much as possible. (Everything I found was in regards to after surgery)

I have so far been getting in the pool and moving it around, I tried the stationary bike but I dont have that much mobility in it yet. I will try the elliptical next (my doc did mention these things to me, although he didnt mention when I should start trying.) Thanks for any input! :flowerforyou:

Azdak

I don't know what kind of doctor you are seeing, but with that serious injury you should be seeing an orthopedist with sports medicine experience who should refer you to a physical therapist with the same background. If you are being treated know by those types of specialists, then you should follow their instructions. If you are not happy with your doctors instructions, it is ok to raise those questions. Again, if you don't feel you are getting the best answers, get another opinion. With your injury, I would recommend against trying to self treat.

DavPul

Agreed with what Adzak said. Plus, "relaxing it" IS the way to get many injuries to heal. At the very least it can be part of the process. Returning to activity to soon may result in you having chronic dislocation issues. Taking forever off is much worse than having to miss a few weeks.

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