Working out after knee surgery

redhotriot
redhotriot Posts: 5
in Fitness and Exercise
Alright so I had a knee injury and ended up having a knee scope two weeks ago. They basically just went in and cleaned up some excessive scarring. No ligament tears or the like. I am doing great, still slightly swollen but very mobile and almost pain free. I cannot stand for long periods of time but can tolerate moving about. I attend physical therapy 3x a week.

My Dr. and PT said I could work out as "tolerable" basically if it hurts don't do it, with the only exceptions being no high impact workout, no running/jogging, and no long distance walking. They said stationary bike work was great.

So I am here looking for suggestions on things I can do other then just my physical therapy stretches (which are only for the knee) and my stationary bike work. Any suggestions on work-outs that are low-impact for the knee? I am currently not working so I feel like a blob just sitting around all day I need to do things!

Any suggestions welcome! I have access to a full gym as well, so anything from home workouts, Wii things, gym stuff, etc.

Replies

  • baisleac
    baisleac Posts: 2,019 Member
    No leg involvement - Sit on an exercise ball and shadowbox... with dumbbells if your arms are up to that.

    Can you do steps yet? Just press up on a step with the higher leg, the lower foot is for balance only so no impact (I had to start with a 2" step myself).

    Do you have resistance bands? Experiment with different exercises to find ones that are challenging and don't hurt.
  • redhotriot
    redhotriot Posts: 5
    I haven't done any steps yet, but i will look in to it. Thanks :)


    I don't have resistance bands, I've never really used them before actually. I do my pt stretches with a strap (like a yoga strap?) but thats about it.

    I guess I should also mention I am a newbie to most exercising as well! Before my injury, I was getting into running but obviously that got put on hold.
  • baisleac
    baisleac Posts: 2,019 Member
    Some links:

    http://www.pamf.org/sports/king/kneerehab.html
    http://orthoinfo.aaos.org/topic.cfm?topic=a00301 - some of these may be too low on the recovery scale, but can be adapted to higher resistances.
    http://www.physioadvisor.com.au/8119350/knee-strengthening-exercises-knee-rehabilitation.htm
  • webdiva1
    webdiva1 Posts: 326 Member
    If you can get in the water, walking and stretching there is a lovely thing after knee surgery. :)
  • redhotriot
    redhotriot Posts: 5
    Thanks for the links :)

    Yeah I can't quite do any water yet, the incisions are not healed enough they said.

    Should I do any upper body stuff while I am recovering?
  • baisleac
    baisleac Posts: 2,019 Member
    Should I do any upper body stuff while I am recovering?

    Shadowboxing can be a great cardio workout. Add in sitting on an exercise ball and you get a great core workout too. And any upper body strength work can only help.
  • blshuffl1
    blshuffl1 Posts: 3 Member
    I'm 10 weeks out of miniscus clean up on knee. Hurts way worse now than before. Even long walks hurt. So frustrated! Did all my PT and waited till cleared to run. Guess I'll go back to Dr. I'd at least like to know why even if it can't be fixed. Any suggestions?

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