Exercising after a knee injury....

anything in the pool is no impact and would not hurt any lower body part if you are doing it while being buoyant! Call your Doctor and he will be able to give you more specifics.

Pool is defiantly the way to go to start with, its low impact but great for your body. Once you do that for a while you can move up to walking a few miles a day at a brisk pace and then maybe even cycling. I dislocated/sprained my knee a few years ago and getting on the eliptical was torture because if my knee got weak it would pop and that would make me have to stop.

I've ripped my ACL and had minor repair, plus had surgery to other knee also - managed to get post op physio pretty quickly after both ops thankfully. The physio always got me on the elliptical (cross trainer), the stationery bike and the treadmill (walking only - though with an incline). Start off on VERY slow pace. You could also practice stand-up sit downs - use a stick to aid with this if you feel you need to, and if you have access to a small step practice stepping forwards onto and off, then stepping forwards off and back on. If you have access to a wobble board it's a good idea to do a bit of that - holding on to something and see if you can stand on one leg for thirty seconds - aim at both legs and build up the time/reps (start at one if that's all you can manage!) obviously also aiming at letting go as soon as you can manage it! It's all about listening to what your knee can do - start off with only five minutes on each machine and if possible ice the knee immediately after training for 10-15 minutes. If you feel you can cope with more go for more - a biggy is stretching at the end (before the icing obviously) you need to really push to try to get full movement back - and yes, this may hurt! Think of stretching out your quads (pull foot towards bottom, thrust hips forwards) and also hamstring stretch - help from a friend is good, or lie down and use a belt over your foot to pull the foot back - leg straight. Add me as a friend if you want more help!

Hi! I have dislocated my knee repeatedly and now have a maltracking patella. I'm having physiotherapy with one of the best in the UK (they're specifically sports physios) and have been recommended the following.

Seeing as your dislocation is very recent, you need to be extremely careful, and I would advise against most things that aren't swimming so you can build some strength. Don't wear a knee support - you need to develop the strength in the muscles around the knee, and a support with your type of injury means you'll just grind the bone down. Once you're feeling a bit stronger AFTER A FEW MONTHS (excluding points 3 and 10 which you can probably start immediately as well as the stationary bike on low resistance - and of course the point about shoes is extremely important), this is what I recommend.

1. Do. Not. Run. You'll simply grind the bone down.
2. Seated Leg Press - lightest weight. Have your legs extended and your knees ALWAYS OVER YOUR FEET (this applies for eliptical, squats ANYTHING that involves a bend - with a knee dislocation you often have a knee that bends inwards, keep an eye on this!) - so you look a bit like a frog Press with both legs, and then some reps (no more than 3x6 to begin with) on each leg individually. As your muscles are weak, this will hurt like hell. This is the thing you want to use http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IZxyjW7MPJQ
3. Lying on your side and lifting your leg is another good exercise.
4. Leg extension equipment - make sure your leg is turned slightly outwards, and only work the top 15 degrees or so (so you're not going all the way down and back up - only a small movement) - ignore people who say this damages the knee, it's good for our type of injury. Don't be alarmed if you hear cracking or anything. My physio said this can be normal http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8XcVxzv_DBU this is the machine. But unlike this guy whose legs are straight, turn your feet outwards. Try 5 x 10 reps on each leg. Again, lightest weight.
5. The rowing machine is great, as it's very difficult to turn the knee inwards on it. Spinning on low resistance (working to high and eventually being strong enough to go *up*) is good - again make sure your knee is ALWAYS over your feet or you will redislocate. You do need some resistance to build the muscle in your legs that then support your knee.
6. Elliptical is harder - make sure your knee is always above the foot and work up your resistance SLOWLY.
7. Make sure you're always working both legs equally, you don't want a muscle imbalance.
8. With the equipment I've recommended - bear in mind you will find it nigh impossible at first. But after a few weeks you'll be getting there. Just take it slow and be sure to stretch out afterwards! Increase your reps - your legs should be shaking by the end - if not, add more REPS not weight.
9. SHOES. Many dislocations are caused by overpronating feet, which means your knee lapses inwards. You NEED good trainers, head to a good shop and have them look at how you walk.
10. Pilates / body balance / yoga has really helped my knee get stronger - just stand near a wall if you feel wobbly for the one legged things! I did a lot of pilates and swimming before I worked up to the things mentioned above.

I hope this helps, knee dislocations can be very debilitating if not addressed correctly and I used to get really sad being unable to exercise apart from in pools and at pilates, but since I started physio and doing the above I've been able to work upto spin, body combat, and even zumba without being sore the next day. I still won't jump on that bad knee for fear of dislocation but I'm getting there and hope to run one day!

ADD: I see you're also in the UK - it may be worth paying for a private physio session just so they can assess you and give you advice and some exercises. They're usually about 40-50pounds. (I go privately to Harris and Ross, not sure if they have offices in Bristol, my NHS physio was useless - got me walking and then sent me away before I could do anything else!).

Are you in Bristol? If so I've used Bardsley Sports Physiotherapist - they were very good. Definitely go private, sorry, but the way I always look at it, if it was your car that was broken you'd find the £300 pounds to get it fixed wouldn't you? Is your car more important than your body? Enough said. You can't afford to wait months to see an NHS physio, and there's no way you'd get the attention to detail you'd get privately. Hope you get it sorted soon. xx