3141 Anterior Cruciate Ligament Physiotherapy: Late rehabilitation phase
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Hello.
It is now over 3 months
following your anterior cruciate ligament, or ACL, surgery.
You have been working hard
at improving the strength
and mobility of your knee
and it is important that you
continue to exercise to give you the
best chance of a full recovery.
Ideally you should see a physiotherapist who will give you
guidance about which
specific exercises in this video
are appropriate for you, and will
help you with any exercises
which you find difficult.
There is some general advice
that you should be following
at this stage in your recovery:
Work with your physiotherapist
to try straight-line jogging.
Your knee is likely to be
strong enough for this,
but you should not
be making any quick turns
as this will put too
much strain on your knee.
Avoid contact sports and
exercise drills that
involve changing direction rapidly,
known as multi
directional cutting drills.
If you enjoy swimming, you
can now introduce a front crawl kick,
but do not do breast stroke legs
until at least 4 to 6
months after your operation.
If you have an active job, speak to your surgeon or physiotherapist
to discuss returning to work
It is important to warm up
before doing your exercises.
Go for a walk, or if you are in the gym, use the cross trainer
or exercise bike for
5 minutes before starting.
We recommend that you should
do each of the following exercises
for 15 repetitions,
at least three times a day.
Stand with your
operated leg in front of you,
and your non-operated leg
resting on a chair behind you.
Slowly bend your operated
leg into a squatting position
Push back up
until your leg is straight.
You must keep your back
straight throughout the exercise.
Once you feel confident,
you can try doing this exercise
whilst holding
dumbbells or bottles of water.
Stand on your operated
with your knee slightly bent.
Keep your back straight and
slowly lean forwards from your hips
until you feel a pulling
sensation in the back of your thigh.
At this point, slowly
return to a standing position.
Stand with both legs hip width apart.
Quickly push up onto the tips of your toesand into a small vertical jump.
Try to land softly on the
balls of your feet with your knees
slightly bent and soft on landing.
Ideally the power for the jump comes from your ankles and calf muscles.
Use cones or markers,
such as socks or cans,
to mark out the four
points of the compass on the floor.
Stand in the middle.
Lift your non-operated
leg off the ground
so that you are
standing on your operated leg.
Whilst maintaining
your balance, tap the toes
of your non-operated
leg on each point of the compass.
Lie on your back with your knees bent and your feet flat on the floor.
Tense your buttocks
and abdominal muscles,
and slowly lift your
bottom a few inches off the ground.
In this position, slowly
lift your non-operated leg
so that you are supporting all
of your weight on the operated leg.
Hold this position for
a few seconds before
slowly lowering your
bottom back to the ground.
As you progress, try to
hold this position for longer.
If you have any problems
with any of these exercises,
please speak to your physiotherapist.