Posterior cruciate ligament injuries

[crazycanuck]

I did a few very quick net searches yesterday but was unable to find my answer..Perhaps you might be able to help?

If you injure this ligament, what would you suggest in terms of recovery? What's a realistic time frame??

Yes, the specialist said a month in the brace for now and then he'll reassess. How do you assess a PCL injury?

I've never had a serious knee injury!

Swimming with a pull buoy when my arm is healed will be my lifeline! I can swim with our group but work on my own recovery program with help from our coach.

thanks again

c

[Wahine]

If you injure this ligament, what would you suggest in terms of recovery? What's a realistic time frame??

Healing time is totally variable. Do you know if it's a full thickness or partial thickness tear? If you can, get a copy of your MRI report and either PM me the exact sentence under the summary section or post it. I would guess that you're looking at at least 6 weeks before you're even allowed to do anything that could place an unwanted stress on the PCL and I'd guess you'll be more like 12 to 16 weeks. You'll be allowed to get back on the bike fairly soon. But it could be 6 months before you are allowed to try running.

How do you assess a PCL injury?

There are clinical tests that you do where you grab hold of the knee and pull/wiggle/slide things around to assess how much extra movement is present and that gives a pretty good impression of ligament status/stability.

Swimming with a pull buoy when my arm is healed will be my lifeline! I can swim with our group but work on my own recovery program with help from our coach.

This is a great idea but I don't know how long it'll be before you're allowed to swim with the SC injury. There are some great shallow water exercises that can be done in a pool. I'll see if I can find some links for you.

One word of warning....any strong hamstirng contraction with the knee in bent position (between 70 to 110 degrees) will place a very strong pull on the PCL and must be avoided. This restriction should be observed for 4 months at least. So be very careful about hamstring strengthening, get any has exercises cleared by your doc or PT.

[Wahine]

Here's a link to some water exercise. I would definitely not do the jumping exercise without clearing it with a med professional.

http://video.google.com/videoplay?do...arch&plindex=3