Return to normal walking?

[Catrin]

Thanks Muirenn! I don't currently have a gym membership. I just train with my KB group (no access to thier other equipment) and my KB herd at home. I hike as much as I can, and there has been much improvement in all but my gait. That is what had me wondering.

Thanks for the comments everyone!

[emily_in_nc]

I think Sheila makes a great point. I would think spinning would be excellent rehab for your knee if there's a reasonably priced gym you could go to for that. Other than that, the PT for gait could be a bit helpful (although I didn't find it to be anything special). And time, lots of time. That's the hardest part of it all -- the patience!

[Catrin]

I had my coach watch me walking outside today and his jaw dropped. It isn't obvious over short distances like when walking across a room but outside is a different story. He said that it's obviously a motor control problem, my GOOD knee is almost collapsing as I try to walk normally because my bad knee doesn't appear to bend much, and this causes my hip to do odd things. My Ortho's assistant told me today that I should be pretty much back to normal by now as far as walking is concerned and he is going get back with me on this, hopefully they can get some gait training approved. This wasn't THAT major of a surgery.

I'm glad I asked my coach outside to watch me walk - I wanted to make certain that it just wasn't some minor thing that felt more than it was.

[Crankin]

Good call, Catrin. Do you have a video to show the ortho? I hope you get the approval for the gait training.

[Catrin]

Good call, Catrin. Do you have a video to show the ortho? I hope you get the approval for the gait training.

Sadly there wasn't enough light for his Coach's Eye on his phone to record my "walk of shame". The interesting thing is I've been VERY consistent with my PT exercises, but as Rick said, those are mainly for ROM and not so much for the eccentric loading involved in walking. I do weighted exercises with ankle weights, leg raises, and bench squats but obviously that hasn't been enough. Flexion and extension are both great - but there are apparently other pieces in this puzzle. It feels like I'm still wearing a brace - which I never used more than 4ish hours a week.

Hopefully they will approve it - my "Active Release" specialist (who has done close to miracles with my neck, shoulders and hips) is also movement specialist and he may be able to advise me on things I can do if the gait training isn't approved. We will see what the Workman's Comp folks will approve.

[ny biker]

I think PT should be about more than range of motion. You might want to consider the possibility that the therapist isn't good at their job. I wasted months with a bad one, made very little progress until my doctor sent me to a different one.

You should find someone to video you while walking in a well lit area to show the doctor. And stress to him that you are not recovered -- you cannot walk. If it's not addressed now, you will develop all sorts of other problems with your knees, hips and back and you probably won't have that treatment covered by worker's comp.

[Catrin]

I think PT should be about more than range of motion. You might want to consider the possibility that the therapist isn't good at their job. I wasted months with a bad one, made very little progress until my doctor sent me to a different one.

You should find someone to video you while walking in a well lit area to show the doctor. And stress to him that you are not recovered -- you cannot walk. If it's not addressed now, you will develop all sorts of other problems with your knees, hips and back and you probably won't have that treatment covered by worker's comp.

Good idea NY Biker, there just isn't enough space at the office to show them that it is like and I will see what I can arrange to make that happen. To be fair to the PT, she did have me on the treadmill and THAT looks fine - because I was holding on and supporting myself. My gait is much better with a cane, oddly enough - probably because it's helping out my good leg a bit more than I knew. The knee wasn't normal for a very long before the surgery and while I did walk normally, it could be that my body had made certain compensations that no longer work with my patella finally being in the "right" place. It really feels like there is now an internal physical impediment in that knee - like an internal brace - and I had ascribed that to nerve "stuff" and recovery.

Thanks again everyone!

[ramonhines]

I have also suffered from the same situation and it took nearly 4-5 months for me to recover properly .