Shock diagnosis knee surgery

B42

30.09.2021 Reading time: 3 min

A guest article by our expert Peter Breitfeld

 

"We kill the players!" Thomas Tuchel, coach of Paris Saint-Germain, warned weeks ago. His problem: the impossible control of the players' strain.

According to Tuchel, the relationship between preparation, performance and recovery is in an imbalance due to the corona-related game calendar. Too many games and too little regeneration, according to the PSG trainer, would put the players' bodies in a dangerous situation.

Now Joshua Kimmich, a national player, has injured himself in the top match between Borussia Dortmund and FC Bayern Munich.

The diagnosis: Tearing of the right outer miniscus.

The consequence: surgery.

And it is precisely this problem resulting from many games, difficult preparation and little regeneration that could also threaten amateur sport.

COVID-19 and its effects on the game plan and training opportunities should also set off alarm bells here.

 

Knee injuries in football are often severe

It is a sound that is horrifying. One that is never forgotten: the slightly popping sound of a torn cross or outer ligament.

First comes this terrible sound, then the pain and then the certainty of not being able to play football for at least the next six months.

Knee injuries are common in football - and usually severe. Even for professionals, it is usually only possible to compete after 9 months, and in amateur sport it is more likely after 12 months.

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After the surgery there's a new beginning

As soon as you wake up from the anaesthesia of a knee surgery, you try to get your life back in order - to get clarity. Becoming aware of how things are going to continue in principle, how to start working on your comeback and whether you can ever return to your old level of performance.

Every football player is therefore faced with a range of question marks and fears.

With this blog article we want to outline what to expect after a knee surgery and what can be done to support you in the following weeks - until the rehab training starts in the B42 app.

 

Usually valuable training time passes immediately after the surgery

In the meantime, a cruciate ligament patient is discharged from hospital after three days at the latest, with crutches and splints.

Up to the seventh day, the patient is then often at a standstill. Further valuable time passes before the first contact with a physiotherapist of trust - sometimes up to 14 days.

This is also the time when the stitches are removed.

 

This blog is not about questioning whether physiotherapists do everything right and get you back on the pitch.

Your therapist is definitely the boss in the ring - he or she knows your body best, has your knee "in his / her hands" and that's why his / her opinion is of utmost importance. 

 

Especially in the beginning more should happen than lymph drainage and Netflix

After the surgery, the first four to six weeks usually fly by.

If you ask the cruciate ligament patient what was done or what remains in the injured football player's mind, the answer would be frequent:

I put my knee up, cooled it and had lymph drainage twice a week. The rest of the day I watched Netflix and read a motivating book.

Anyone can read out what happens during that time: not much.

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In order to return stronger, you have to spend the treatment maximum as a goal

But is this what you want to set as your goal for your rehab time?

Of course, one has to acknowledge that we are talking about a delicate subject. Each injury must be considered individually. Were there perhaps even accompanying injuries?

There is no blueprint for THE perfect rehab. There can't be one.

But one thing should be clear: Everyone should want to get the most out of their therapy.

No ambitious athlete would say, "yes, I've had enough of returning to 70 percent".

 

Professional know-how for amateur athletes

So why not include the latest scientific findings. Why not do similar things to the professional athletes.

The only question is:

Where do you get the exercises that the top athletes use?

This is where we come to the point of what the content of this blog article should be.

As an amateur athlete, what can you do from the moment you arrive home after a knee surgery - without great risks.

 

Conscious breathing as support after knee surgery

There are few situations in which conscious breathing can be harmful - such as in the case of cruciate ligament surgery.

Whether it is conscious abdominal breathing or intermittent hypoxia - both methods can benefit circulation and lymph flow.

For this reason, breathing techniques already represent the first step of your rehabilitation period. This is an early phase in which you can and may only put limited strain on the knee anyway.

As a rule of thumb, inflammatory processes could work better because of the increased metabolism.

• Lie on your back and place your hands on the lower rib arches

• Breathe in and out through the nose only

• Follow the rhythm 2-2-4-2 or 3-3-6-3 as progession:

This means: 2 seconds inhalation - 2 seconds holding - 4 seconds exhalation - 2 seconds holding

 

This should be the goal, because this could reduce the swelling of the operated knee more quickly, scars might heal better and hormonal release could also be improved.

 

Next step: Back to activity

Afterwards - about two to three weeks after the operation - the next step follows with our training programme especially for the time after knee surgery.

Basically, it is important not to be over-motivated during this phase, but rather to walk on safe paths.

We therefore generally recommend that you involve your physiotherapist and/or the operating doctor and do not hesitate to ask questions.

 

Exercise 1: Knee Rubbing

  • Rub your knee with a towel over a large area with gentle pressure

    20 - 30 seconds

     

    Exercise 2: Nerve Glide Hamstring

• Stretch your leg and pull your toes up

• Roll up your upper body and seesaw evenly

10 - 15 seconds

 

Exercise 3: Patella Glide

• Work actively on the tension of your thigh muscles

10 repetitions

 

Exercise 4: Rotated Leg Lift

• Work actively on the tension of your thigh muscles

10 repetitions

 

Exercise 5: Seated Heel Slide

• Active flexion and extension of the knee

• On smooth surfaces it is advisable to use a towel under the heel

15-20 repetitions

 

Use the cross-education effect

What do you actually do with your upper body and the healthy side of your legs? The answer. Please train.

All exercises should therefore be performed on both sides of the body in order to take advantage of the cross-education effect, a phenomenon in which one-sided training leads to an increase in strength on the untrained side.

However, before you do these exercises with the injured leg, we recommend that you consult your therapist or doctor.

 

For the long rehab period: our comeback training

Our training and rehabilitation experts have been providing rehabilitation care for professional athletes after serious injury patterns for many years.

We have put this know-how together with him in an incredible guide series and are looking forward to helping as many players as possible.

If you have the following injuries to your knee joint, you can work on your comeback with this guide:

  • Tear of the anterior cruciate ligament

  • Inner ligament injury

  • Instabilities in the knee joint

  • Meniscus injuries

  • Distortions, twists, effusions, chronic cartilage damage

A rupture of the cruciate ligament in football is usually not caused by direct contact with an opponent - it often happens during landings or rapid changes of direction if the body is not sufficiently prepared for them.

Therefore it is important to protect your body from injuries by specific training, so that you never have to hear that terrible sound in your knee and never have to feel that horrible feeling.

 

You are about to have a surgery

If you have injured your cruciate ligament, the first few days after the injury are crucial. You can find out what you can do here in the article "Prehabilitation". This will help you both before a surgey and with conservative treatment without orthopaedic intervention.

 

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