ross brown Posted November 13, 2007 Report Share Posted November 13, 2007 (edited) "Any of you lot of banged up geezers considered proper knee braces? " Well this 48 year old banged up geezer has just had his third op on the 'good' knee. So in addition to knee braces I have found that and I like wide grippy footpegs that you don't slip off. I find wide pegs distribute my weight better. I can almost see the day when I'll have big Harley running board/footboards on my Montesa. Then all you young guys had better watch out. I had an ACL (ligaments are now fixed in placed with titanium screws) repair and then fell over four weeks after the op and broke my knee cap. I was watering the plants and some water linked from the stupid designer zinc watering can ( you know the sort of trendy watering can you buy at garden centres) onto the floor. Bang I went down. Leg shot out in front and bent up. Which they are not supposed to do as a good strong knee cap should act as an end-stop. The first op had weakened the musculature and my knee cap broke cleanly in two. Of course the wife was out drinking with some girlfriends that night. Man, did she get as surprise when she came home. So now I always ride with knee braces and have bought a longer garden hose. I used to use a foam padded sports brace with carbon fibre panels at the sides that stopped the knee twisting. But it tended to get quite hot. The next problem I found was that a good brace should also have some sort of knee-cap cup protection in addition to anti-twisting side structures. This is so that if you fall forward onto a rock which you will at some point (or if you clip the side of the garage while squeezing between the car and the wall while riding in to the garage standing up on the pegs so that your knee is now at the same height as the bolt on the garage door) the knee cap itself is protected. The best brace I have found is by a US company called Asterisk. USD599 a pair so they are not cheap but they do stop the knocks. And there is precious little extra foam padding to add heat and make them sweat. Anyway, as the surgeon said to my wife before I went under for the op, "pay for it with his credit card Mrs Brown and just think of the airmiles". Edited November 13, 2007 by Ross Brown Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
manofsteele Posted November 13, 2007 Report Share Posted November 13, 2007 Yeah the CTI and Asterisk braces have both been recommended to me by my physio. I will be getting a pair of before i ride again Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bilco Posted November 13, 2007 Report Share Posted November 13, 2007 Look's like i've just joined your club for awhile doogzie. My rib's met the end of my handlebar's hard from a great height over the weekend. If this is what hell feels like i don't wanna go there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bikespace Posted November 13, 2007 Report Share Posted November 13, 2007 Look's like i've just joined your club for awhile doogzie.My rib's met the end of my handlebar's hard from a great height over the weekend. If this is what hell feels like i don't wanna go there. I've found that ribs are the best bones to break. It doesn't feel like it at the time, but none of them do I suppose At least they mend without you doing anything.....usually. The worst thing you can get is a tickly cough while they're mending Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ross brown Posted November 17, 2007 Report Share Posted November 17, 2007 Dear Man O' Steele' I hope Nov 15th and the hour or two under the knife went smoothly for you. Haven't met but am thinking of you. One word of advice. Watch the OTHER knee. My ACl was to my left knee. And during a month or three of physio I so favoured it that the right knee (which had been taking all the strain with hardly a complaint) then began to hurt. So spread the load. And feet up when ever you can!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
manofsteele Posted November 17, 2007 Report Share Posted November 17, 2007 Cheers buddy yip, surgery has been and gone. Turned out to be quite a big deal the surgeon told me - he had to do a lot more trimming, tidying and smoothing down than he thought he would..... Good news is my new ACL is in and I'm regaining movement nicely so far. I've experienced very little pain and the physio is pleased with what she saw on her first assessment of me. Bad news is that I've had some bone on bone action and that area is likely to attract some arthritis later on..... But bugger that. I'll deal with that when the time comes. For now, it's all about rest, then exercise, then muscle building, then riding!!! So, new ACL. Trimmed and smoothed both miniscus cartilages. Smoothed bones where damaged. Bloody good hoover and flush out. I've just sat and watched the video of it - it was definately a mess in there! I'm housebound for the next couple of weeks, then I start walking for real, then it's the gym. I can't wait. Look after your knees fellas Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pitley Posted November 18, 2007 Report Share Posted November 18, 2007 Hi Man o steele. How long are you off work? AndWhat is your occupation if you dont mind me asking? How long do you think you will be in rehab? Cheers Andy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
manofsteele Posted November 18, 2007 Report Share Posted November 18, 2007 Well, in theory I'm off work for just 3 weeks..... as that is the time that I'm basically housebound and prohibited from driving. After that I should be able to walk unassisted and therefore could do an office job no worries. However, I'm a building site worker. Sometimes I supervise, sometimes I drive the forktruck and sometimes I muck in with the gang fitting industrial windows and doors. All heavy stuff involving a lot of scaffolding and stairs etc. So, to cut a long story short - I'm now out of work until I'm able to pull my weight on site, which taking into account the Christmas shutdown, means the first working week in January As for the rehab, well thats a bit tricky too. Because my injury was so old I'd had a lot of muscle wastage on that leg. And because I'd not been able to jog, run, etc my entire adult life the good leg ain't really up to much either.... My physio has told me he expects it to take 3 months to bring the repaired leg back to where it was pre-op. Then another 3 months to balance both legs muscle-wise. Then up to another 3 months to bring both legs up to an acceptable level of strength/fitness. So it could potentially be 9 months all up, and by the end of that I should be waaayyyyy fitter than I am now. He is happy for me to ride again after 3 months, a long as there's no MX..... He has rather high hopes for me though, and has said he expects me to be fully fit sometime between the 6-9 months. Which sets me up nicely for the summer He seems to be hard taskmaster though, so I know he's going to be working me hard Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
magnon Posted November 21, 2007 Report Share Posted November 21, 2007 Hi fellow TC riders in various states of disrepair and lameness. I also damaged my left knee back in 2002 skiing. The French piste quack diagnosed torn medial ligament, but as time went on and the instability remained I got to see a specialist at my local hospital who felt with physio and ultrasound treatment the ligament would repair. 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
manofsteele Posted November 22, 2007 Report Share Posted November 22, 2007 If its any help, I'm under very strict instructions that my workouts must not involve any pain whatsoever. Apparently this is to keep the chances of encouraging arthritis low. Perhaps you need to look again at your regime and perhaps try a new/different one that is a lot gentler on the leg in question. Your physio should be advising you on this really.... That aside, do you elevate and ice it after your workouts? If not, I'd give that a go if I were you Don't give up on it though bud. All the best. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alex Posted November 22, 2007 Report Share Posted November 22, 2007 Ive broken my leg at the Zona 1 trial Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
manofsteele Posted November 22, 2007 Report Share Posted November 22, 2007 Ive broken my leg at the Zona 1 trial Bummer, how'd that happen? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
magnon Posted November 22, 2007 Report Share Posted November 22, 2007 If you want to send me your program to billy_pt@hotmail.co.uk i'll have a look through it for you and tell you how good it really is. The heavy swelling depends on what was actually done. Generally i'd say rest until swelling reduces, but i had one case which was cartlidge grafting i think that required aggressive physio to stop the graft growing more than it should. From what i'm guessing though it sounds like your exercises are just aggravating things Hi Billy, I Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
manofsteele Posted November 22, 2007 Report Share Posted November 22, 2007 I know that you can eliminate the calf muscle by pushing through your heel only. If you're pushing through your toes (or partially through em) you will bring the calf muscle into play, and no doubt pump it up. This was demonstrated to me by my physio when he did his pre-op assessment of me. So when I did my first leg press (flat footed, or so I thought) the result wasn't too bad. When he told me to push through my heel only, and concentrate on this especially, I had nowt! Weak as a kitten..... it felt completely different. A real eye opener as it happens. Also, I can feel my calf pumping up during the short walks I'm taking now, post-op. This happens when I'm being lazy and not making a concious effort to walk heel first. Again, your physio should be able to advise a bunch of exercises you could do that would help you to keep the calf muscle out of play. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
magnon Posted November 22, 2007 Report Share Posted November 22, 2007 Don't even go near the Leg Press, its just isolating specific muscles which is not what you need right now. I get a lot of former QMC patients through my clinic. You didn't mention any stretches/massage or self myofascial release so i'm guessing their isn't any. Get the sports physio to show you self myofascial release techniques to release the muscles before you workout. Personally i'd have you of the rower and the static bike as well as their training your leg muscles to have a new pattern and you really need to be stood up learning functional patterns that your leg is supposed to do daily. Billy, thanks for the foc consultation service you Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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