The stitches on my left knee have been removed yesterday morning. I wear now three "special" bandages that I need to keep between 5 to 7 days. Usually they fall on their own. No bath, no hot tub, no pool is allowed during this new healing period.
The PA who saw me told me that after surgery, while I was still under anesthesia, the surgeon flexed my knee and reached a 155 degrees flexion. As for the extension, my biggest concern, it was a 0 which has to be in order to walk nice and smooth. That's good news!
I had physical therapy with a different therapist in the afternoon since mine admitted he didn't want to miss anything this time.
So I was curious to meet the boss of the business. He was polite and very professional. We spoke about travels, hikes and California while he worked on my knee and leg.
I noticed how much more manual work was applied compared to my previous experience. But again this procedure is very different from the ACL reconstruction. My knee was examined, massaged and in the end I was reassured to know that my flexion would return to normal quite soon. My extension is to watch since it was my weakest point after the first surgery. An area of concern is my personal tendency to heal very quickly and thus develop scar tissues.
Since the trauma this time is minimal, there is less danger of constant inflammation and the swelling is much less, but this is definitely something that needs to be addressed with care.
So I left with a bag of mixed feelings. Too much workout can increase the building of scar tissue that is the natural reaction of the body to protect an inflamed or irritated area. Not enough will not help the articulation to get back its smoothness.
I still ice on a regular basis and take my three heavily dosed Iboprufen each day. I'm far from being finished with the bottle.
My next appointment with the surgeon is late September. Meanwhile I have again therapy twice a week until I see him.
I miss my knee!
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