0-70 in 10 seconds

I reset my brace!

Since my operation I've had:
weeks 1-2 leg locked in extension
Weeks 2-4 knee flexion limited from 0-30 degrees.

Now, my brace is set to allow movement from 0-70 degrees for the next 2 weeks. After that.....well, that all depends on what my 6 week follow-up appointment brings and how the fixation looks on my 6 week xray. I'm really hopeful that at this point they will say it's ok for me to start working in the pool.

So my knee had been allowed no more than 30 degrees of flexion for the past month. It's still very swollen, the joint isn't really recognisable as a knee yet. The swelling extends around the whole circumference of the joint so the tendons along the back of my knee joint are barely palpable. I knew the swelling would limit my knee movement.

With the brace set at 30, the movement felt quite free and I thought that once the brace was set higher the extra flexion would come fairly easily. But it really didn't! As soon as I tried to flex, my knee pretty much just stopped at 40 degrees. It's a weird sensation, it wasn't exactly pain that stopped it, it just stopped, like something was blocking the joint. I've spent the day gradually easing the joint through the extra degrees of flexion, which has been painful. I've probably overdone it a little, as the joint is feeling pretty hot and tender now. But I can now flex from 0-50 quite freely. The extra 20 degrees require me to ease into it and work at it. I'm going to give it a rest for the evening now and try some ice on the joint to ease this swelling and heat.

As another exciting distraction I got another new bit of static exercise kit today in the form of a hand bike. It sits on the table and you turn the pedals with your arms. I worked out on it for 20 minutes (limited as my shoulders and wrists are suffering a bit from my crutches) and I managed to work up a bit of a sweat!

Next blog will be more details of my current workout sessions for anyone who's interested on how to exercise whilst sitting on your arse!!

Victories:
Not being despondent when my knee didn't instantly flex to 70 degrees, but working the joint slowly until it did.
Being sensible enough to know when to give it a rest.