How to Rehabilitate a Knee Injury

Rehabbing a Knee Injury

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  Get going right away.Whether you had to surgically repair your knee or not, it is important to start rehabbing almost immediately. This means get going directly after your injury or surgery. You might want to give yourself a day to allow some swelling to go down and to rest your leg, but after one day you should really get going with your rehab program. In the beginning, your rehab should be very calm and easy. This is why you can start directly after your injury.

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  Start out with the simple things.The first thing you need to do is start to get larger muscles around your knee back into the swing of things. When you injure your knee, or have surgery, the muscles surrounding it will shut down--which is what makes it difficult to bend and move around. So you need to reintroduce these muscles back into what their job is--sort of like re-teaching your muscles how they should flex.To do this, all you need to do is sit down with your back against a wall. Straighten your leg out on the floor in front of you, making sure your leg is flat against the ground. Next, just flex your quadriceps muscle. When you do this, your knee should lift up slightly--up as in towards your waist.If you had a really devastating injury, or surgery, flexing your muscle might be an extremely difficult task. It sounds like an easy thing to do, but after an injury, even simple flexing can be tough. So don't get discouraged if this is difficult and you are having problems. It will get much better very quickly.

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  Try your best to walk normal.When you injure a knee, one of the most difficult things to do is walk like you did before the injury. However, it is important to try to use correct form when moving around. That means doing things like bending your knee in the appropriate way when you step and walking firmly on your foot as you did before your injury.Not walking normally means you are compensating for your knee injury and this can only lead to other injuries. If you are walking funny, you can cause problems in your feet, ankles, hips and back. Obviously sometimes it is impossible to walk correctly following an injury, but you should try your best to do so.

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  Get in the pool.Water rehab is one of the most effective ways to rehabilitate a knee injury. There are a variety of exercises you can do in the pool that will help your knee.Early on in your rehab program, get into a pool with a deep end--at least 8 feet. Basically, you just want to be sure you can't touch the bottom at all. When you are floating, begin to make a running motion underwater, moving your entire body the same way you would as if you were running. Kick your legs forwards and back and move your arms accordingly. This will tire you out quickly.Doing a few lengths or running man in the pool will take its toll on you. If you do it correctly, and don't cheat be using your arms too much, just going one lap of a nice-sized pool should take you about 10 minutes. You will be exhausted, but it's a great way to improve your knee's strength and conditioning.Another great water exercise is to do jump-explosions out of the water. This comes a little bit later in your rehab--since it requires a more advanced motion--but is very effective. Get to a spot in the pool where the water is just below your shoulders. Take a step with your injured leg and then jump as high as you can, exploding out of the water off of your bad leg. The resistance the water provides will act as a drag on your body and make it more difficult and help strengthen your knee.

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  Do some pushups.Not pushups on your hands, but pushups on your bad leg. You should start doing this exercise early in your rehab. After you have mastered the flexing and your knee is feeling a bit stronger, you'll want to start doing pushups. Here's how.You'll want to stand on some sort of sturdy block. It can be like a cinderblock, or maybe a tall phone book or anything that can honestly hold you at least 8 inches off the ground. Stand on this block with your bad leg. While keeping your other leg from touching the ground or your device, slowly and carefully lower your body toward the ground, bending your bad knee and supporting your body weight on it. Only lower your body a little, bending your knee from upright to about a 30-degree angle. Making your knee support your body weight as you bend will make it stronger and re-work some of those muscles that were most likely damaged during your injury or surgery. This is also the same motion and same weight that your knee will normally support while doing such activities as walking and running--or any sports--so this exercise is extremely helpful over the course of your rehabilitation.Start slow. Do not push yourself or your knee. Make sure to keep your good leg ready, to catch yourself if you fall or if your knee is not able to support your body. You do not want to further damage your knee, but this exercise is a great way to strengthen it when your body is ready to get going.

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  Tie your legs together.This isn't for a three-legged race, but if you have some sort of bungee cord and can tie your ankles together, there is a valuable drill you can do to improve your knee's strength. While your ankles are tied together, start with you feet about a foot or so apart. Squat down, bending at the knees, so that your body is in a sort of ready position like you were trying to pick up a ground ball in baseball/softball. Then begin to step with either of your legs as far away from your other foot as you can, stretching the bungee cord and working your leg muscles. Do this about 10 times in one direction and then go back the way you came. The lateral movement, with the added resistance of the bungee cords, will help your knee repair itself and get back to 100 percent quicker. This drill should be done slowly and meticulously. It is not a race to sidestep as fast as you can. It is important to take big sidesteps, really stretching the bungee cord and working your legs. Make sure to go both ways so that your bad leg has the chance to be on both sides of the cord.

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  Get in the weight room.Once your knee is feeling better and you have been doing these other drills for some time, it's time to get your knee into the weight room. Here are some good exercises to do.Wall sits: Place your back against a wall and squat down as far as you can like you are sitting in a chair. Do not bend your knees past a 90-degree angle. Hold for a minute--if you can.Leg press: The leg press is that giant machine where you sit down, either like a normal chair or reclining, and push the weights with your legs. It is important not to put too much weight on at once, but this exercise will help strengthen both legs. Do this using both legs, but also do it using just your bad leg to help it catch up to the rest of your body. Use the appropriate amount of weight.Squats: Do some squats using either a barbell or a limited-motion machine, either will do. Squat using both legs and try it with just your bad leg, making sure not to go down too far. It is easier and safer to use a machine when only squatting on your one leg.