I saw a patient today who recently had an anterior cruciate ligament repair in her knee. Her surgery was a couple weeks ago and she is doing quite well. She even started back to work earlier this week.
As a part of her rehabilitation, I am using neuromuscular electrical stimulation (NMES) to improve the muscular recruitment of her quadriceps muscle. If you read my posts, you might know that I am not really big on using therapeutic modalities, but NMES is one that I use quite a bit to help people improve muscular recruitment after surgery and injury.
So my patient shows up today for therapy, and she is ready to go. She is also dressed for work. Her hair is well groomed. Nice blouse. Khaki pants. The problem is that her pants are a bit tight, and rolling them up makes it relatively impossible to apply the electrodes for the NMES to her quad.
"Oh crud," she says. Her pant leg is rolled up over her knee, but her quad is mostly hidden by her pant leg. Plus, rolling her pants up made it a bit tighter over her thigh muscle. I grab an electrode and try to squiggle my hand up her rolled-up pant leg, but to no avail.
I hand her the electrode, and I step out of the treatment area and pull the curtain. She laughs as she has to reach down her pants under the waistband and sitck the electrode to her thigh. "All set." she says. We start the NMES, and she performs quad strengthening exercises while the NMES is on. After the treatment, the process of pulling the curtian and retrieving the elecrtrode is repeated. She then continues her rehab program and treatment.
Lesson: wear the right clothing to physical therapy.
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Lesson #2: For patients with recent or impending ACL surgery, expect activities of daily living to take you twice as long in the first weeks after surgery. Set reasonable expectations, give yourself PLENTY of time, and don’t put undue pressure on yourself by trying to be efficient. Just tell your employer you’ll be late. Your knee is depending on you.
Oh, and how polite of your patient to say “crud”….ahem.
Wonky,
Thanks for your comment, and thanks for the great advice for my readers! Knee surgery, especially ACL surgery, is a pretty big deal, and your knee won’t be moving well for a few weeks after surgery. Getting around can be tough, but so can dressing, showering, driving, and walking the dog. Even sitting and watching TV can be a little painful, so be kind to your knee, and understand that you cannot rush the healing process.
Thanks again for your comment. And yes, my patients only use family friendly words like “crud.”
~Brett