How long did you wait after knee surgery?

[Mad_dan]

Happy Easter fellow kiters .

I had some surgery done to my left knee 12 days go. It was not a very big procedure, arthroscopic debridement/shaving of the pattelar tendon. I would like to now if you have some ideas based on knowledge or experiences towards how long time I should expect to wait before go out on the water? I must say Im really looking forward to it. Im starting physioterapi in a couple of days. Have some work to do, my left tigh muscle, is as the surgeon said a hamburger and the other one a bigmac

[Toby]

Sorry to hear!

Just be patient, give it enough time to recover and work hard with Physio.

Youri Zoon had knee surgery and went to kite too early so the knee needed another operation. You don't want that and you don't loose money waiting.
The second time he took the time he needed and became world champion.

So, be smart and patient, and you will be back in no time without worrying again.

[K-Roy]

I had ACL reconstruction surgery last year. (hamstring)
PT. became my N.1 goal for the next 8-9 months.
After 5 months i did "kite" with a strapless SB. and knee support. ( light sessions)
After 9 month during trip to Brasil and no holding back.
Over head waves with SB. and also started to learn foiling this time.
(without knee support)

I'm not familiar with your injury or rehabilitation, so the only advice I can tell you, as Toby said, take your PT seriously and don't rush.

Ps. Talking about it with other people helps, but IMO only as a guide to evaluate your own situation as everyone is different in so many ways...

[Mad_dan]

Thanx for the advices . Im tinking maybe 3 months, but time will tell.....

[RadDrDuke]

Do your PT, then check with your ortho doc who will do a physical exam to check basic stability and possibly give you the ok.

Squats/deadlifts/lunges are great for preparing your knees for the demands of kiting but make sure your physical therapist walks you through them all so you don't progress too fast and have to get a repeat operation.

Kiting has various demands on the body depending on the conditions. Least demanding is flat water and smooth wind (obviously) so you will want to start there. Choppy water is exponentially more demanding on your knees.

Moral of the story: wait until your ortho doc gives the okay.

[markchatwin]

I've had basic arthroscopy on both knees. The 1st one was meniscus trimming which took about 8 weeks before I hit the slopes skiing on groomed runs. At 12 weeks I was ready for anything.

The 2nd one was done this past December and it was more under the knee cap trimming/shaving - no meniscus tear. The Doc said under the kneecap was the "grouchiest" part of the knee and would likely take longer to heal. I was skiing at the 10 week mark on groomers and was hitting it hard at 14 weeks.

SO now it is 4 months and I am ready to kite - though I could have kited a few weeks ago but the lake wasn't ready. Kiting by itself without jumps and aggressive moves is really quite zen but it's also the other stuff like walking barefoot through sand with several trips from the car and walking into the water with your kite that taxes the knees. At our spot we have to walk out quite a long distance through shallows to get to safe waterstart spot. Under higher wind the quads and knees get taxed as your making your way out to waterstart.

I'm 55 years old and did 2 weeks of PT both times... Yes squats and lunges are very important. The bike was a good friend too. My Doc also believed in the 3 C's during the rehab which is Cold, Compression and Chemicals. i.e. Ice, Ace bandaging, and ibuprofen. Though I am a naturalist I found all 3 to be helpful in my recovery.

The real test was last weekend when I helped move my Bro-In-Law's belongings out of a truck into his new house. Many trips (3 1/2 hours) with heavy items down a ramp and back up stairs into a house. Surprisingly my knee held up well though I did the 3 C's for 2 days after.

[Mad_dan]

Thanxs again guys, its all good.

Have been doing PT for couple of years, will probably look into the tracking of the knee and stability to make sure its corrected if needed.

The knee is still quite stiff and tender, so far just started with a little bike training and som circulation/stretching moves.

I agree that kiting is not that hard on the knees, I dident have problem with kitesurfing, only running and skiing and soccer.