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michaeldupreez

Jumping after knee surgery

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Hi All, I tore the ligaments (ACL) in my knee and had surgery in October and I am now 4 months into a 6 month lay off. I am looking for some advice from jumpers who have recovered from similar injuries and what they did to get themselves ready for their next jump, some advice on jumping with knee braces and any general information that will help me when I get back in the air in April.

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I feel your pain! I tore my ACL, my medial and my lateral meniscus in September a few years back. I had surgery in October and then again in December. I was out 6 months and 27 days, not that I was counting. It sucks but on the bright side, you'll be good as new when you heal up completely.

Do your physical therapy religiously. I did my p.t., walked and lifted weights (carefully). I do not wear a knee brace at all. I was back in the air again the following April but don't rush it. Make sure you're ready and brush up on those PLFs.

Good luck to you!


--
A mind that is stretched by a new experience can never go back to its old dimensions. -Oliver Wendel Holmes

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I can't help with future jumping advice, I just had my surgery in early December & am wondering the same thing.

One additional question I wonder is if there's a difference for people that had a doner (aka cadaver ligament) replacement vs. people that used their own ligaments (patella or hamstring tendon) and necessary use of a brace. But that's probably a question best left to an ortho.

There is no can't. Only lack of knowledge or fear. Only you can fix your fear.

PMS #227 (just like the TV show)

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I tore my ACL in the mid 90s, have never had reconstructive surgery and have done 2500 jumps since then without issue.
Work on leglifts with a weight on your ankles - a couple of socks full of sand - while you are watching tv, and don't get paranoid.
Mind you I still wear a fibreglass brace when I'm skiing.
2 wrongs don't make a right - but 3 lefts do.

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I have had four knee injuries, three on the right and one on the left. They added up to a grand total of 23 months of physiotherapy, over a year of not walking, 6 different knee braces, walking with a cane for 18 months and the list goes on.

I continue to jump quite regularly and do a lot of round and vintage jumps without any real issues. The best thing that you can really do for your knee is use it in a lot of low impact exercises such as a stationary bike like another poster mentioned, elliptical trainers, etc.. Other things that you will need to do is strengthen the leg itself as that much of a lay off has had to cause a great deal of atrophy. Any staff member at your local gym should be able to give you a program to strengthen your leg. Other things to consider would be your cardio system, it will have suffered a great impacted and you will find that you aren’t going to have the same endurance that you had before. To get those muscles around your knee, a lot of balancing exercises are necessary.

As for jumping with braces, I have done it and it doesn’t really work well. Having the brace on and trying to move smoothly is difficult and many times you can irate things more. Braces restrict movement and sometimes it isn’t always the movement that you are trying to avoid. They move around under jumpsuits and can be hard to adjust when it a plane. If you have a physiotherapist, I would speak to them regarding your brace. They may say that it is required for running but they most likely mean a distance greater than that required in a landing. Many physiotherapists have a lot of impact exercises that will help with skydiving and recouping.

Feel free to PM me if you need more information. The last knee injury I had, the doctors and physiotherapists started to ask for my diagnoses of the issue. I got a good laugh out of it but I am getting to be pretty good with my own knee injuries.

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Quote

I can't help with future jumping advice, I just had my surgery in early December & am wondering the same thing.

One additional question I wonder is if there's a difference for people that had a doner (aka cadaver ligament) replacement vs. people that used their own ligaments (patella or hamstring tendon) and necessary use of a brace. But that's probably a question best left to an ortho.



I had my right acl repaired with a cadaver ligament and my left acl repaired with my patella tendon. I'd say I had a better recovery with my right knee, but it was done first of the two. I've had a longer time to recover and I had at least one good knee at that time. For my right knee (cadaver) I wore a huge knee brace, but I wasn't jumping then. I never wore a knee brace for my left knee. I jump wearing hard-shell roller blading knee pads and it has made a HUGE difference. I've walked away from many landings that I would have seriously hurt myself otherwise.

My advice is to only jump when you have sufficient strength, full range of movement, and muscle mass to protect your joints. But I'm not your doctor.
http://3ringnecklace.com/

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I had my left knee reconstructed 18 months ago after folding it 100 deg to the side. I was out for 7 months, 27 days... As an Airforce Parachute Jump Instructor, the type of descent changes day by day. I wear a carbon fibre knee brace only when jumping Roundies or doing any night jumping with equipment (pack) attached. Since coming back my knee hasn't hindered me at all in sport jumping. just strenthen it up don't rush into it.

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I tore both my ACL's (both knees :P) and also the medial ligament, meniscus & an impact fracture on the left knee with a landing gone bad. I didn't work for 5 months and 10 days. played handball with a kneebraces for the next year and started jumping again after 5 years. The long layoff didn't have anything to do with skydiving.
But what I'm wanting to say is: start again with a comfortable, forgiving canopy that has soft landings in it. It's better at first that you don't strain it that much at first.

my 2c

Mutley Out

You don't need a parachute to jump but YOU DO if want to do it again.

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I am a 2nd year student in a Doctoral of Physical Therapy program.

1. Do your PT!, make sure your Therapist performs a functional strength test(1 RM of quads and hams, single and triple hop, quick hopping) before clearing you to return to sport/activity. You should be 80-95% of you uninjured knee.

2. Do Eccentric strengthening of quads (i.e. pick a weight you could just NOT do single legged, once you have wt/# of plates, do two legs up, then only the injured leg to lower back down.)

3. For peace of mind you could jump with a brace, but with adequate strength and functional ability you should be fine.

4. Any ?'s double check with your PT
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www.twinfallsbase.com

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Thanks for all of the info. the reality here is that I still have a ton of physio to do and it would be unwise to try and jump before the knee is healed properly as tempting as it might be. I saw a biokinetics practitioner today and the sad news is that the injured leg is 80% weaker in the quads and 20% in the hams than the good one. At the end of the day if I have to lay off for a month or two extra I will be better off than if I jump to early and hurt the knee again. Once again thank you for helping.

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Done another 2000 jumps -99% of them tandems out of a 172 - since my last post on this thread and the knee is still hanging in there. It did lock up a couple of times for no apparent reason but hasn't played up for at least 2 years. I take glucosamine sulphate (Joint Food) every evening, ride my bicycle to work and try to maintain a certain level of fitness - while drinking way more beer than I really should. No real secret, but I do believe that the Joint Food does help.
2 wrongs don't make a right - but 3 lefts do.

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