Hi, Cathe... Plica Syndrome - Knee Surgery...Inquiry

R

rocky324

Member
Hi, Cathe.

I hope all is well with you.

I have been meaning to post this inquiry for the past few days. I know you don’t have to answer this, but I hope you do.

In July 2006, I was diagnosed with plica syndrome in both knees x( . I decided surgery would be the best route, since my other options were a) to do nothing and leave them alone, or b) to have cortisone shots.

I was scheduled to have surgery on the left knee in September, but due to various unforeseen events (illnesses, work schedule conflicts, etc.) I had to postpone it. I’m now set to have surgery on Tuesday, and I am both anticipating it and dreading it. I know everything will be fine, but I have no idea what to expect after surgery.

I know I’ll have to go to physical therapy soon after surgery. How limited were you in the types of physical activities you could do? What was walking and climbing stairs like? Did you have to completely stop exercising? I can’t see doing upper body work, since I would be placing stress on my knee. How long did it take before you were able to resume working out?

I have done several web searches, but there is such a dearth of information regarding plica syndrome that it’s quite frustrating to determine what to expect.

Any information and insights you could provide would be greatly appreciated, trust me.


Thank you for your time!:D :7


Raquel
 
Hi Raquel! I'm not sure if you had your surgery yet or not but I wish you a healthy and full recovery.

Each person has their own unique circumstances surrounding their plica band and its removal so I really can't tell you what you can expect and or if you will go through exactly what I did. But I am happy to share my experience with you to provide you with an idea of what someone who had a plica removal went through.

The day of surgery: After fairly quick operation, I stayed in recovery for about an hour and had nurses give me outpatient instructions. I felt no pain whatsoever upon waking in the recovery room and was told that that was due to sensational pain killers. I was also told not to let that pain free feeling misguide me into thinking I was fine to walk without crutches, or take stairs, etc. because that was not permitted on this day.

What I could do the day of surgery post operation:

1) Use crutches for walking....place minimal weight on operated leg.

2) Rest, elevate leg as much as possible, and ice 20 minutes every few hours (right through the bandages)

3) Keep leg wraps on for the day.

4) Straight leg lifts (20 reps, 5 second holds, 4 times per day) and gentle knee bends as far as comfort allowed (10 reps, 4 times a day)

I really felt great and was not sore at all. Day two was a different story. The painkillers wore off and I felt a little pain. Day three was the sorest. After day three, the pain leveled and I was feeling pretty good by day 7.

I did the same activities as mentioned above all of these days but without crutches and surgical bandages (I removed crutches as soon as I stopped limping, and removed bandages on day 2 post surgery).

One week later I saw the doctor and had full range of motion restored and very minimal swelling.

I began physical therapy for 12 weeks which was plently exercise for the lower body and by the time it was completed, I felt pretty good. I occasionally had odd quirky sensations which sometimes made me question my progress on a given day, but I learned that in my case this was part of the healing process.

As for working out... therapy exercises replaced my typical lower body workouts. I could also do some stationary biking for cardio. I did all seated weight training for upper body and had a friend carry the weights to me. After about 3 weeks to a month, I was able to move around better I did minimal standing while doing some upper body exercises.

Lower body exercises eventually felt normal again about 4 months post surgery. But up until then, walking up and down steps (especially going down steps) was stiff and achey as well as some jumping and lateral moves. I still have days where lateral movement or steps are a little odd feeling but I was told these feelings are normal and will become less and less.

The biggest advice I can give you is to follow your directions exactly and remember that ICE IS YOUR FRIEND

:7

Well, I hope this helps you. Don't forget to ice and elevate after you read this (or perhaps your already doing that WHILE your reading this, ;-) ) Happy healing!
 
RE: Hi, Cathe... Plica Syndrome - Knee Surgery...Inquir...

Hi Cathe,

I hope that you are doing well. Reading about your surgery was very interesting as my 16 year old son had ACL repair surgery last summer and we just found out this morning that my 17 year old tore his ACL on Friday evening at a soccer game. (I asked the orthopedic surgeon if he gives a family discount.)

Anyway, seeing your note about ice made me wonder if when you had surgery they gave you a Polar Care ice water circulator. The 16 year old had this and it was great, you wrap it around your knee, put ice & water in to a small cooler and a pump keeps the cold water circulating so you aren't always changing out the ice in a bag.

Just curious! :)

Steph

P.S. My daughter is also a gymnast as you were and she was wondering what level you were when you "retired"? I have to admit to recognizing some of her conditioning exercises from your videos! :)
 
I am currently two weeks post-op after a meniscus tear surgery. Cathe so much of what your wrote are exactly what my instructions were.

Do follow your doctors instructions. I did and my recovery has been wonderful (touch wood) so far.

:)
 
RE: Hi, Cathe... Plica Syndrome - Knee Surgery...Inquir...

Hi Raquel,

I just realized that it wasn't very nice of me to not wish you well. I'm glad things are going well. I hope you can get back to everything you want to do as quickly as possible!

Steph
 
RE: Hi, Cathe... Plica Syndrome - Knee Surgery...Inquir...

Hi, Cathe!

Thank you so much for getting back to me!

I did have the surgery yesterday afternoon and it went very well. It turns out that the problem was not with the plica band, but with the knee cartilage. The cartilage was worn out and had to be smoothed out. The doctor also removed some floating debris.

I was given the same instructions you were given (ice, elevation, rest...). The painkillers do help, especially with sleeping! I was told to keep the bandages on for 48 hours, so it'll be a relief once I take them off tomorrow evening. I'm walking with a cane, and bearing weight on the leg as tolerated.

I'll be seeing my doctor next week, and soon after, I'll be going to physical therapy. One thing he did tell me that I can no longer do is deep knee squats, so it'll be interesting to see how I'm going to work the lower body once I'm at 100%.

At least with your input about your experience, Cathe, I have an idea of what to expect :) . I can't wait to start working out with you again.

Thank you for your well wishes.

Take care :D
 
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