Week 20 - ACL Surgery Recovery

Welcome to my ACL surgery recovery blog where I have been giving week by week updates on my recovery since I had ACL reconstructive surgery on my right knee on May 22nd, 2008.

For you newbies to my blog, be sure to check the blog archive to read my older posts, especially if you're going to be having ACL surgery soon.

Okay, so week 20 is finally here and I had my follow up appointment with the surgeon on Oct 7th. X-rays showed my knee has healed properly. I questioned the doctor about the pain I've been experiencing in the lower patella area below my knee and he simply stated that it was "Jumpers Knee". He gave me a loose number that about 1 in 20 people will experience it after ACL surgery so of course, I'm one of the lucky ones. He wasn't overly concerned about it stating that it goes away after awhile. So, of course I had to go home and google it.

Jumpers Knee or Patellar Tendonitis is when the patella tendon comes under a large amount of stress (perhaps stress from the surgery??) mostly in individuals who actively put extra strain on the knee joint like those who participate in sports on a regular basis involving direction changing and jumping. With repeated strain, micro-tears as well as collagen degeneration can occur as a result in the tendon. So here's a picture of where you would experience pain if you had Jumper's knee.

Now this is not quite where i feel the pain. My pain is lower where the tendon meets the shin bone which is consistent with Osgood Schlatter Disease. Osgood Schlatter Disease is when you get pain and swelling directly over the tibial tubercle (shin bone). Pain is aggravated by loaded knee extension activity, especially activity with power or impact characteristics (according to Wikedpedia). The problem with this self diagnosis it that Osgood Schlatter Disease is caused by adolescent growth spurts and is mainly a problem for growing children. Since I'm 35 years old, this can't be the case.

Regardless, the healing process for Jumper's knee and Osgood Schlatter Disease can be a slow process and requires rest and rehab for months (great!). The quadriceps muscle need strengthening specifically with eccentric strengthening exercises. Also strengthening the calf muscles and other surrounding muscle groups are suppose to help. Top it off with massage therapy and lots of icing. This sounds pretty familiar......Its basically the same stuff that I'm doing to heal my knee from ACL Surgery. This is becoming VERY frustrating.

I'm wondering if anyone out there has had Jumper's knee...specifically after ACL surgery but also even if you haven't had the surgery. Please leave me a comment if you have any knowledge on the subject.

Well, that's it for this week. Thanks for reading my ACL Surgery Recovery blog. Hopefully it was informative for some of you. Be sure to check back for more updates.