Riding with a knee injury - thoughts please

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kit279

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The good Dr. H. did a knee skiing this year and had keyhole surgery 2 months ago to clear up a torn meniscus. The ACL was damaged but not ruptured so they left that alone and the knee is stable, it does not give way or lock etc.

He has started riding again (the knee and the death of our lovely grey horse meant a little time away from horses and serious soul searching about whether to jack horses in altogether) and is entered at Carlton on my chestnut.

The problem is that he can ride OK for 3 days and then the knee starts to give him jip. It's not painful when riding but he is stiff and a bit limpy the day after. Having had a quiet word with the surgeons, they are of the opinion that they have done absolutely everything they can for him surgically... He is known to be, shall we say, very aware of aches and pains (ahem!) but I wondered if anyone could give me their experiences of riding after a knee injury.

Was it painful to ride afterwards?

Am just in two minds about whether to change jockey for Carlton (BE90)...
 
sounds v similar to what I did to mine the first time, i had an "unhappy triad" apparently and had meniscus tidied up and stapled but that was about it. after rehab I got back to eventing and it was fine, no pain during or after riding, no seizing up etc. hope that helps.
 
I fractured my tibial plateau in 2005 and was riding 3 months later, my knee was fine to ride and I really didn't notice it.
Last year I tore my cartilage and had an operation to remove it and since then it has been nothing but trouble. its my left knee and I was having problems getting on as it would give way when I put any weight on it. I was fine to ride but just recently it was hurting to ride and keeps locking up (about 50 times a day) I have a horrible feeling I have torn the remaining cartilage and this will have to be removed too :(

But on the bright side it was fine before I hurt it again. Hope this helps. I should imagine he needs a bit longer to get over it then it will be good as new xx
 
has he had any physio to help tighten it up?

i have 2 dodgy knees and they were much better after physio- i was shown lots of exercises to strengthen the muscles and ligaments in my legs and in my bum to take the strain off the knee joint.

although mine aches after eventing i think it is all of the walking combined with xc length stirrups as mine ache after long walks anyway.
 
I tore the medial ligament in my left leg when I was 16yrs old - 10 years later I did the same injury and roughened the cartilidge to the inside of my knee and (to a certain extent) within the knee joint but it did not require surgery, just intensive physio. 2 years later it's still sore, aches and makes me limp if I over-do it. I have to wear a knee brace for anything that involves jumping position or a forward seat. I think slight reoccurances are fairly normal for my type of injury but this doesn't mean it will be for other knee injuries. I think it's the luck of the draw, but I was told by my physio that ligament tears and strains can take up to 18mths to right themselves.
 
I broke my tibial plateau in 2007 like Seahorse; took 18 months before i could ride properly though and even now, I struggle to ride with short stirrups and can't run. I wouldn't risk it until he feels it is strong enough, knees take so much strain when you're jumping and I know that I felt really wobbly for ages after the injury.
 
I had two knee ops a couple of years ago, which were both keyhole and had some success (it's a long boring story!). My knee was fab for a year after the second op, then flared up again as bad as pre-op - surgeon advised more knee strengthening work, and about 3000mg glucosamine per day. I've been religious about the glucosamine, and the knee is now fab again - surgeon said most people don't take enough to really help.
 
I have had keyhole surgery on my right knee as a results of falling off too many racehorses:D Mine wasnt as bad as your OH as I had simply damaged the ligaments (too long ago to remember exactly which) & had grown a lot of scar tissue which when inflammed inpeded the joint. I therefore had surgery to remove the scar tissue.

I have always found riding to be easier than anything much else mainly due to the semi bent position, fully straightening it & fully bending it is worse. Over a period of years it has carried on improving.

The more physio exercises he can bear/be bothered to do to build up the muscle around the knee the better & just keep on doing them. As you well know (we are talking to a Doctor here folks - she keeps that bit quiet!!) there is only so much you can do to knees but strong muscles all around should take some of the strain.

Surely there is nothing wrong with a few anti-inflammatories before an event & lessons to keep things in working order & a bit of after event stiffness is all part of the fun - typical man:D:D
 
Im still riding in a knee brace (wont bore you with how broken I am!!)...completed brightling 1 star on the weekend!!

Physio and listen to the doctors, If you knee swells u take it easy. If mine hurts too much I take a day off riding...good luck!!
 
I have a complete ACL rupture and complete tear of cartlidge. I did this about 7 years ago. I had Arthroscopy to clean out and trim up etc.

I was offered reconstruction of the ACL as my knee was fairly unstable to start with, but my quadracept.. and calf have developed enough to support my knee and make it more stable. I would only consider a carbon fibre implant, and wouldn't want to have a ligament grafted from somewhere else as this then creates 2 weak areas.

Also we went private for arthroscopy with no insurance, as the effect of me limping for five months (while my GP kept telling me I had a twisted knee) meant I developed a muscle in my back which was pushing the facet joints out in my spine and I would have ended up walking bent over before I got in with the NHS.

Riding wise, I am fine unless I fall off, then I don't know, but do you ever. If I get chatting to paramedics in a collecting ring, they get excited at the thought of me falling off as they would need an air ambulance.. thanks..

I can't walk far and rarely run. Also, I can't walk a xc course and then ride it the same day - would be in agony. I have to walk the day before and then I take painkillers that night. This obviously restricts the distance i travel to compete.

I took the injury falling off a horse, do we ever learn!
 
haha we dont learn...I was just thinking how much my owners will laugh when they see Ive written listen to the doctor!
 
Thanks all for your advice - particularly Joss and MickeyMoo, very very helpful. I think the problem is that expectations were riding very high that surgery would be the answer to all problems! Hopefully all will be OK, horse came back to me today feeling rather one-sided TBH!
 
Yes thats right Pearcider listened to the doctors who said she needed her knee operated on asap then said ' you can operate on my knee but not till the end of the event season !' this was in March !!! She still does a great job of being a stunt rider with her bionic knee ! :)
 
thank you queen b!! just think how boring this year would have been if I could not have ridden...we all love the robot look!!
 
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