Ruptured Patellar Tendon

[JAP426]

Guys I ruptured my patellar tendon at work on 9/28. I had surgery to repair it on 10/7. I am currently undergoing 6 weeks of immobilization in a knee brace. I am just trying to get an idea of the length of the recovery process. Could anyone here that has undergone the same type of surgery shed some light on this for me? Thanks in advance brothers in iron

 

[Bio]

I can't comment on that injury but I am sorry to hear about it. We all put so much work into this! Heal up and remember the iron will still be there!!

 

[OuchThatHurts]

I n

Guys I ruptured my patellar tendon at work on 9/28. I had surgery to repair it on 10/7. I am currently undergoing 6 weeks of immobilization in a knee brace. I am just trying to get an idea of the length of the recovery process. Could anyone here that has undergone the same type of surgery shed some light on this for me? Thanks in advance brothers in iron

I never ruptured one but both of mine sustained damage coming off a mountain in mid 2000s with a 70lb pack. The downward pressure on my patellar tendons was severe. There was nothing they could do surgically. But I was walking around without pain in 3 months and back to 15 miles per week and training in 6 months.

Sorry to hear. I know that hurts.

 

[JAP426]

Thanks for your feedback. Sounds like i have a long recovery process ahead of me

I n

I never ruptured one but both of mine sustained damage coming off a mountain in mid 2000s with a 70lb pack. The downward pressure on my patellar tendons was severe. There was nothing they could do surgically. But I was walking around without pain in 3 months and back to 15 miles per week and training in 6 months.

Sorry to hear. I know that hurts.

 

[JAP426]

Thank you Sir

I can't comment on that injury but I am sorry to hear about it. We all put so much work into this! Heal up and remember the iron will still be there!!

 

[Mike Hunt]

i CAN comment because it happened to my left knee. i was squatting 545 on my 3rd rep down it blew. suprisingly it didnt hurt, i think b ecausei was in shock. the really eerie thing about it was i was able to move my foot and toes but if my brain told my knee to bend it couldnt. that was what i had the biggest problem with. i had surgery 2 days later and like you said i had to wear a straight leg brace for over 2 mths. i was glad that if any knee was to blow it was my left because i could still drive with my right. so i still went to work, but i tell you i CONSTANTLY had to take breaks to put my leg up on a bench. all that weight while my leg was down while i was on crutches became painful. my recovery was a long road, i was very scared that i would re-injure my knee so during pt i was a huge pussy and didnt utilize it to the best of my abililty. so i would suggest go all out on pt to strengthen it, if the doc tells you its ok to work on the knee then its time to work on it. i had to learn from the bottom again, started with squatting just body wgt then a bar with no weight then 25s on each side then 45 on each side and so on...now im about 7 yrs post injury and im back squatting over 400 pretty easy. funny thing is now my left knee that was injured feels 'stronger' than my right. do a lot of pistol squats on that injured leg and bosu ball squats. those 2 things helped me the most.

 

[buck]

I always pressure my Dr.'s to give me a estimate for an average person to recover. Then figure it will be 2/3- 3/4 of that time. As Dr.'s give out conservative estimates in my experience.

 

[JAP426]

Hey brother, thanks for the detailed reply. Yeah it is my left knee also so i am able to drive if i need to. Yeah I heard the physical therapy was brutal but i am looking forward to it. Great advice for the pistol squats. Though I cant even see myself bending this leg anytime soon lol. Thanks again.

i CAN comment because it happened to my left knee. i was squatting 545 on my 3rd rep down it blew. suprisingly it didnt hurt, i think b ecausei was in shock. the really eerie thing about it was i was able to move my foot and toes but if my brain told my knee to bend it couldnt. that was what i had the biggest problem with. i had surgery 2 days later and like you said i had to wear a straight leg brace for over 2 mths. i was glad that if any knee was to blow it was my left because i could still drive with my right. so i still went to work, but i tell you i CONSTANTLY had to take breaks to put my leg up on a bench. all that weight while my leg was down while i was on crutches became painful. my recovery was a long road, i was very scared that i would re-injure my knee so during pt i was a huge pussy and didnt utilize it to the best of my abililty. so i would suggest go all out on pt to strengthen it, if the doc tells you its ok to work on the knee then its time to work on it. i had to learn from the bottom again, started with squatting just body wgt then a bar with no weight then 25s on each side then 45 on each side and so on...now im about 7 yrs post injury and im back squatting over 400 pretty easy. funny thing is now my left knee that was injured feels 'stronger' than my right. do a lot of pistol squats on that injured leg and bosu ball squats. those 2 things helped me the most.

 

[Dave Perez]

I ruptured a quad tendon in 2002...I wore the brace...each week I would adjust it to allow 10-15 degrees and sit on a bench and let my knee bend as far as I could...that brace came off completely in 2 months when I had about 105 degrees of hamstring contraction without much pain...I then wore a smaller brace for support for about 6 months...I was walking when the large brace came off with a cane for about a month...

 

[JAP426]

Thank you for sharing your experience with me. This has all been very helpful

I ruptured a quad tendon in 2002...I wore the brace...each week I would adjust it to allow 10-15 degrees and sit on a bench and let my knee bend as far as I could...that brace came off completely in 2 months when I had about 105 degrees of hamstring contraction without much pain...I then wore a smaller brace for support for about 6 months...I was walking when the large brace came off with a cane for about a month...

 

[ccarcher72]

I needed a patella realignment after a work injury. Funny thing was we were doing our morning stretches before starting work...had my left leg back and right leg forward doing a stretch and my knee popped. It pulled my knee cap to the outside of the knee joint so hard, it sheared the bottom of my knee cap off. It immediately pulled back to correct position but the broken part was now lodged to the side of the joint. Ortho appointment next morning with MRI, verified what happened. Sent home with a full straight leg brace, and waited 3 fucking months for surgery because they fought my workers comp. Surgery, leg still straight in brace for another month roughly to heal, then rehab started. That was rough, trying to bend my leg.

They were pushing, im trying to bend it...like a brick wall. Being stuck in a leg brace for months shortened the quads, hamstring became very tight. Injury happens Dec. 21 2017 and I was back to work September 2018. My employer lost and had to cover everything...serves them fuckers right for making me wait.

Anyhow, surgery was fine...recovery should go well if you get it fixed right away. As of today, I have over 120 degree bend but still not complete. But enough range of motion for any task that I may encounter in a given day.

Good luck with yours.

 

[JAP426]

Wow so you were out of work for almost a year? Thats terrible. I am getting workmans compensation at only 75% of my normal pay right now. So things are tight. Hoping to get a nice payout in the end. This according to my attorney. Thanks again for sharing your experience with me. I appreciate it

I needed a patella realignment after a work injury. Funny thing was we were doing our morning stretches before starting work...had my left leg back and right leg forward doing a stretch and my knee popped. It pulled my knee cap to the outside of the knee joint so hard, it sheared the bottom of my knee cap off. It immediately pulled back to correct position but the broken part was now lodged to the side of the joint. Ortho appointment next morning with MRI, verified what happened. Sent home with a full straight leg brace, and waited 3 fucking months for surgery because they fought my workers comp. Surgery, leg still straight in brace for another month roughly to heal, then rehab started. That was rough, trying to bend my leg.

They were pushing, im trying to bend it...like a brick wall. Being stuck in a leg brace for months shortened the quads, hamstring became very tight. Injury happens Dec. 21 2017 and I was back to work September 2018. My employer lost and had to cover everything...serves them fuckers right for making me wait.

Anyhow, surgery was fine...recovery should go well if you get it fixed right away. As of today, I have over 120 degree bend but still not complete. But enough range of motion for any task that I may encounter in a given day.

Good luck with yours.

 

[Tendon Snapper]

I've torn both quad tendons, same tendon as the patella tendon, just located above the kneecap whereas the patella tendon is below the knee cap. They were not both torn at the same time, one in '99 and one in '11. Like you 6 weeks in an immobilizer and then 10 weeks of PT. Just amazing atrophy from the non use while immobilized BUT I used a well thought out supplement plan to try and help promote a thorough and complete recovery. I was back in the gym training both legs lightly the same day as my last PT and would estimate that, like some others, it took a solid year of same and rational leg training to get back to pre workout strength and size. Both my quads are a different 'shape' than pre injury as the reattachment surgeries in my case lengthened the tendon a bit thus making my quad sweep end 'higher' than previous. I think it's quite a chore for the surgeon to stretch the detached tendon back to match it's pre tear length exactly....

 

[Dave Perez]

I've torn both quad tendons, same tendon as the patella tendon, just located above the kneecap whereas the patella tendon is below the knee cap. They were not both torn at the same time, one in '99 and one in '11. Like you 6 weeks in an immobilizer and then 10 weeks of PT. Just amazing atrophy from the non use while immobilized BUT I used a well thought out supplement plan to try and help promote a thorough and complete recovery. I was back in the gym training both legs lightly the same day as my last PT and would estimate that, like some others, it took a solid year of same and rational leg training to get back to pre workout strength and size. Both my quads are a different 'shape' than pre injury as the reattachment surgeries in my case lengthened the tendon a bit thus making my quad sweep end 'higher' than previous. I think it's quite a chore for the surgeon to stretch the detached tendon back to match it's pre tear length exactly....

You are correct about how your quad does not look the same after the surgery...my outer quad is about 2-3 higher from my knee pre-surgery...my pt lasted about 2 weeks because I had done a lot of stretching during my recovery...

 

[JAP426]

Thanks for your feedback. This has all been very helpful to me and my recovery

I've torn both quad tendons, same tendon as the patella tendon, just located above the kneecap whereas the patella tendon is below the knee cap. They were not both torn at the same time, one in '99 and one in '11. Like you 6 weeks in an immobilizer and then 10 weeks of PT. Just amazing atrophy from the non use while immobilized BUT I used a well thought out supplement plan to try and help promote a thorough and complete recovery. I was back in the gym training both legs lightly the same day as my last PT and would estimate that, like some others, it took a solid year of same and rational leg training to get back to pre workout strength and size. Both my quads are a different 'shape' than pre injury as the reattachment surgeries in my case lengthened the tendon a bit thus making my quad sweep end 'higher' than previous. I think it's quite a chore for the surgeon to stretch the detached tendon back to match it's pre tear length exactly....

 

[ccarcher72]

Yep, the tear drop on my left leg is almost non-existent compared to the right. Supposedly the attachment point for that tendon is helping keep my patella pulled in place, so it doesn't pop over again.