Anyone had ACL reconstruction on knee and does Ashtanga?

[Guest guest]

Hey Sasibha

 

I don't know what is an ACL injury, but I would advise to wait to be perfectly

OK before going back to practice. I have a broken wrist and a luxation of my

knee and Sharath advised that I recover first before practicing again. My doctor

too.

It would be sad if you break your knee because you practice too soon.

Its very frustrating and maybe it teaches us something and we have to accept it

and focus on the other limbs of ashtanga.

Maybe you could practice meditation and some " easy " asanas ?

 

I wish you to recover promptly and stay happy

Let me know your progress if you wish

 

Barbara

 

--- On Sat, 6/12/08, sasibha <sasibha wrote:

 

sasibha <sasibha

ashtanga yoga Anyone had ACL reconstruction on knee and does

Ashtanga?

ashtangayoga

Saturday, 6 December, 2008, 3:53 PM

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hi,

 

I had ACL reconstruction via arthroscopy last week. Touch wood, I'm recovering

well. I can

walk unassisted although a bit slowly and can bend my knee 78 degrees. I've

heard that I

can return to yoga 4-6 weeks after the surgery. However, I was told that by my

doctor and

physiotherapist, neither of whom does Ashtanga.

 

I'm wondering if there is any fellow Ashtangi out there who had the same surgery

as me

and is still practising. It would be great if you could clarify the following:

1 - Is it realistic to go back 4-6 weeks after surgery?

2 - I was doing secondary series prior to surgery. Would I be able to pick it up

again? I

mean, would it be advised to omit some of the poses because of the knee injury?

3 - How long would it be until I can jump through and jump into a handstand?

 

For info, my ACL injury was not caused by yoga but rather caused by a nasty

accident of

someone falling on top of my knee.

 

I also welcome any other advice.

 

Thanks!

Enjoy your practice...

Sasibha

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Guest guest]

I had arthroscopy earlier this year and am just now getting my practice back.

Recovery was slower for me than what I had been told.

In the meantime I kicked back to beginner yoga classes and swam a lot.

I messed up my knee by many years of forcing lotus position in extended sitting

meditation.

 

 

 

 

 

 

ashtangayoga , " sasibha " <sasibha wrote:

>

> Hi,

>

> I had ACL reconstruction via arthroscopy last week. Touch wood, I'm recovering

well. I

can

> walk unassisted although a bit slowly and can bend my knee 78 degrees. I've

heard that

I

> can return to yoga 4-6 weeks after the surgery. However, I was told that by my

doctor

and

> physiotherapist, neither of whom does Ashtanga.

>

> I'm wondering if there is any fellow Ashtangi out there who had the same

surgery as me

> and is still practising. It would be great if you could clarify the following:

> 1 - Is it realistic to go back 4-6 weeks after surgery?

> 2 - I was doing secondary series prior to surgery. Would I be able to pick it

up again? I

> mean, would it be advised to omit some of the poses because of the knee

injury?

> 3 - How long would it be until I can jump through and jump into a handstand?

>

> For info, my ACL injury was not caused by yoga but rather caused by a nasty

accident of

> someone falling on top of my knee.

>

> I also welcome any other advice.

>

> Thanks!

> Enjoy your practice...

> Sasibha

>

[Guest guest]

Thanks both of you for replying. It means a lot to me.

The lotus posture is exactly what I was wondering about... Seems I should wait

for a long

time for that...

Cheers.

Sasibha

 

ashtangayoga , tiber33 <no_reply wrote:

>

> I had arthroscopy earlier this year and am just now getting my practice back.

> Recovery was slower for me than what I had been told.

> In the meantime I kicked back to beginner yoga classes and swam a lot.

> I messed up my knee by many years of forcing lotus position in extended

sitting

> meditation.

ashtangayoga , " sasibha " <sasibha@> wrote:

> >

> > Hi,

> >

> > I had ACL reconstruction via arthroscopy last week. Touch wood, I'm

recovering well. I

> can

> > walk unassisted although a bit slowly and can bend my knee 78 degrees. I've

heard

that

> I

> > can return to yoga 4-6 weeks after the surgery. However, I was told that by

my doctor

> and

> > physiotherapist, neither of whom does Ashtanga.

> >

> > I'm wondering if there is any fellow Ashtangi out there who had the same

surgery as

me

> > and is still practising. It would be great if you could clarify the

following:

> > 1 - Is it realistic to go back 4-6 weeks after surgery?

> > 2 - I was doing secondary series prior to surgery. Would I be able to pick

it up again?

I

> > mean, would it be advised to omit some of the poses because of the knee

injury?

> > 3 - How long would it be until I can jump through and jump into a handstand?

> >

> > For info, my ACL injury was not caused by yoga but rather caused by a nasty

accident

of

> > someone falling on top of my knee.

> >

> > I also welcome any other advice.

> >

> > Thanks!

> > Enjoy your practice...

> > Sasibha

> >

>

[Guest guest]

Hi Sasibha,

 

About ten years ago, I injured half of my left knee ACL (Anterior Cruciate

Ligament) in a Martial arts accident and after a couple of years, the remaining

in a basketball game. A couple of years after that, I had ACL replacement done

via arthroscopy. Middle 1/3 rd of the big ligament joining the Patella with

Tibia is now my new ACL. You can notice signs of this procedure by the vertical

scar over Patela, Tibia joint. The new ACL is way more strong than the

original. Also, the surgen obviously left sufficient extra length so that my new

joint is stronger and also more flexible than before and as compared to the

right knee. Sometimes the replcement is with external or artificial element.

Before restatarting 'violent' activities, one also has to consider that in such

ACL accidents, some additional minor ligaments or fibers may also be torned.

But only the ACL is replaced. Luckily Yogaasan practise has no violent actions.

They are soft and

premeditated (well, that's not really the word I am looking for but you get the

idea, I suppose 'deliberate' is better).

 

My main suggestion is to first concentrate on geting the knee to bend, fold all

the way (now you are at 78 degrees). I was started with the soft, automatic knee

bending machine the day after the surgery. I know it hurts a little but keep at

it. For full folding practice, the Viraasan is obvious. In the beginning try a

pillow between the thighs and the calves. Do it many times every day. When

you can sit comfortably with the sitting bones on the floor between your calves

& feet, you are ready to go Patience will come in handy.

 

I have postponed on Padmaasan even though I could easily do the full

Badh-Padmaasan since when I was 6. But I didn't do it for many years and so I am

starting again from the beginning. Not much of a surprise, when I try it now, my

'fixed' knee is happy but my other, right knee hurts. The pain is at the little

round protrusion at the top of Tibia, on the medial surface. I have seen other

people rubbing at the exact same place after trying it. To work towards

padmaasan, I do other basic aasans like Viraasan, Sidhaasan, Badh konaasan,

Upavisth Konaasan and very carefully Ardh-padmaasan! Keeping a folded napkin

tightly in the joint helps.

 

One could start with any of the other aasans as long as there is NO pain (except

in our case, the Viraasan, which I got working with frequent practise and

gradual progress). In fact I found that Yogaasans are a very effective form of

physical-theropy. One can do jump through and jump into a handstand as long you

land softly and under control. This you must be doing already, as you were at

secondary series prior to surgery.

 

On another topic, does anyone feel dizzy while doing standing backbends? I have

not been able to find the physiological root cause. Is the blood supply to the

brain somehow constricted? Is there a way to get around the problem? Many

people seem to do it very comfortably.

 

Dilip

Bay Area, CA

 

 

--- On Sat, 6/12/08, sasibha <sasibha (AT) gmail (DOT) com> wrote:

sasibha <sasibha (AT) gmail (DOT) com>

ashtanga yoga Anyone had ACL reconstruction on knee and does

Ashtanga?

ashtangayoga

Saturday, 6 December, 2008, 3:53 PM

 

Hi,

 

I had ACL reconstruction via arthroscopy last week. Touch wood, I'm recovering

well. I can

walk unassisted although a bit slowly and can bend my knee 78 degrees. I've

heard that I

can return to yoga 4-6 weeks after the surgery. However, I was told that by my

doctor and

physiotherapist, neither of whom does Ashtanga.

 

I'm wondering if there is any fellow Ashtangi out there who had the same surgery

as me

and is still practising. It would be great if you could clarify the following:

1 - Is it realistic to go back 4-6 weeks after surgery?

2 - I was doing secondary series prior to surgery. Would I be able to pick it up

again? I

mean, would it be advised to omit some of the poses because of the knee injury?

3 - How long would it be until I can jump through and jump into a handstand?

 

For info, my ACL injury was not caused by yoga but rather caused by a nasty

accident of

someone falling on top of my knee.

 

I also welcome any other advice.

 

 

[Guest guest]

Sasibha,

 

There are a number of factors that would go into a decision about what

it is you can or can't do as well as how quickly you can or can't

practice. For instance there are different grades of tear as well as

different procedures to repair a torn ACL. If you haven't started

physical therapy yet, you'll find that they're pretty aggressive in

the rehab of knee surgery. Why? because they're actually trying to

prevent the build up of too much scar tissue as a result of the

surgery which tends to lead to long term reduction of range of motion

and sometimes pain.

 

After surgery your ACL doesn't have to " heal " they've put in a piece

of ligament from somewhere else in your body or from a cadaver (there

are other procedures as well). What needs to repair is the trauma to

the joint capsule where they've put the three holes and filled it with

saline solution so they can work in there. In general a lot of trauma.

Without movement, the body will lay down too much scar tissue, hence

the aggressive rehab (mostly working with range of motion) to stretch

the scar tissue as it forms to maintain range of motion.

 

Going back to your original questions (without having every met you

and getting few details about injury, your practice and the surgery)...

 

1. Yes, it is realistic that the majority of people go back to doing

80 - 90% of what they did pre-surgery within 4 - 6 weeks... keep in

mind however that 2nd series is well beyond what the average person

does...

 

2. Of course you'll be able to pick it back up... doing each pose

fully may however take longer than 4 - 6 weeks... and of course doing

it to the degree you did it before injury could be as long as a year.

 

3. you're the only one who will be able to answer this question.

 

Be well,

David Keil - Ashtanga Yoga teacher

Yoganatomy.com

[Guest guest]

David and Dilip,

 

Thank you so much for taking the time to answer my question and giving me

advice. It

clarified a lot of things that are going through my head. :-) My ACL was the

graft of the

hamstring, and yes, I've started physio and they are aggressive about it, which

is good. I

feel like I am on the road to recovery although could not help feel that it is

one with both

physical and mental. I've got to get over that fear of hurting it again (this

is my second

knee surgery. The first one was for torn minuscus.)

 

I've also been reading an article and watching a clip from Yoga Anatomy as I

noticed the

web address on David's response, and have found it helpful.

 

Dilip, I got dizzy when I started doing drop back a couple of times but after

that I made

sure I came up slowly and dizziness seemed to have gone. Never experienced that

again.

 

You guys take care. Happy practising.

Cheers,

Sasibha

 

 

 

ashtangayoga , David Keil <david wrote:

>

> Sasibha,

>

> There are a number of factors that would go into a decision about what

> it is you can or can't do as well as how quickly you can or can't

> practice. For instance there are different grades of tear as well as

> different procedures to repair a torn ACL. If you haven't started

> physical therapy yet, you'll find that they're pretty aggressive in

> the rehab of knee surgery. Why? because they're actually trying to

> prevent the build up of too much scar tissue as a result of the

> surgery which tends to lead to long term reduction of range of motion

> and sometimes pain.

>

> After surgery your ACL doesn't have to " heal " they've put in a piece

> of ligament from somewhere else in your body or from a cadaver (there

> are other procedures as well). What needs to repair is the trauma to

> the joint capsule where they've put the three holes and filled it with

> saline solution so they can work in there. In general a lot of trauma.

> Without movement, the body will lay down too much scar tissue, hence

> the aggressive rehab (mostly working with range of motion) to stretch

> the scar tissue as it forms to maintain range of motion.

>

> Going back to your original questions (without having every met you

> and getting few details about injury, your practice and the surgery)...

>

> 1. Yes, it is realistic that the majority of people go back to doing

> 80 - 90% of what they did pre-surgery within 4 - 6 weeks... keep in

> mind however that 2nd series is well beyond what the average person

> does...

>

> 2. Of course you'll be able to pick it back up... doing each pose

> fully may however take longer than 4 - 6 weeks... and of course doing

> it to the degree you did it before injury could be as long as a year.

>

> 3. you're the only one who will be able to answer this question.

>

> Be well,

> David Keil - Ashtanga Yoga teacher

> Yoganatomy.com

>