ACL Repair Surgery Washington DC: Going Through the Motions

Losing use of one of your limbs can be stressful and frustrating, especially when it’s your leg. Those that need to have ACL repair surgery Washington DC know all too well what it’s like to have pain, discomfort and instability in their knee joints… and they also will know what it takes to rehab their knee after the surgical procedure. Long, difficult and time consuming, the rehabilitation from ACL surgery is something that no one looks forward to, but it must be done in order to correct the issue.

After ACL repair surgery Washington DC

From the second that you wake up in your hospital room after the surgery has been completed, you will begin your rehabilitation. This process starts with assessing whether or not you can get in and out of the bed, because this will be necessary at home. You will often stay for up to 48 hours in the hospital in order to assess the way that things feel after your initial pain meds have worn off, but as soon as things look and feel OK, you will be released.'

For the first few days at home, plan on spending a lot of time laying on the couch or in a comfortable, large chair with your leg raised and kept straight. The surgical site will be wrapped, allowing for stabilization and support, as well as to allow the wound site to drain a needed. Changing the bandage should only be done as necessary, and once you have been given the go ahead by a a medical professional, the drain can be removed and the large bandage will also be taken off.  Nutrition is very important throughout this time, too, because a strong and healthy body will be more likely to heal properly than one that is the opposite. 

The knee area should not be bent significantly at this time, even though it should be “worked” a little as time passes, so many people will have the area in a brace keeping it from bending - or keeping it bent between specific angles.

This is the hard part, as it will take a lot of time and patience in order to get to the point where you can put some weight on the knee as well as begin to more freely flex it. As the days pass, you may notice that while the outside of your knee feels OK, the inside aches. This is normal, too, since you’ll be exercising the muscles within the knee after not using them for a long period of time.

The more time that passes, the better off you will be, and each day that goes by, you will be stronger and ready to get back into the normal swing of things.