Tearing an ACL: The Rehabilitation Process
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When an athlete tears an ACL, there is a general schedule the athlete is to follow before they may implement their personal recovery itinerary. This includes:
* Athlete advised to stay home and rest 2-3 days following ACL surgery
* Athlete off crutches two weeks after surgery
* An immobilizer brace is worn for four weeks, which prevents full motion and bending of knee
* 5-16 weeks, athletes do strengthening exercises for hip, thigh, and calf muscles
* Cutting and running within 4-6 months’ time
* After 6 months, can return to sports-specific activities
* Quality, not quickness of rehabilitation
* Athlete advised to stay home and rest 2-3 days following ACL surgery
* Athlete off crutches two weeks after surgery
* An immobilizer brace is worn for four weeks, which prevents full motion and bending of knee
* 5-16 weeks, athletes do strengthening exercises for hip, thigh, and calf muscles
* Cutting and running within 4-6 months’ time
* After 6 months, can return to sports-specific activities
* Quality, not quickness of rehabilitation
Adrian Peterson
The man nicknamed “All Day” approached his knee rehabilitation analogously. Peterson has since proven that he already possesses the ability to return from a serious injury, as he broke his collarbone while in college at Oklahoma. Peterson suffered the injury in the middle of October during the 2006-2007 NCAA season, and it was dubbed that Peterson would miss the remainder of Oklahoma’s campaign. Peterson defied physician logic and returned on January 1 to play in the Fiesta Bowl against Boise State.
So what how was Adrian Peterson to return to, what he called “full-throttle” action? Here are a few of his keys:
* Focused on changing direction to improve cutting, acceleration, and explosiveness
# One primary exercise involved side to side slides, and sliding quickly to pick up a medicine ball rolled out by his trainer as in this video* Focused on changing direction to improve cutting, acceleration, and explosiveness
* Circle sprints
# Tested the flexibility of his knee, putting stress on his knee to bend while sprinting.
* Box Jumps
# Tested overall strength in Peterson’s knee and explosive ability
* Straight sprints
# Simple range of motion, but primary to Peterson’s rehab.
Peterson has been dubbed by teammates as a “robot” for his work ethic. He credits his intrinsic drive and appetite for coming back to being one of the chief explanations for his quick recovery. He told Chicago Bulls star Derrick Rose, who suffered the same injury in March 2011, that his road to recovery was 90% mental. This is not only revealed in Peterson’s words, but also his actions. Peterson would wake up at 8 am to begin daily rehab, and his workouts would often last up to six hours per session.
Adrian Peterson has defied physician logic and medical prognoses concerning an ACL-tear recovery. Not only was Peterson’s recovery time quicker than almost all other athletes, but the quality of his recovery is reflected in the result of his 2012 season. Peterson recorded the second-best season of the superstar’s amazing career, and only falling nine yards short of the NFL single-season record set by Eric Dickerson in 1984. Peterson is a true pioneer in ACL recovery, and has shown that his accomplishment is now a benchmark for other athletes enduring the same injury to follow.
Category: Surgery
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