Dealing with an ACL injury as an athlete or active person is no easy task. Not only are you stuck dealing with the physical pain of the injury, but the anxiety and uncertainty associated with your likely surgery, as well as physical therapy after the surgery, creates an extra burden on top of what you’re already dealing with.
We want to help alleviate some of that worry and anxiety by outlining what physical therapy should look like after an ACL injury or ACL surgery, so you can know what to expect!
There are many things that you need to address with your physical therapist after this sort of injury or surgery, but one of the first things is regaining full knee flexibility.
When it comes to the knee, the two main motions are flexion (bending your knee) and extension (straightening your knee). You need to fully regain both motions, as they each have an impact on how you move throughout daily life, in the gym, and on the field.
You need full knee flexion in order to perform things such as full range of motion squats, and full knee extension to have normal walking and running mechanics (among other things).
The two main stretches that we like using with our clients who are working with us after and ACL injury or ACL surgery are the heel slide and the prone quad stretch.
Heel Slide
This exercise is a great way to improve your overall knee flexion range of motion, focusing on the flexibility of the joint as a whole.
To perform this stretch, you’re simply going to lie on your back with a belt/towel/strap wrapped around your foot and held in both hands, and use your arms to pull your heel as close to your butt as you can.
Hold this stretch for at least 60 seconds, and perform three to five sets, one to three times per day.
Prone Quad Stretch
This exercise is useful to improve your knee flexion flexibility, with a special focus on lengthening the quadriceps muscle as much as possible, as part of the quadriceps muscle attaches above the hip joint.
To perform this stretch, you’re simply going to lie on your stomach with a belt/towel/strap wrapped around your foot and held in both hands, and use your arms to pull your heel as close to your butt as you can (just like in the heel slide)
Hold this stretch for at least 60 seconds, and perform three to five sets, one to three times per day.
Heel Propped Knee Extension Stretch
This exercise is the main stretch that we use to improve knee extension range of motion, which is very important for proper walking and running mechanics.
To perform this stretch, you’re simply going to sit or lie down with your heel propped up on an object, with a weight placed on top of your knee (as is seen in the video) or suspended below the knee via a backpack or other similar object.
For this stretch, we usually have our patients start with a five minute long sustained stretch, and build up to a 10 minute long sustained stretch one to two times per day.
The next step in recovering from an ACL injury or ACL surgery is quad activation, which we are going to cover in our next blog post!
If you’re dealing with an ACL injury or surgery and are looking for expert help solving your pain and getting back to your full potential, fill out the form below to request a free phone consultation with one of our ACL rehab experts!
