How to Recover from Your Patellar Tendon Rupture
I’m sure you are reading this because you recently injured your patellar tendon and you have so many questions, this is a scary injury one that I didn’t even know existed until it happened to me. I will be going through as well as updating my process and recovery time and hopefully, it helps you as well as gives you faith that you will be okay. This injury is all about protecting your mental as well as letting the time pass. (Links for products I used throughout the process)
My Story and How I tore My Patellar Tendon
I have been an athlete all my life and I truly believe throughout all my years of having jumpers knee playing basketball it was really just micro-tears that I never let heal properly and eventually it just decided to finally give out. We will never know exactly why this injury occurs because unfortunately there just isn’t enough information or studies out there quite yet if ever. The good news is you will make a full recovery and if anything (if you work hard enough) you may be stronger than before.
I went to play basketball with a group of friends early in the morning and I had been cherry-picking and had an open dunk so decided I’ll just go up little did I know it felt like someone came behind me and tackled me and my first thought was no easy buckets I guess but little did I know when I looked down my patella (kneecap) was on the inside of my leg and I wasn’t it too much pain it was just more uncomfortable I thought maybe I dislocated my kneecap or something. Everyone else was lost because there was no one around me it just looked like I fell for no reason. I called my fiancé and immediately went to the emergency room. After hours of sitting around in a wheelchair they took me to a room the Dr. thought I may need surgery and it could be a torn tendon which at the time I never heard of then they did some X-rays and ultrasound confirming that I had a tore patellar tendon and it was honestly heartbreaking this isn’t your average injury your immobilized for 12 weeks in a straight locked brace and I was scared because It was my first major injury requiring surgery as well as the fact that I had my wedding coming up in 3 months from the injury date.
I tore it on March 12th and was able to get surgery on march 22nd, typically you have about a two-week timeline of when you need to get surgery before there can be potential issues and this can depend on your health, age, etc.
For the days I had to wait leading up to surgery I was able to bear weight on my leg so I stumbled around in my brace with a lot of icing and elevating just counting down the days for surgery.
On the day of surgery, I was just ready to get it over with, and obviously, this will differ between faculties but it was pretty easy. I went in they explained the process they put in my IV took me back put me to sleep and I woke up with my leg wrapped and braced still very out of it not really much pain just more uncomfortable than anything. The few days were the worst pain I’ve ever experienced in my life and it's partly my fault I thought I could handle not taking the medication they prescribed and boy was that a horrible decision it felt as if a grenade blew up inside my knee. I was shaking in pain and once I was able to take the proper doses things got a lot less painful but it still was no easy task.
For the first two weeks, I wasn’t allowed to bear weight on my left leg and this will differ between surgeons so just be aware of that. and unfortunately for me I felt something very off when I would stand up and crutch around I would have blood rush to my calf it was extremely painful so I decided to go to the ER again and they found that I had two blood clots in my calf this is extremely dangerous and rare but if you feel something wrong, don’t be afraid to go in. They ended up prescribing me Lovenox injections for 5 days and Pradaxa (blood thinners) that I will have to take for 3–5 months. This was a huge bump in the road but it happened and there's nothing I can do about it. It took about 6 days for the blood thinners to ease that excruciating pain in my calf but IT DID GET BETTER that's all that matters. This whole injury is all about giving yourself time to heal, it's a LONG waiting game.
My First Offical Checkup
When I was finally able to go in for my 2-week checkup they removed my leg wrap and bandage made sure everything was looking good and added a weird glue to keep the cut from being exposed, surprisingly the scar wasn’t too bad compared to what I’ve seen on google and youtube I was really impressed but remember this will differ between surgeons.
My PT was a few days later and they touched my knee showing me it’s okay and showed me some things I can work on every day like side raises and working on slightly bending it. The goal is to get to 30 degrees in the 3rd week and 60 degrees in week 4.
Currently, I am one day away from week four and should be able to bear weight without crutches I will keep you updated on how things go.
Below is a list of items that I found useful so far, you don’t need any of them but they sure helped me along the way! (Links are affiliated) I also have a YouTube playlist of my recovery process.
