Exercising Before Surgery

Exercising before surgery can greatly help your recovery. The fitter you are before you undergo meniscal resection and/or ACL reconstruction surgery, the faster your recovery will be afterwards.

After a meniscal tear or anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury, you lose knee stability and range of motion, along with leg strength.

Having your surgery will correct the knee instability problem, but you will need a regular exercise programme to help you regain your leg strength and your knee’s range of motion and to protect your knee joint going forward. Exercises to regain muscle strength and knee motion should begin before you start treatment.

This App will guide you through a series of specific pre-op exercises to strengthen the supporting muscles around the knee and help prepare you for your coming surgery. It will tell you which exercises you should do, how many times and how often. It will show you videos of each exercise, along with clear and helpful explanations, so that you can be confident that you’re performing each exercise correctly.

It’s important that you follow the instructions properly, and perform each exercise as many times and as often as is recommended. You may feel some discomfort while performing these exercises. That’s normal and nothing to worry about. However if they start to become painful, rather than just uncomfortable, you should reduce the number of repetitions. If this does not help, you should stop that exercise altogether

The exercises you’ll be asked to do are designed to strengthen the whole body, not just your leg. You will need to rely on your arms and your core muscles to help you get in and out of bed, chairs, car and to walk with sticks or crutches.

Unless your consultant has advised otherwise, you should begin your pre-operative exercise routine now, and continue it through to the day of your surgery.