What is acl injury exercises?

When you have an ACL injury, you lose leg strength and motion. You also lose stability in your knee. It's important to get back your leg strength and motion as soon as you can, whether you choose to have surgery or not. Exercises to get back your muscle strength and knee motion should begin before you start treatment, whether treatment is a rehabilitation (rehab) program only or surgery plus rehab.

• After an ACL injury, your knee won't be stable. It may be painful and may have a limited range of motion. Later, you may have osteoarthritis in the knee.
• If you do exercises to strengthen your thigh muscles (quadriceps and hamstrings) and get back your knee motion soon after your injury, you will be better prepared for a rehab program or for surgery and a rehab program.
• Start slowly. And slowly increase the intensity of the exercises. Don't push yourself to the point that you feel pain. Talk to your doctor about how to best progress through the exercises.

Check with your doctor before you do any exercises.

After an ACL injury, you might start with a few exercises, such as quad sets, hip flexion exercises, and heel slides. As symptoms decrease and you are able to bear weight, you might do other exercises, such as hip abduction exercises, glute sets, bridging, shallow standing knee bends, heel raises, and hamstring curls.

Your doctor may want you to tailor exercises to your specific injury. Check with your doctor before you do any exercises.

Start slowly. And slowly increase the intensity of the exercises. Don't push yourself to the point that you feel pain. Talk to your doctor about how to best progress through the exercises.