Knee Rehabilitation

An individualized variation of the straight leg raise helped significantly, suggesting the protocol needed modification. Regressing hamstring activity to a pain-free position improved hamstring activation and allowed a pain-free quad set. Changing squat coaching to allow forward knee travel while maintaining heel contact reduced pain. Collaborative decision-making may reduce fear by giving the patient more ownership over treatment changes. The article challenges early post-operative knee rehab that heavily prioritizes isolated quadriceps activation. Strict protocol adherence and excessive deviation both carry risks in complex rehabilitation. The knee rehabilitation example involved a woman with several knee surgeries, fear avoidance, and hesitancy. The complex knee case involved multiple operations, pain, fear avoidance, and anxiety. Post-operative swelling can reduce quadriceps contraction through arthrogenic inhibition. If swelling drives quadriceps inhibition, swelling reduction and joint motion may be more fundamental than repeated quadriceps cueing. A double-leg deadlift was used as a regression toward single-leg deadlifting when single-leg balance was poor. Her hamstring exe…