Calf rehabilitation?

One good way if you are that weak is to get in the pool. The deeper you are in the water the less strength is required to perform a heel raise. Remember the calf consists of two major muscles the gastroc and the soleus. To focus strengthening of the gastroc perform exercises with your knees straight. To focus strengthening on the soleus slightly bend your knees and keep them bent while perform the exercise. Once you have gained some strength you can move towards weight machines. One other suggestion is to stand at your sink and support the majority of your body weight with your arms as you raise up and down. Don't forget to stretch as well.

Did you have a TTT ( Tibial Tuberosity Transfer ) on both of your knees for the patella tracking problem?

 

Then you more than likely did have a tibial tuberosity transfer. Very invasive and last resort for patellar tracking problems. You could have also had a wedge of bone removed from the tibial plateau and repositioned. If you had a tibial tuberoisty transfer there should be a minimum of 1 screw shown on an x-ray that is below the knee going from front to back.

I am assuming the answers to my next few questions are yes but I want to ask them. Prior to the tibial tuberosity transfer were you fitted for orthotics? receive a very aggressive vastus medialas muscle strengthening program? aggressive stretching program with emphasis on the iliotibial band? and what other options were attempted prior to surgery?

Good luck with your rehab and I would also consult your orthopedic surgeon / PT for suggestions on your strengthening. I don't mind providing some suggestions but it is best to verify that it is safe to progress with your medical team as I do not know exactly what was done, when it was done, complications etc..The last thing you want to do is attempt to progress to quickly and ruin the most recent surgery progress.

Good luck.

 

What about bicycling? It would seem a decent alternative. Use a higher gear for less stress and then work up from there.

 

I would recommend custom orthotics where your feet are casted while you are in a non-weight bearing position. There is an orthotic company called STJ Orthotics that has custom sandals that your orthotics fit in. We used them when we did custom orthotic fitting for our patients.

The purpose of orthotics in someone with patellar tracking problems is that when your arch drops during weight bearing there is an internal rotation of the tibial bone that creates more lateral tracking of the patella. If you can support the arch this will decrease this tibial rotation.

Most of the time lateral releases do not work. They may work for a short time but what happens is that scar tissue grows where the release of the lateral retinaculum was made and the problem comes back again.

STJ orthotic website: http://www.stjorthotic.com/

Click the link for custom sandals and see if any of those would work.

 

You can pick from any of them. How it works is that you get casted for orthotics. The casts are sent to STJ and they make orthotics from the mold that fit directly into the sandals. You can choose from any of their sandals. Unfortunately you have to use their sandals because they have been manufactured specifically to fit orthotics. You can use orthotics the same orthotics in most shoes that are not open. It is up to you. If your knees are feeling better since the surgery and the tracking has normalized you may not need orthotics.

 

No there are not good orthotics that can used in all/ every shoe.

 

If they are closed shoes ( mocs ) they might work. The cheapest way to try is to go to REI and buy some over the counter orthotics made by Superfeet. They are about $ 40.00 If those work for you then customs would be the next and best step.

 

I wore immobilizers on both legs for 5 months in '84 - Ski accident, as I was an irresistible force traveling at @ Mach 1.5 when I met the immovable object, a Stoner.

Both Patellas are wobbly, on command.

Rebuilding Vastus Medialis Obliquus without straining can be as simple as putting canned food in purse, sitting on kitchen counter or picnic table and extending enough without retracting too far.

As for biking, though I'd stopped biking some 10 years prior due to Osgood-Schlatter disease, I got back on, and simply pedaled with legs straightened.

This prevented knees from having more harm than good inflicted, whilst getting structure back to Upper and Lower legs.

 

Hmmm, the purpose of the calve, is to raise the heel.

Straight leg calf raises, build the shallow calf muscle, (Gastrocnemius), and seated calf raises build the deep calf muscle (Soleus).
Being a pilot, the standard pressure is 29.92 inches of mercury, meaning you have 14.7 pounds per square inch on your calfs just walking.

As people tend to walk a lot, calf muscles are used to heavy weight loads, which is why it is hard for many people to build calves, 'They don't add enough weight to tear down the muscle!!!'.

I see most guys at a gym put on less weight than their body used just walking to the machine.

Seated calf raises - will thicken the calves. Straight leg calf raises will define the calves.

click here these are strength shoes, they are the equivalent of walking on train tracks, they will build calves in record time, but it doesn't sound like you are up to it.

My suggestion would be a seated calf machine at a gym, or buy one.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3PgqpEAFEck&feature=related Because this operates on leverage, you can start off with zero weight, you literally will feel 'nothing', and add until you are comfortable.