After anterior cruciate ligament surgery or ACL surgery, you experience loss of muscle mass. You may have spent a few weeks or months building up your muscles after your ACL injury, so you may have assumed that your muscles would be strong and healthy after surgery. However, there are many reasons why you may lose muscle mass after ACL surgery. When you first wake up after your ACL surgery, you may notice that the muscles around your surgical leg already look smaller! The main reasons for this are that your activity level has generally decreased, your nervous system reduces the contraction of the muscles around the knee, and new swelling occurs in your knee joint as a result of the surgery. Read this blog for more information about muscle loss after ACL surgery.
Below, listen to Andrew Veley, a physiotherapist, talk about why you may lose muscle mass after ACL surgery.
After watching the video above, you may be wondering if there is a way to track your progress as you regain muscle mass after ACL surgery. A simple method called “thigh circumference measurements”, which you can learn more about by reading this blog on how to measure the difference between your two legs by taking a thigh circumference measurement. If you need a video explanation of what thigh circumference measurements are and how they can be used to track your progress, watch this short video.
Here is Andrew’s full blog on muscle loss after ACL surgery.
Read all 6 Andrew’s blogs here!
If you are recovering from an ACL injury or ACL surgery and want to regain your muscle mass, download our Curovate physiotherapy app from the links below. Curovate offers daily video-guided strength exercises, the ability to measure knee range of motion, in-app chat with a physical therapist to answer your questions about surgery and recovery, and educational blogs and webinars.
If you need more tailored help during your ACL recovery, check out our Virtual Physiotherapy page to book your 1-on-1 video session with a physiotherapist.
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