Hurt my knee - now what??

So I was doing great. Doing body sculpting and Zumba 4-5 days a week at the gym. Last week I chaperoned a youth ministry trip to Atlanta. It was a great week with LOTS of walking...all day everyday. On the last night of the trip, 2 of the teens were goofing off and accidentally fell into the outside of my left knee. It displaced my patella. It was out of place for about 4 hours before the docs put it back in. It's very sore, swollen, and unstable. I'm in a straight-leg brace. What excercise can I do now??? My doc said I may have to to physical therapy before things get back to normal. I was really enjoying excercising for the first time in my life. Now I'm stuck. I want to take advantage of this "honeymoon period". Any ideas for exercises with an immobilized knee??

Sorry for the whine...

About the only thing you can do is upper body work for the time being.  Some people with bad knees use exercise videos at home but do only the upper body movements.  Sometimes you can still get your heart rate up by being more vigorous with the upper body exercises, especially if you add hand weights.

Being unable to exercise for just a few weeks, while frustrating, isn't going to negatively impact your weight loss in the long run. Just be mindful that you are not burning as many calories during this period of time and decrease your food intake a bit to make up for that.

Lora

And you have to go without NSAIDS for this condition!  Insist on seeing a physical therapist.  They are the exercise specialists.  A private practice may get you in sooner than a hospital PT dept.  You will need a doctor's referral.  I used to see an MD who specialized in rehabilitation medicine.  Can you find a pool nearby that offers exer-swim?

It's unfortunate that you can't exercise especially since you really enjoy it. It doesn't mean that you can't take advantage of the honeymoon period. I exercised very little in the first year and made it to goal by weighing and recording protein amounts.

All the best to you!

 

Your physical therapist will be able to give you plenty of exercises. I have torn my ACL on one knee and the MCL on the other and my PT gave me great things I could do during my recovery.

Knee injuries hurt--take the time to heal, but the rest of you can be active. I did a lot in the pool, but please only do what your PT advises.