Health Essentials - Winter 2012 - Medina - (Page 7)

Dr. Scarcella conﬁrmed the damage to her ACL, which is the most common ligament injury to be operated on, especially among athletes. However, instead of recommending immediate surgery, he prescribed four weeks of physical therapy to determine if that would ease the pain. Physical Therapy Vs. Surgery “It depends on the patient,” explains Dr. Scarcella. “Strains can sometimes be ﬁxed through physical therapy and muscle strengthening alone, though tears almost always require surgery when it involves the ACL. “High-level athletes immediately choose to have the surgery, followed by physical therapy, to get them back to a competitive level as quickly as possible. For some patients, however, physical therapy is enough and they choose not to have the surgery. I wanted to give Lisa the opportunity to try physical therapy ﬁrst.” According to her physical therapist, Philip Toal PT, DPT, Kriz’s four weeks of therapy at the Cleveland Clinic Rehabilitation and Sports Therapy Unit at Medina Hospital were quite successful. “She built up a lot of strength and range of motion,” he says. After rupturing the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) in her right knee, Lisa Kriz underwent outpatient surgery followed by physical therapy. She is pictured at left with physical therapist Philip Toal PT, DPT. Deciding on Surgery “I was told I may not need the surgery,” says Kriz, “but I wanted to develop more stability in my knee for horse riding and other activities. I’m very active, so I decided to have the surgery.” Kriz’s outpatient surgery was performed on June 23. Dr. Scarcella used arthroscopy, a minimally invasive procedure, to reconstruct the ACL using a cadaver tendon. The outpatient surgery took about one hour, and Kriz returned home the same day. She was immediately allowed to put weight on the leg and begin bending it. Her twice-a-week physical therapy regimen with Toal began just four days later. Physical therapy ﬁrst consisted of range of motion exercises to regain ﬂexibility of the ligament, prevent breakdown of scar tissue and reduce loss of muscle tone. After the ﬁrst month, Kriz saw Toal just once a week while continuing therapy exercises on her own time. “She’s a great patient,” says Toal. “She’s very active and we had to pull her back a bit. She was very motivated and wanted to do more.” At press time, Kriz was seeing Toal every three weeks and was working on dynamic hopping and light jogging. For the time being, she still wears a protective brace when doing her outside activities. “I am back to walking the nature trails, doing my barn activities and riding the horse,” she says. “I am not yet doing competitive trails yet, but that’s my goal.” And she has no regrets about having the surgery. “I am feeling really well,” she says. “I would recommend Dr. Scarcella and Phil to anyone. “It’s not the greatest time in your life after an injury,” notes Kriz. “But I want others to know they should not be apprehensive about having this surgery. I was very conﬁdent in my medical team, and I want people to know that.” (call) KNEE INJURY? For an appointment with a Cleveland Clinic expert, call 330.721.5700 (Orthopaedics) or 330.721.5009 (Physical Therapy). The Beneﬁts of Therapy “Physical therapy was the last thing I wanted to do so soon after surgery,” says Kriz, but it was highly recommended by her medical team. “It’s a great beneﬁt to see patients as soon as possible after surgery,” says Toal. “We can immediately begin to restore muscle strength and resolve soreness.” medinahospital.org HEALTH ESSENTIALS 7 http://www.medinahospital.org

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Health Essentials - Winter 2012 - Medina

Health Essentials - Winter 2012 - Medina
Contents
A message from the president
A Cleveland Clinic expert answers your mammogram questions
Doing it her way
Getting back in the saddle after knee surgery

Health Essentials - Winter 2012 - Medina