Three physical therapy exercises you may be asked to do after arthroscopic knee surgery

Arthroscopic surgery is often used to help people with joint issues like ligament tears or meniscus tears. In many cases, the joint that your surgery is targeting is the knee. 

Medical studies support that the knee is often the joint that requires arthroscopic surgery, and one study reports that about 750,000 of these knee surgeries are performed in the U.S. annually. Many people who have arthroscopic knee surgery have physical therapy after their surgery. 

This post-surgical physical therapy is designed to help patients recover faster after arthroscopic knee surgery. There are many therapy techniques that may be involved in your post-surgical rehab, and therapeutic exercises are one commonly used therapy technique. Some of the exercises that your physical therapist may have you do after surgery include: 

1. Hamstring isometric contractions

Purpose: This physical therapy exercise is designed to help strengthen the hamstring muscles, which can help increase knee support following arthroscopic surgery. 

How to do the hamstring isometric contraction exercise: 

• Lie down on your back or sit upright in a stable chair. 

• Place your legs in front of you with your knees slightly bent. 

• Without moving your recovering knee, pull your heel down into the floor until you feel your hamstring (back of your thigh) contract. 

• Hold this contraction for three to five seconds. 

• Relax your leg and rest for a few seconds. 

• Repeat the exercise eight to 10 times in total. 

2. Quadriceps contractions, aka “quad sets”

Purpose: This post-surgical exercise is designed to help increase quadriceps muscle strength after a knee arthroscopy. 

How to do the quadriceps contractions, or quad sets, exercise:

• Lie on your stomach. 

• Place a rolled-up bath towel beneath the ankle of your recovering leg. 

• Push your ankle down into the towel until you feel the muscles in the front of your thigh contract. 

• Hold this contraction for three to five seconds. 

• Release the contraction and rest briefly. 

• Continue to repeat this exercise until you’ve done eight to 10 repetitions. 

3. Straight leg raises

Purpose: Straight leg raises are a physical therapy exercise designed to help strengthen your quadriceps, hamstrings and buttock muscles after arthroscopic knee surgery. 

How to do straight leg raises:

• Lie down on your back. 

• Bend the uninvolved knee so that your foot is flat on the floor. 

• Straighten your recovering leg as much as possible. 

• Slowly lift your leg about six inches off the floor and hold for three to five seconds. 

• If that position doesn’t cause excessive pain, continue to raise your leg in 6-inch increments until you’ve raised it as high as you can. 

• Pause for three to five seconds each time you raise your leg higher. 

• Slowly lower your leg back to the ground after you’ve raised it as high as you can. 

• Take a break and rest your leg. 

• Repeat these steps until you’ve completed them eight to 10 times. 

Advent PT offers effective post-surgery physical therapy for people who have had arthroscopic surgery

People who have had or are planning to have arthroscopic knee surgery can find effective physical therapy from our Advent Physical Therapy team. We can develop a post-surgical rehab plan that’s designed to address your unique needs. Our physical therapists can even provide pre-surgical rehab that can help prepare your body for surgery. 

Contact our team today for more information about our pre- or post-surgical rehab services or to schedule an initial appointment.