Torn Meniscus

Questioner · 01-25-2005, 02:56 PM

Mukunda,
Q- I am working with a woman who had surgery for a torn meniscus in Oct. About 2 mos. after the surgery she started having a pain on the lateral side of the knee that goes to the calf. Now she has a baker's cyst behind the knee, and her doctor says that Synovial fluid leaks into the cyst. MT for sartorius, psoas, gluteus maximus were very weak. She has had "knock" knees her whole life but with lots of hatha yoga in the last year or so she seems to be changing the alignment of her legs for the better. I think her problems probably started with her hips. Her external rotation of the hips isn't very good, and this goes along with the weak muscles mentioned above. What would you recommend? JFS for the hips? I don't know about the Baker's cyst. I do think there is always some pain when muscles are changing/realigning, but not to the degree she has had. Would you suggest some poses that would not stress the knee too much but strengthen the weak muscles such as bridge, stick, locust, bound ankle (maybe), Warrior I (maybe, depending on the knee).Also, I guess strengthening the quadriceps is almost always a good idea with a knee problem. Any help you can give with this will be appreciated.

Questioner · 01-25-2005, 02:57 PM

A – Note that the weak muscles have in common that they are external hip rotators. Also this weakness is correlated with her range of motion being small. So you want to give plenty of variations of motions and asanas that work those muscles from mild to moderate difficulty. Definitely JFS but also modify sunbird motions to give external hip rotation motions. Modify all motions to not stress the knee or be weight bearing long. Give extra padding to knees and if necessary change to another position. Your ideas and directions are all good. Definitely tone the quads but also think that the entire 4 compartments (adduction, abduction, flexion and extension) of the hip need toning when there has been knee surgery. Give all actions in dynamic manner not static asanas, as this builds tone the safest and quickest. Namaste

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01-25-2005, 02:56 PM	#1
Questioner Senior Member Join Date: Jan 2002 Posts: 479	Mukunda, Q- I am working with a woman who had surgery for a torn meniscus in Oct. About 2 mos. after the surgery she started having a pain on the lateral side of the knee that goes to the calf. Now she has a baker's cyst behind the knee, and her doctor says that Synovial fluid leaks into the cyst. MT for sartorius, psoas, gluteus maximus were very weak. She has had "knock" knees her whole life but with lots of hatha yoga in the last year or so she seems to be changing the alignment of her legs for the better. I think her problems probably started with her hips. Her external rotation of the hips isn't very good, and this goes along with the weak muscles mentioned above. What would you recommend? JFS for the hips? I don't know about the Baker's cyst. I do think there is always some pain when muscles are changing/realigning, but not to the degree she has had. Would you suggest some poses that would not stress the knee too much but strengthen the weak muscles such as bridge, stick, locust, bound ankle (maybe), Warrior I (maybe, depending on the knee).Also, I guess strengthening the quadriceps is almost always a good idea with a knee problem. Any help you can give with this will be appreciated.

01-25-2005, 02:57 PM	#2
Questioner Senior Member Join Date: Jan 2002 Posts: 479	A – Note that the weak muscles have in common that they are external hip rotators. Also this weakness is correlated with her range of motion being small. So you want to give plenty of variations of motions and asanas that work those muscles from mild to moderate difficulty. Definitely JFS but also modify sunbird motions to give external hip rotation motions. Modify all motions to not stress the knee or be weight bearing long. Give extra padding to knees and if necessary change to another position. Your ideas and directions are all good. Definitely tone the quads but also think that the entire 4 compartments (adduction, abduction, flexion and extension) of the hip need toning when there has been knee surgery. Give all actions in dynamic manner not static asanas, as this builds tone the safest and quickest. Namaste