{"id":2533,"date":"2023-05-12T06:42:14","date_gmt":"2023-05-12T13:42:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/motipt.com\/?p=2533"},"modified":"2023-05-12T06:44:07","modified_gmt":"2023-05-12T13:44:07","slug":"10-my-acl-journey-return-to-work-and-an-unexpected-suture-abscess","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/motipt.com\/10-my-acl-journey-return-to-work-and-an-unexpected-suture-abscess\/","title":{"rendered":"10 – My ACL Journey – Return to Work and An Unexpected Suture Abscess!"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

10\/19\/22<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I returned to work this week and feeling great!  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

On Monday and Tuesday I was using my knee brace to stand and treat some patients but it made my leg very itchy after. The brace also fit me abnormally since I was so short so the brace started at my groin and went all the way down to my ankle. I have large quads and skinny ankles so the brace will slip as I walk, then when I sat down, the straps that was tightly cinched to avoid slipping, would press into my incisions and force bend my knee in a uncomfortable position. My doctor gave up with my persistent complaints about my knee brace and told me to get rid of it completely.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I am now walking around without the brace and today, not using any crutches as well. I take slow steps, making sure I bend my knee during the swing and activate my quads during midstance. I feel a stiff band wrapping from my outer thigh across my quad to the inside of my knee and it begins to hurt more when I bend my knee. One of my coworkers stretched and released my TFL, quads, and hamstring today, eliminating those symptoms and I was able to bend my knee to 108 deg! My goal is to hit 115 deg by the end of the week and continue with my BFR and standing exercises.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I also will occasionally feel my knee buckle if I forget to activate my quad during the first few steps of walking. I ordered this light knee brace on Amazon to help with creating neuromuscular tactile cueing while I walk and prevent knee bucking. Soft Knee Brace<\/a> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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10\/27\/22<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Woke up yesterday with my harvest site incision hot and swollen. The night before, I was doing some scar mobs and pus came out of a healed incision. Yesterday morning it is angry and I was able to drain some more pus from the area. I went to see my ortho surgeon and we realized that my body was not dissolving sutures as fast as a normal person. He picked at scab at another incision site, found the end of a suture, and pulled out a long undissolved suture. He dug around the abscess area but could not find the irritating suture.  I was prescribed antibiotics for 1 week and instructed to keep draining the area as tolerated.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Today I was at work and had drained the area twice already. However, after being stretched out, my knee felt really swollen and hot, so I wanted to try to drain it one more time. When I was pushing on the region, I saw a suture poking out. I gathered the courage to pull on the ending and the suture kept coming out. It was over 2 cm long and my tissue\/pus had grown around it. It looked like I was pulling out a parasite and I was gagging so hard in the corner of my clinic.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, after I pulled the suture out, the pain in the front of the patella was gone. I was walking a lot faster with no limp and catching in the front of my knee. Amazing how a small suture snag can cause so much discomfort in my knee. And doc said luckily we caught it early and it was only a suture abscess and not a true infection, that would be more widespread and a HUGE issue.  I just need to finish out this antibiotic and hopefully the swelling and eczema flare up will FINALLY subside.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Area of suture abscess before it got angry\u2026 <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The day after and pus had built up underneath. I went to go see my doc this day. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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So it wasn’t an infection, just a suture abscess. In this video, I had just came back from the doctor and he asked me to continue to drain the area if I can. (Not for the squeamish) <\/p>\n\n\n\n