Originally Posted by
Norelco
My PT said the best think you can do is work that leg and build up as much muscle as you can BEFORE the surgery. He said basically it will cut down the amount of work you'll need to do afterwards.
When i blew mine out this is what they preached to me too. I had almost as much PT before my surgery as after. My biggest problem was getting used to having to work at shit you used to not think about. Trust me, not being able to pedal a bicycle makes you feel like shit.
The PT had me do a lot of balancing on the bad knee on balance boards and doing squats and a lot of stretching. Stuff you can do at home while watching TV and shit. As for a brace i had a decently flexible one, but i played basketball a lot and was scared to death of cutting and lateral movement. I don't wear it anymore, but i did for a long time. It's a comfort thing and like one of the early posters said, there is a lot of mental shit to get over when you first start moving full speed again.
Good luck.