Did you hear about Dr. Paul Bajor’s double knee injury? On February 20, 2019 (his birthday conveniently), Dr. Bajor suffered a gruesome knee injury to both knees. Watch the video below for details!
This is Dr. Paul Bajor with Access Chiropractic and Wellness.
This video is an update to tell you about an injury I incurred to my knees. On February 20, 2019, on my birthday, I took my kids to a trampoline park and we were fooling around and before I jumped off a ledge onto the trampoline I said to my daughter, “Hey Julia, watch this!” and my knees buckled, I heard a horrible snap, and I knew I had done some serious damage.
Sure enough, I tore my patellar tendons, ruptured them completely, off both knee caps. <Dr. Bajor describes how the tendons attach to the knee cap.> I was admitted to Foothills Hospital on that Wednesday, during which there was a snow storm, so they had all of the trauma from southern Alberta from accidents, so I was bumped Wednesday and then Thursday for surgery. On Friday I had surgery. They re-attached the tendons where they drilled 3 holes in the knee caps, weaved the tendons back and forth, cinched them with some super strong thread, and then closed me up with 50 staples between the two knees.
I was upright the night of the surgery and walked up and down the halls of the hospital with a walker which was great, but for the next two weeks I had to wear Zimmers, which are foam wraps that are tightened up with Velcro straps to keep my legs straight.
A few weeks ago I went to get the Zimmers taken off and staples removed and I got braces that limit how much my knees can bend. They started at 15-20 degrees and over the next few weeks I worked on exercises to increase my range of motion, did a lot of cold laser therapy on the injury itself, both on the seam of the cuts and the swelling, and then saw the surgeon who checked on everything. Swelling is down, scars are looking fantastic and look like they’re several months (not weeks) old, and he said that everything is looking really good. He increased the amount of flexion from 20 degrees to 40 degrees bending, which is fantastic because that’s all I need to practice, and as long as I kept them at that for the next few weeks, then I could go back to practice because there is no risk of injury because the braces limit how much I can bend.
I’m pleased to say that not even a month after the injury, I’m cleared to go back to work on a modified schedule and patient load, and as I get stronger I can return to the usual work load. In under 3 weeks I’ll go back to see the surgeon again and at that point in time, if things are looking well, I can probably take the braces off, which would be unreal, even though I would likely keep them on in practice until I’m comfortable and strong enough.
Now, why did this injury happen? Nobody knows! In fact, they were asking me if I use or used steroids. I said, “look at me, does it look like I use steroids?”. They also questioned if I was diabetic because tears like this are common, but not across both knees and that can weaken tendons. In the end, this was just one of those freak accidents.
I always tell patients they should keep up with their regular chiropractic visits, once every two or three weeks to stay nice and healthy. This doesn’t mean you’ll never land up in injury, but if you do, your bounce back will be fast. So look at me for example, I get adjusted all the time, and the one thing they told me from the very beginning was: you’re really healthy, you’re young, you’re active, you’re physical and you’re strong; your recovery is going to be fast. Barely one month after injury I’m told I can go back to work as long as I follow the rules; this is at least a month ahead of schedule of what we expected based on the norm. This is phenomenal and amazing news!
If there’s any reason to stay healthy, keep up on eating healthy, exercising, regular chiropractic care, this is living proof!
Hopefully you’re having as great of a day as I am, looking forward to seeing you back at the clinic as soon as possible!
This is Dr. Paul Bajor at Access Chiropractic and Wellness.
Please feel free to visit our Facebook page at www.facebook.com/accesswellness! Dr. Jacqueline Boyd and Paul Bajor are the only husband and wife chiropractic team in Airdrie, Alberta. Their practice, Access Chiropractic and Wellness, is located at #120, 52 Gateway Drive NE in the north of Airdrie. They have been in practice in Airdrie since 2004 and in practice since 2001. They have two kids named Liam and Julia and have a large family based practice. They have a vested interest in keeping Airdrie and surrounding communities healthy because Airdrie is also their home.
Drs. Jacqueline Boyd and Paul Bajor are also both registered and active members of the ICPA (International Chiropractic Pediatric Association).
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