6 month milestone - back to the field

[oldsoccerplayer]

By Dr. Gross' rapid recovery protocol, at the 6 month mark, all restrictions on physical activity are lifted.  The most significant restriction for me was the ban on running. Tack on another couple of months pre-op when I was in too much pain to play and I haven't been on the soccer field since last May. This is a pickup game so you're never sure how many people will show up, this morning we had seven a side. My intention was to play referee (kind of a joke with this crowd, in over 20 years we've never had one) to get used to wearing cleats and running on grass.

I did that for most of the morning but when someone had to leave and one of the teams was a player short, I took the plunge, albeit tentatively. We have an unwritten rule that you back off from 50/50 balls, but this morning I was also backing off from 80/20 balls. As a defender I spent most of the game playing containment and didn't get much into ball possession or tough tackling and dribbling. Overall I was pretty happy with how it went. I felt some pains in both legs but nothing that seriously impeded my game or persisted for very long - I even got some compliments from the guys afterwards. After the game I had nothing like the intense lower back soreness that I carried with me post-game for a couple of years prior to the surgery.

Fortunately my right (non-op) leg is my strong side and it felt as good as it did from before this saga started. My left leg was a different story; the couple of times I did try passing with it, I had neither strength nor accuracy and the ball just wobbled hopelessly away. My aim is to play as much referee as possible during February and go back to full games starting March. Hopefully my left leg will improve over time.

Wish me luck.

[Granton]

Sounds good. I bet it felt good to be back on the pitch.

I am really looking forward to a gentle restart to tennis in about a month.

David

[Reno]

Hey Old Soccer Player-

Congrats on getting back out there on the field you love!  I am looking forward to the golf season around mid-April.  Who knows though, with this Artic Freeze we've been experiencing.  It may be June before the ground thaws...

Sending best wishes your way as you grow stronger and stronger in your game!!! 

Take care.
Reno

[hernanu]

Good news! The great thing is that progress will continue. You'll need to strengthen things as you go, work on balance, etc.

Nice start.

[chuckm]

Congratulations Oldsoccerplayer! That first time out is incredible isn't it? Don't worry about the hip, it's strong. Those weak passes will firm up quickly if you practice them. I kicked the ball against a wall to prepare and within a couple sessions kicking with the op leg was fine so I think it has mostly to do with coordination more than muscle strength.
Also, be prepared to deal with muscle strains. There is something about the specific conditioning needed for soccer that is difficult to duplicate and improve on without actually playing soccer. I never had pulled muscles from soccer before but I managed four muscle strains in the first four months in my comeback from hip resurfacing.

Chuckm

[oldsoccerplayer]

Thanks everyone,
David (Granton) - I appreciate the vocabulary. I use "field" and "soccer" rather than "pitch" and "football" so that the monolingual US readers will understand.

Chuckm -  thanks for the advice. Kicking a ball against a wall will be a nice change from banging my head against one  ;)
So far the muscles held up, but thanks for the warning.

Good luck to the two of you waiting to get back into your sports. I found it a bit scary at first but then when I was wrapped up in the game I didn't have time to think about it.

[chuckm]

Maybe I said that wrong. I started getting muscle strains my first four months back after returning to soccer. So that was months six through ten for me. The first six months after surgery were injury free and I had done lots of training to get ready for soccer. Even at six months the hip has lots more range of motion to gain. Once I got back to soccer my stride became longer and smoother over the first few months, but, other muscles would act up, especially the op side calf and Achilles.

Hopefully your muscles will adjust better than mine.

Chuckm