Contact: Mark Grabiner (216) 444-7276
Written by Holly Wagner (614) 292-8310
GOLFERS SHOULD RESIST QUICK RETURN TO GREENS AFTER KNEE SURGERY
COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Golfers recovering from knee surgery should cool their desire for a quick return to the golf course, according to researchers.
The forces acting on a golfer's knees during the downswing of a golf club have the same impact as running in a straight line and abruptly turning 90 degrees left or right, said Mark Grabiner, associate professor of physical medicine at Ohio State University and director of the clinical biomechanics and rehabilitation laboratory at the Cleveland Clinic Foundation.
Getting out to the green too quickly after surgery could prove hazardous to a healing knee, according to Grabiner. "A golf swing is not the type of activity you'd want somebody recovering from a knee injury to experience right away," he said.
He and his colleagues looked at the forces placed on knees during a golf swing and the influence of shoe type and skill level on those forces. The researchers concluded that neither shoe nor skill had a major effect on the amount of stress golfing puts on the knees. However, the amount of stress a full golf swing places on the knee joints is important to consider.
The research, published in a recent issue of The American Journal of Sports Medicine, began when an orthopedic surgeon observed that many patients suffering from knee injuries enjoyed golf as a hobby. The researchers looked at the forces generated on the healthy knees of 13 men while swinging a golf club.
The researchers used six video cameras and biomechanical instrumentation to examine movements of the knees in three dimensions during a golf swing. They then used computer software to calculate the force on the knees during the swing. While the forces on knees during a swing are not high enough to classify golf as a sport with high risk for knee injury, they are great enough to cause further damage to an injured knee, Grabiner said.
"One of the most common questions patients ask sports surgeons is when they can start golfing again," Grabiner said. "Based on our calculations, golf is not a benign activity. It can be quite stressful to a healing knee."
According to the research, golfers suffering from knee injuries usually don't get the injury playing golf. Contact sports such as football and other highly stressful activities in which weight bears down on the knee and causes it to twist are usually the culprit behind a golfer's knee injury.
"Being able to return to the golf course is the most common functional goal for many patients who have had knee ligament injuries," Grabiner said. He added that the study does not give a definitive time frame for a safe return to the greens.
"Unless a physician can safely say to his or her patient 'I want you to run as fast as you can and when I blow the whistle, I want you to turn as fast as you can to the left or to the right,' it wouldn't be a good idea to play golf."
Cleveland Clinic orthopedic surgeon Gary Weiker said a general rule of thumb applies to a knee healing from certain injuries.
"If the injury affected the golfer's dominant leg -- for example, the right leg of a right-handed golfer -- it takes about two months for that knee to get back to normal," Weiker said. "The non-dominant leg usually takes three months to heal."
Other researchers included Charles Gatt, Michael Pavol, and Richard Parker, all of the Cleveland Clinic.
FootJoy of Brockton, Mass., provided the shoes used in the study while the Cleveland Clinic and a private individual funded the study.
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