physiotherapist don mills and steeles

By: Team Family Physio

I had the opportunity to sit down with staff physiotherapist Marven Bani to talk with him about his recent knee surgery experience and how it's affected his health and fitness goals for the year.

Q: I understand that you had a physically challenging start to the new year recovering from your ACL surgery. How did you first injure your ACL?

A: The ACL tear happened on the basketball court going for a lay up about 4 years ago, I landed on my left leg and had a sudden giving out of the knee, heat a loud pop and immediately knew that my ACL tore.
Q: So why did you choose to manage the first injury without surgery?

click the image for our blog on meniscal tears

A: Based on a lot of research, initially I was hesitant since there was a lot of evidence that showed you were more prone to arthritis later on in life if you surgically repair an ACL and meniscus. However, I found my knee was giving out more playing sports (basketball) and eventually tore my meniscus playing through it. Once I got the locking due to tearing my ACL and wanted to continue playing basketball, I felt it was time to get it done in order for to me to play sports.

Q: Makes sense. How did you make sure that you came out of the surgery in the best shape possible?

A: I started working on a prehab program 6-8 weeks prior to surgery to ensure strength of specific muscles and build stability for both knees to help my recovery and limit atrophy post ACL reconstruction. It’s important to make sure the other knee is strong enough to take all the extra load during the recovery process. Following a healthy diet plan was essential to optimize recovery and going to the gym was crucial to build consistency.

Q: That's great, and we can see you still putting the work in at the clinic.  With the surgery out of the way what are your fitness goals for the year

A: This year my fitness goals is to lose 10 lbs in 3 months by going to the gym 5 times per week, following strengthening and cardio program and of course a strict diet. Later this year; I want to return to playing basketball by November.  In order to make a successful comeback I need to ensure full strength and stability of my left knee prior to returning to avoid re-injury.
A: Yeah I’ve been increasing my time on the bike (built it up to 20 mins), doing stairs (ensuring no hip hike), speed walking on the treadmill, I’ll be progressing it to jogging on the treadmill, eventually more sport specific conditioning (focused on basketball).
Q: Having gone through this process, has it in any way changed your approach in managing sports injuries or post surgical patients?
A: Yes totally, I have more of an appreciation for our physiotherapy field, going through the process of being a patient is complete eye opening and it's great to realize the power of rehab on recovery post surgery. Having been treated by my colleagues at the clinic and seeing results is very rewarding. The process of rehab does take discipline, hard work and patience! I have developed a passion for treating and assessing knees.  I also find that I'm able to relate to patients that have gone through the process.

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