Knee physiotherapy and ACL rehabilitation in Paris 3rd

Knee physiotherapy addresses pain, stiffness or loss of strength, whether after an injury, after surgery or with no obvious cause. It starts with a functional knee assessment: range of movement, strength of the thigh and hip muscles, stability, and everyday movements such as walking, climbing stairs or squatting.

It covers, for example:

• rehabilitation after a knee sprain or another ligament injury;
• rehabilitation after surgical reconstruction of the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL);
• patellofemoral pain syndrome, a common type of pain at the front of the knee.

Romain Rajkumar’s final-year dissertation was on strengthening the hip and knee muscles in patellofemoral pain syndrome.

The first session starts with a physiotherapy assessment and diagnosis. It usually covers the history of the problem, any scans or tests already done and a clinical examination of the knee. The goals of rehabilitation are then agreed with you.

Later sessions generally combine mobility, strengthening and endurance work, adjusted to your pain and progress. The practice has a treatment room and a large exercise area with wall bars, suspension straps, an exercise bike, a rowing machine and exercise balls.

Romain Rajkumar gives explanations, advice and exercises to do at the practice and at home. After ACL surgery, rehabilitation follows the surgeon’s instructions, and the physiotherapist adapts the exercises at each stage.

Rehabilitation may be useful when the knee stays painful, stiff or unstable, when it limits walking, stairs or sport, or after an operation. After ACL reconstruction, rehabilitation usually starts soon after surgery, as directed by the surgeon. A doctor makes the medical diagnosis and prescribes the sessions.

See a doctor first, or call the emergency services, if you have:

• severe pain after a blow or a twist, and you cannot put weight on the leg;
• a very swollen, hot or red knee, or a fever;
• a locked knee that you can no longer bend or straighten;
• a painful, swollen calf, breathlessness or chest pain, especially after an operation;
• weakness or numbness in the leg.

To be reimbursed by the French national health insurance (Assurance Maladie), physiotherapy sessions must be prescribed by a doctor. Bring the prescription to your first session, together with your carte Vitale and any operation or imaging reports you have.

The practice is conventionné (contracted with the national health insurance) and offers tiers payant, meaning the Sécurité sociale share is billed directly. Your top-up insurance (mutuelle) may add to the reimbursement. A session costs €38 to €42; the assessment added to the first session costs €20 to €23.

Cabinet Beaubourg, 50 rue Rambuteau, 75003 Paris, 5th floor with lift. Phone: 01 48 04 32 84. Appointments are booked on Doctolib. Consultations are in French or English.