Fred Bowen's "The Score" column,
March 8, 2002, Washington Post

Knee-Deep in Rehabilitation

Washington is home to two of the most famous knees in sports.

Last month, Washington Freedom soccer superstar Mia Hamm had arthroscopic surgery on her left knee. That means that a doctor inserted a small tube into Hamm's knee to fix an area between her thigh bone and her knee cap. Just a few days later, the Washington Wizards' Michael Jordan, maybe the best basketball player ever, had arthroscopic surgery on his right knee to repair torn cartilage.

Now both players are rehabilitating their knees. In other words, they are working with team trainers and doctors doing special exercises to regain the strength and flexibility they had in their knees before the operations. The Freedom hopes that Hamm will be ready to play in the home opener April 13. The Wizards say Jordan probably will be out three to six weeks.

Sports fans hear the word "rehabilitation" a lot. Sports, and especially pro sports, are tough on the body. Players get hurt, have surgery and then have to rehabilitate their injuries. But what does that really mean?

Sue Hammond, the trainer for the Washington Freedom, says rehabilitation means a lot of work, some pain and even a few tears. For more than 10 years, Hammond has been helping top-flight athletes rehab injuries.

"Pro athletes are so competitive that they want to get back as soon as they can," Hammond said. Some pros start rehabbing right after surgery. Ann Cook, another member of the Freedom who had arthroscopic knee surgery on the same day as Michael Jordan, started her rehabilitation treatments just one hour after her surgery.

"Ann took off her hospital gown, put on her sweats and went right to work," Hammond said with a laugh. "She had surgery on a Wednesday night and by Friday she was doing some weightlifting and riding a stationary bike for 15 minutes."

Pro athletes don't just get started faster, they keep at it much longer. An ordinary person who has had arthroscopic knee surgery might have three rehabilitation sessions, each lasting one hour, during a week. A pro athlete will have two or three sessions a day, with each session lasting two hours.That means Mia Hamm and Michael Jordan are working up to six hours a day, stretching, straining and sweating so that they can get back to playing the sports they love.

Does rehab hurt? "Oh yeah," Hammond says. "We try not to make it hurt, but sometimes rehabilitation can be very painful. I have even had big, tough football players turn away from me and start to cry."

So if a kid gets hurt playing sports, should she be scared to rehab the injury? Not really. First, kids are so flexible that they don't get hurt as much as older athletes. And their injuries are not usually as serious. Also, kids heal faster. "Kids come back so much faster than adults," Hammond says.

Hammond suggests that if you do get injured, you may want to get an X-ray to make sure nothing is broken. Then, start slowly and be sure to eat right and drink plenty of water while you are recovering. If you do all those things, you will be back playing before you know it.

Maybe even before Mia and Michael.

Fred Bowen writes KidsPost's Friday sports column and is the author of sports novels for kids. Write to him at KidsPost, 1150 15th St. NW, Washington, DC 20071. Or e-mail (with "The Score" in the subject field): kidspost@washpost.com.

© 2002 The Washington Post Company