PT started today, and went better than I expected. I was able to ride a bike without discomfort for 10 minutes, and the baseline strength test showed that my left leg is at 50% of normal strength, so it's nice to have something to work towards. I got a new set of exercises to complete every day, including some with some resistance bands, all designed to strengthen the quad, which is the main muscle involved in patellar tracking.
I asked about the ultimate goal of the therapy given that I have a complete tear of the MPFL, and the PT said that in the case of the MPFL, where there is a lot of surrounding tissue that attaches to it and runs alongside it, you can sometimes achieve enough stability by strengthening up these tissues without needing surgery. The PT thought that the amount of stability and strength that I have now, six weeks post-injury, is very good. So, hopefully if I hit the therapy aggressively, I might be able to avoid surgery. He did not seem too concerned about the clicking and snapping inside the knee, since it is not associated with pain. He thought it might be related to residual inflammation.
So, the good news is I can go to the gym now, and do the bike and some strength training every day, and start to be more active. And I'll work a lot better when I have weekly PT sessions to measure my progress.
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