Top basketball player Calvin Davis, has been finding out what it’s like to use our new Alter-G treadmill. Calvin, who is originally from the USA is the centre for the Mersey Tigers basketball team, who are based in Liverpool.

Calvin has recently had an operation on his knee performed by Mr Davidson, a Consultant Orthopaedic Surgeon specialising in knee surgery, at the Bone and Joint Centre at Spire Liverpool Hospital. In early March Calvin had an arthroscopy on his left knee to repair the cartilage. Knee arthroscopy is a type of keyhole surgery which is performed using a special telescope.

Gentle knee exercises are recommended to help reduce stiffness and discomfort following treatment, as part of this, the Bone and Joint Centre have introduced Alter-G.

The Alter-G anti-gravity treadmill is part of the new Perform service offered at the Bone and Joint Centre. The anti-gravity Alter-G treadmill uses NASA developed technology in order to provide medical rehabilitation and sports performance training. The treadmill is partial weight-bearing which means it lowers a person’s body weight to reduce impact on their lower body. This means that users can improve their fitness and knee usage post-operatively whilst not doing any damage to their joints. Calvin says of the Alter-G treadmill: “I absolutely love it. It feels like I’m walking on water. I can’t swim so it feels like my version of swimming and it is such an amazing feeling”.

It is used by many elite sporting teams and orthopaedic surgeons to help speed up recovery from injury and surgery. After care is of premium importance here at the Bone and Joint Centre and our new Perform service ensures that our patients are receiving the very best in orthopaedic care.