Torn ACL

[SR27 0]

Yesterday my knee basically exploded. I made a hard stop and my knee slipped over my shin and bang....it´s 99% sure to be a torn ACL. I´ll have a CT tomorrow to confirm. I heard lots of bad things about this injury and had a couple of friends whose carreer ended due to it. Now it happened to me and I´m looking for some first hand info on how long it took you to get back into shape or what side effects you experienced..any info at all would be nice.

[Nick23 0]

I have no experience with this injury, but from experience it may sound obvious but you'd be surprised how many people don't give injuries long enough to fully recover, that is vital. Let us know how you get on, hope its nothing.

[wickedwrister 0]

If you are young and in good shape.....4-6 months. I had my knee fixed/ cleaned out a couple of years ago, but that's not as severe. DO NOT sluff off on your PT. That is THE KEY to recovery. There is no reason to think you can not make a 100% recovery if there were no other extenuating circumstances.

[mcgwillie 0]

I blew out my knee a few years ago--ACL, MCL, some torn cartilage too. (You know you've done a job on yourself when after your surgery the doctor tells you that when they opened you up they discovered things were WORSE than they thought.)

A couple of things--let me echo the earlier post about therapy. Yes, it hurts and yes, it is boring. But it is the one thing you can do to help yourself so don't slough it off. Also, even when you are done with your course of therapy, if you go to the gym to work out, make the excercise bike a part of your routine. It really helps keep your knee limber and your range of motion good.

Sports and activities that have "impact"--baseball/softball/basketball/tennis will be hard to get back into because the pounding your knee takes when running will be a problem. You may have to wear a brace or a sleeve on it. But here's the good news--I took up rec leaague hockey about a year ago, skate 4-6 hours a week, and my knee feels great. The skating motion really doesn't stress it and I don't seem to have issues with stopping or even tight turns. So, get your surgery, do your therapy, work your knee even when therapy is done and there is no reason you can't be back skating hard.

Mcgwillie

[SR27 0]

Thanks for all your input so far. A friend of mine spent about 8 months doing pt after that kind of injury and still today can barely run or put lots of pressure on his knee without pain. This is really scaring me.

[EBondo 232]

I dislocated my knee last year, January 16th to be exact. I know it's not as bad as a torn ACL, but it took a lot of time to heal.

I'm only 15, and I didn't start skating til March. It was really bad. I had to go through a couple months of physical therapy, and as it's been said, don't blow it off. You will regret it. I haven't fully recovered yet, and my knee still gives out on me time to time. I have bad knees as it is, but this didn't help at all.

Best of luck on your recovery

[Nelly 0]

A couple years ago I blew out both knees in the same game (it was at nationals and tried to ignore the first injury as best as I could, then blew out the other one) I spent about 2 months in PT and just started doing my own PT for about 4 months afterwards which included extensive time on the bike. Now this may not be a smart thing for most people to do, but I knew what to do for PT and my step-father had just gotten out of PT for blowing his knee, so I didn't have a problem. I was off the ice except to skate for like 5 months (doc told me a year, but I felt fine).

I am a goalie, so my knees are not only extremely crucial to my play, but are terribly bad to begin with. To this day I still cannot run with out braces on my knees and was told not to play hockey without them, but I can't move properly if I wear them in net.

Keep in mind, the doctors are trying to look out for the best of you, but generally they tell you to stay off longer than you need to. Use your best judgement, but do not slack off on the PT (even if you only do it on your own), and become good friends with your bike even after PT since it definitely helps keep your knee limber.

[mattopiela 0]

I blew the ACL on my left knee twice. First time snowboarding and the second time a year later while playing hockey. The full process (surgergy plus rehab) takes about 6-8 months. Rehab is very important, don't slack off, because I can tell you right now its hella boring. The harder you will work during rehab the faster you will get back. But remember !... baby steps, don't rush into things. After my second surgery I am still experiencing some pain in my knee, but thats because my joint was supposebly totally f*cked (and its been almost 2 years). I had my knee fixed by the same guy who fixes up the Ottawa Senators. But all things considered I can run and skate so I am happy. I am scared for example to play sports like basketball or tennis where there is a lot of cutting and jumping, its just a fear I've developed. Once you are allowed, do a lot of biking to rebuild your leg muscles because you will have a chicken leg since it won't be doing anything for a few months and then just build up you leg muscles, because the stronger the legiments in your knees will be the stronger the knee it self will be, but like I said its a slow and long process, you have to be patient. Good luck !

[fatwabbit 93]

i agree with wickedwrister... PT is the important part of getting back to playing hockey. I blew my knee out in 96, doc said that it was about 90% torn. Had the recon done, and rehab and PT for about 6 months before coming back to play recreationally. Another 6 months, and back to playing competitively. Not to forget that I also played soccer during that time.

[tsiarls79 0]

i tore my ACL 2 years ago, doctor told me best to confirm how badly torn it was, turns out its only a slight tear, usual thing to compromise for the injury is to work out your legs as soon as your doctor allows you, after 2 months i was back in the rink, but not 100% took me 2 more months to play better and loose the fear of injuring yourself again. good thing is i started skating beter when i took the leg workout seriously. i just need to wear a brace everytime i play though.

good luck bud.

[Hobbes_86 0]

I completly tore my ACL almost 2 years ago. Basically my advise to you is to start doing some rehab now. Search the net for some good quad exercises to build it up before the surgery. I did that and it helped get the swelling down fast before the surgery and I didnt lose too much of the quad after surgery.

Once your outta surgery start therapy ASAP! Do not wait more than a week, if the Doc approves that is. The first thing to work on is your extension...once thats back to normal your quad will regain strength quickly. Flexation will come along much easier. I was back on the ice after 4 months but then I needed a second surgery to clean up scar tissue. (my doc waited 3 weeks before sending me to therepy so my extension never fully came back)

Its been about a year and a half since the first surgery and it feels fine...a little popping here and there but nothing too terrible to complain about.

Good Luck!

[2-Keys 1]

good luck with your knee. i know nothing about the injury but my girlfriend just tore hers playing basketball.

[teamriot38 0]

That sux, my girlfriend is bitchy when she's healthy!!! LOL Tell me how surgery goes if you end up getting it, has anyone here gotten orthroscopic, I have been told I have frayed ligaments in my left knee and may have to get that fixed with the ol' ortho.

[biff44 0]

I hope you are wrong!

Your timing is bad. I recently heard a report about a new method of repair that they are experimenting with. Unfortunately, I do not think it is ready for human usage yet.

Basically, there is some sort of secretion in the knee area that prevents the tendon from regenerating itself. Most other places you blow a tendon, they just staple it back on and it regrows. But the ACL does not regenerate, so they have to harvest tendons from other parts of the body to make up a new ACL.

In this new research, they inject some sort of substance that counteracts the bodies secretions, and they are able to get the ACL to regrow itself.

Don't know is this helps, but it would be worth a web search if that is really your problem.

[teamriot38 0]

That would be huge in the sports medicine field! How sweet would that be? Someone could blow their knees and go through therapy and get a whole new ligament. They just informed me that I would have to get it done sometime. Whatever that means, they jsut said it increases my chances of a tear and I should be cautious. I play with a brace now just to be on the safe side.

[tokes 0]

That sux, my girlfriend is bitchy when she's healthy!!! LOL Tell me how surgery goes if you end up getting it, has anyone here gotten orthroscopic, I have been told I have frayed ligaments in my left knee and may have to get that fixed with the ol' ortho.

I've had a couple of arthroscopic surgeries done on my knee including an ACL replacement. It's a lot nicer than traditional surgeries, a lot less scarring and you're supposed to heal quicker. They basically shave out the ACL and then replace it with a patellar (sp?) or hamstring graf. More often than not they're doing it via the hamstring now, as taking a tendon from the knee cap led to a lot of dislocations and other injuries. I also had arthro surgery to repair my MCL (partially tore in two places at the same time as ACL), as well as again about a year and a half after that to repair a slightly torn meniscus and relive fluid pressure. It was about a year after my injury before I could skate pain free, but that's probably more extreme compared to just hurting your ACL as I also hurt my MCL at the same time.

Arthroscopic surgery just refers to using small cameras to look inside the area they are performing surgery on, so that they don't have to totally open you up just to get at the injured area.