Comments

That’s sick! Get well soon.

Further to my ‘I’m feeling much better about my up and coming operation’ comments on the other page, I’m now trembling again!! Photos.. not always a good idea to look huh?

Just out of interest/to compare. I’m booked into hospital for 3 nights and have been ‘forced’ to take 4 weeks off work (albeit my job does involve more walking around than normal). The speed of your recovery and getting back to normal really is inspiring!

Annette (again).

I came to your site to check some MT stuff, only to discover you’ve had very much the same operation as me - I had my left ACL rebuilt after a skiing accident, using my hamstring to provide the graft. That was 12 years ago and I’m still cycling, running and powder skiing without a brace. The prognosis is good :-) All the best with the rehab!

Richard

I tore up my ligaments playing soccer and I had my ACL surgery on June 8. I started running (not very fast) 4 month after surgery and I hope that in December I can start playing soccer again. My surgeon told me I can ski in January but first season I have to use brace. My experience is not bad at all, after surgery I had pain only first two nights and I had to take two pain killers. Rehabilitation is slow but the more you work with you leg, more you can do every day, and that push you further. Today is five moths and nine days since my surgery. I am running faster but still afraid to go full speed. I still feel that my knee is not fully recover but I feel too that it is getting there. Try to go to gym at least 4 times a week, and be persistent, and everything should go back to normal.

I had my acl surgery on Oct 28/04. I thought my knee was feeling better although now it seems to be getting worse. My first physio session is tomorrow and I’m hoping that doing physio 2 to 3 times a week will help me to a speedy recovery.

I still can’t bend or straighten my leg and it’s very hard these days trying to lift and carry around my 5 month old son who is starting to get heavier and heavier as the days go by. My back is taking a real beating.

I know that I have a long road of rehab ahead of me and as for playing soccer again, I will be thinking long and hard about it. I don’t ever want to go through this ever again.

Jennifer Toronto, CAN

I torn both my ACL and MCL 6 weeks ago(basketball). The doc told me i had to wait for the MCL to heal before they could even think about surgery on the ACL. Mean while i have been going to pt once a week. I have my follow w/ the doc next week. Any idea when I will actually go into surgery? It’s pretty frustrating getting back to where i have no pain, just knowing that it’s going to revert back to where it was before. How long were you out of work? (i have an office job) The worst part is not knowing when everything will transpire.

I had Allograft on my left knee Nov. 5 I felt very good about this as my doctor also repaired my torn meniscus same knee and I was up and about the day of surgery. Same this time around. No pain for the most part and walking with the brace on. Day 2 I get a fever that goes to 101 and then back down. Day 3 fever though now neve higher than 100 and down to 97.7 Day four the same and into doctors office to draw out fluid for a sample to test for bacteria. All test negative. It is now 2 weeks since surgery the swelling seems to be going down but I still have this fever, Though still never going higher than 100 I am starting to wonder if the graft is failing. Has anyone ever had an experience with this? or read about this anywhere? Good luck to all

I got surgery on my ACL three weeks and four days ago. It was very successful. I can put full pressure on it, walk straight, and fully extend my leg. I am having a very fast recovery and i feel great. My PT is moving me right along and i am very anxious to play basketball again. My team opened up their season this weekend and watching them play made me want to work harder to recover faster. It’s very hard but overall i am kind of glad that it’s happened to me. I never realized how important basketball and my health really were to me. I took my first jumpshot in four months the other day…I know it was a dangerous thing to do but i just could not help myself. I feel like i’ll be ready to go again in January.

I tore my ACL in a Taekwondo Black Belt test. My Doc wants to do surgery and use Donor tissue. He said it is common and 1 in a million chance of Hepititas. He says they have done hundreds of these and very sucessful. I will be on my feet in a week. Any suggestions.

I’m 36 and I ruptured my ACL June BMX racing. I had a petallar tendon used to reconstruct the ACL. I’m currently in week 12 after the surgery. I’m still going to physical therapy, which might end in a few weeks. I also developed tendonitis in the patella. From what I’m told this is common in an petallar tendon for this type of surgery. They use 1/3 of the tendon and a piece of bone from the knee cap, (patella) and the tibial plateu. My Doc said he prefered doing it this way and prefered using my own tissue instead of a cadaver. There isn’t any rejection factor if you use your own tissue. Anyway, I’m looking froward to BMXing and Mountian Biking again in a few more months.

I had ACL surgery on Nov. 3, 2004 and I’m a teacher. Any comments as to when I could possibly go back to work? Any other teachers have this same surgery. My problem is that my classroom is about 1/2 mile from the office and all of the walking with my children.

I had surgery done on September 20, 2004. i am only 16 years old and i have been attending phisical therapy for two months now. i tore my acl and the cartilage on my left knee playing soccer. My recovery has been quick but i still cant run or dont have the strength to jump on one foot. i still feel pain on my knee and i am very frustrated because my cant run properly and i fear i wont be able to play lacrosse in college. i hope i recover quikly and to be able to play lacrosse in the begining of the new year.

Hello,

I fell and sprained a ligament playing basketball, and few weeks later. As it was heeling, a few weeks later (Aug 5 ‘04) I was at the coast, and fell and tore my ACL and Meniscus. ACL tear was bad, so was the menisus, but not so bad as the ACL. I went to the doctor and he drained out the blood out of the knee, and then I did P.T for 3 months. No improvement. So, they did a surgery on Nov 4 ‘04. He put the meniscus back together and reconstucted the ACL by using a hamstring, from the back of my thigh. I was on my major painkillers for a week or 10 days. So, I didnt acutally feel that much pain. Most of the time I was asleep. Now its been 3 1/2 weeks. I’ve been walking without crutches, but with the brace on, and it is locked out completely. I can unlock the brace during the day to 90 degrees. I cant bend my knee more than that because of the Mensical repair. It hurts when I try to bend it more than 80 degrees. Its normal, because I had 6 portals (holes) 3 for the first surgery 3 for the other. So, they said, that there was a scar tissue formed and it does hurt a little, and you will hear a pop whenever u try to bend it. This brace is not very comfortable, but you HAVE to use it. If not you will lose few degrees from your knee. So MAKE SURE you lock it, be4 you go to bed and you can unlock it when you feel like you are stabe while you are walking. The brace will be taken of in 6 weeks (3 more weeks to go :( ). Then I will be transferred into another brace. Its a slow healing process for me, because I had 2 surgeries. P.T is helping me very much. I cant play basketball again for 6 months. Im just waiting patiently. Hopefully I get healed soon. :)

I tore my Acl this year rodeoing. 6 months is a long time to not rodeo. I am a junior in high school and I am soooo glad it didnt happen my senior year. Thank you for your story.

I tore my ACL in May and was told I needed a reconstruction surgery. I went in for surgery in July and when I woke up found out the doctor did not do the surgery, but just did a ortho instead to clean up the cartilidge in the area. I am still having the same pains that I had prior to surgery, and am having a “loose” knee. I went for a second opionion and was told he wanted to do the reconstruction surgery with a cadavar ligament. I’ve now lost all this time and have already gone through one surgery. Was wondering if anyone has had experiance like this, or was I the only one to find the dummest doctor on the earth!

Well i have read all the stories and decided to add mine. I am 16 and a sophomore in high school right now. I also have had acl surgery on my left knee using my petellar tendon on Oct. 23, 2003. The recovery was good and i was back playing some spring baseball and summer baseball and basketball. This year i elected not to play football, but rather to play basketball because basketball is my favorite sport. This last weekend, Nov 26 and Nov 27 our basketball team was in a tournament. I started for our team before i got my surgery and now i was starting again. However, i started the game and played a whole half and in the first minutes of the second half i was going for a ball out of bounds to save it and i planted with my right knee and it shifted and i ended up tearing the acl in my right knee. So now i am scheduled for surgery on the 21st of Dec and am pretty bummed out about it. Hopefully i have better luck in the future because one more torn acl and i am done with sports for good.

I injured my knee playing football 2 and a half years ago. Having consulted with a physio who referred me to a specialist I underwent an ortho and they cleaned up my cartilage. Spent three months in phys and did exactly the same thing when I returned to sport. This time they did an ortho and told me I had a slight tear to my ACL but with the right phys shouldnt be a problem. After 6 months more phys it was eventually determined that my right knee had a positive pivot twist and a different surgeon reckoned ACL reconstruction would be the best bet. That was in May this year. The inital recovery was a lot like has been mentioned above, and straight line movement, cycling, running is now a doddle. Twisting and turning is the key - in my last consultation with the Doc he decribed the give in my knee as a 1, conveniently my good knee is a zero. The give is such that I am worried that I’ll not be able to play sport again but the Doc reckons most people play with a 1. So Jenn, good luck, get the op done asap and you’ll be laughing and no you’re not the only one with Doc trouble!!!!!

I injured my knee playing football 2 and a half years ago. Having consulted with a physio who referred me to a specialist I underwent an ortho and they cleaned up my cartilage. Spent three months in phys and did exactly the same thing when I returned to sport. This time they did an ortho and told me I had a slight tear to my ACL but with the right phys shouldnt be a problem. After 6 months more phys it was eventually determined that my right knee had a positive pivot twist and a different surgeon reckoned ACL reconstruction would be the best bet. That was in May this year. The inital recovery was a lot like has been mentioned above, and straight line movement, cycling, running is now a doddle. Twisting and turning is the key - in my last consultation with the Doc he decribed the give in my knee as a 1, conveniently my good knee is a zero. The give is such that I am worried that I’ll not be able to play sport again but the Doc reckons most people play with a 1. So Jenn, good luck, get the op done asap and you’ll be laughing and no you’re not the only one with Doc trouble!!!!!

I just had knee surgery on august 16. i am only 13 years old and have had 3 knee surgeries. in may of 2002, when i was 11, i had knee surgery on my right leg because it was 2.5 inches longer than my left. i am a dancer with a preprofessional ballet company and i danced every night for long hours. so about 6 months or so after that surgery, i started dancing again. but my left knee kept on giving out or popping out on me, and let me tell u it was the worst feeling in the world. at first i did nothing about it, so i just waited. but it got worse. it swelled up and i couldnt straighten or bend it all the way. finally, i had a MRI and they found out that i didnt even have an ACL. it wasnt even there and my PCL looked torn (but it was only very thin and stretched) and i had torn cartilage. so november 25, 2002, i had arthoscopic surgery. all they did was fix the cartilage. after a while, i started dancing again, but dancing without an ACL is very difficult, since u turn and jump and its extremely hard on your knees. I had to wear a huge, metal, defiance brace around my knee that would hold my knee in place, so it was pretty difficult dancing with a metal thing around your leg. My ballet teacher didn’t like it either, so I couldn’t wear it to ballet anymore, all I wore was a little slip around my knee. this didn’t support my at all, so my knee shifted and hurt alot. but i still did nothing about it and continued dancing hard on my knees for a few years. finally, once again, i couldn’t handle it all. my knee was in very bad pain. So, I had another MRI and they found out that i had torn my meniscus. In august 2004 i had ACL reconstruction. they took my potella tendon and rapped it around my knee, making me my 1st ACL ive ever had. than they repaired my meniscus. it’s about 3-4 months later and im doing great in physical therepy. my knee feels better 4 mtnhs after surgery than it did before i had it-i know weird. but ive never walked without my knee even slightly popping out of place. ive never danced without my knee in total pain (a few times i sat out of class because i fell on the floor with my knee in extreme pain) i obviously cant dance yet, but even with just walking or slow jogging, it feels so different and stable! im so glad i had this surgery, i feel like a new person.

I tore my acl ((and had a mcl injury and a few other things that still effect me)) while riding a friends moped when i wrecked in late july ‘04 and got surgery in early sept. i started physical thereapy before surgery because it makes it alot easier after surgery to do physical thereapy. my acl was torn to the point where it wasnt even there and had shredded into a small bundle. i was put out for an additional hour in a half i was told because my femer wasnt shaped right so they reconstructed that. i was extrelmy tired and graugy by the time i had woken up. after surgery i was kinda passed out/sleeping for a good eight more hours before leaving the hospital.…not to mention i was EXTREMLY drugged up. they put numbing shots in my leg and told me that they would wear off at about two in the morning..i woke up the next morning to get from the upstairs bedroom to the downstairs bedroom and it took 15 mins and alot of tears for me to make it..i couldnt even lay down without crying, the loratab did help alot though. i hated the feeling of not being able to do things so i forced myself to walk by myself after a few days in bed. i was practically bed-ridden for my sweet sixteen, but my friends threw me a suprise party at my house anyway. im still in physical thereapy two to three times a week and it will be 14 weeks since surgery tomorrow. ive worked really hard and learned how to push myself more. its been a great experience and i wouldnt take back this experience for the world. its taught me so much and although its been tough and painful its been something to look back and laugh about. i am a varsity cheerleader at my highschool which is a huge honor as a sophmore, but with my injury i have been limited as to what i can and cant do. im doing so good though that i went back to stunting a month early jumping and running two weeks early and small tumbling thee months early. i know i still have a long way to go but i feel that im a stonger person because of all this. thanks!

Well my story is going to be a bit different i think. 2 years ago in my last basketball game of the year as a junior i tore my left ACL. I found a great doctor who did surgery and i told him i had to play football that spring. 4 and a half months later i was practice with the football team and started in our first game of the year as quarterback with no problems in myknee and it was only 5 months after surgery. I played basketball again my senior year and now play college basketball. This past summer in july i tore my ACL in my left KNEE AGAIN and i did a cadaver this time (pattala first time) and its been almost 5 months now and i am already back started to practice with the team again and plan on playing withing the next two weeks. My doctor is great and he said that i would gain nothing if i waited the 6-8 months that most doctors would suggest! So wish me luck i guess! love to hear your responses to this!

i am interested in the comments here. most seem to be posted by young people. i am 51 years old and tore 95% of my acl (by mri results) 11 months ago whilst fighting at karate. i had a little discomfort at the time but now have no pain and no loss of function. i have not been back to karate and wont go skiing. i have walked alot and bicycled without any probelms. i can’t make up my mind whether to have the surgery or not. are there any of you who are older and have had acl surgery. any comments? kevin

Hello, I hurt my ACL in november of 2001. I hurt it in gymnastics doing a double twist on floor. At emergency, I had an x-ray. They treated for a torn ligament and torn meniscus on the side of my knee. After about four weeks of wearing a brace that prevented me from bending my leg, the doctor told me that I could go back to physio and training. So I started back, but my knee felt very unstable and it was always popping. It would get really swollen. One day, it really popped. So we went back to the doctor and he told us to schedule me for a MRI. After the results came back he told me that I had destroyed my ACL and that I would need reconstruction surgery. I had no ACL at all. However I was only 12 at the time and he told me I was too young to get the surgery. He wanted to wait until my growth plates were gone. I had to wear a brace for activity. I have had to go for Cybex at least once a week to keep my quads and hamstrings strong. Well, I went back to square one in gymnastics and after 3 years of trying to compete as a national athlete, I found that my knee was unable to hold me even with a custom brace, so I left the sport and started barrel racing. However, my brace got too small so we went back to the doctor and he told us that I was now old enough to get the surgery! I have now ordered my third brace. I will have to wear it for about a year after surgery. I am scheduled to get surgery on December 15, 2004. I hope to be back to barrel racing in high school rodeo by the middle of March, 2005.

HI, I had my surgery on August 4, I torn my left ACL, when I was taching my nice to do long distance jump, but I had pain one year before, when I was playing volley ball. I’m very active, I do Kick boxing, play tennis, voley ball, and swimming. I did my surgery bacuse I want my life back. I was home almost one weeks. They sent me a special machine, to bend my kwee, and I was doing that almost 7 hours a day. The second week I start with my phioterapy and I’m steel doing therapy twice a week, and going to the gym 3 times a week. I feel good, but steel, I’m not playing any sport yet, because I want to be sure, my muscle is strong. My doctor and my phisotherapist are great. By the way, I’m 41 and I love life. If you had your ACL injured, and you love sport, please do the surgery.

My experience with knee surgeries has not been pleasant. I have had two already and am preparing to have my third next week. I am actually writing this because I am really nervous and thought this would help release some tension. I first found out I had torn my acl in my first year playing college soccer. During the first week of practice my knee swelled up and I couldn’t even bend it, that is when I had to get my first MRI. After my MRI everyone was astonished by the results, my acl had been torn for years and I didn’t even know it. During high school I always had minor complications with my knee, but no one ever thought it was anyting serious. Well, I got my first surgery in October of my freshmen year, it was the worst experience of my life. I had never been in so much pain. The night after I was released I had to go back to the hospital and get a shot of morphine in my leg because it hurt so bad. Unfortunately things just kept getting worse, and in the end I found out that the surgery had not even worked. So I was back at square one. Luckily I got a new doctor to perform the second surgery, this surgery just involved cleaning up the last surgery and filling in the holes with new bone. I am now about to get my third surgery and I am deathly afraid. Thanks for taking the time to read my story.

Hi, I had my ACL torn on MArch ‘04. I did my surgery Aug 04,I had a great doctor, and I’m glad that I did it. I’m very active, I love voleyball, kick boxing, tennis and swimming. I’m doing P.T twice a week and going to the gym 3 times a week. I’m not playing any sport yet, I want to make sure my muscles are strong. I don’t want to take chances, I want to be 100 % again. I did cadaver type. The pain wasn’t bad at all, and I was home for 2 week. They sent me a machine that helps bend my knee, I was doing that almost 7 hours a day. That help me a lot. If you are active don’t think twice juts do it.

I’m 35 and have surgery scheduled to reconstruct my completely severed left ACL in early January. Possible meniscal tear, also. Like Jen S, my MRI revealed that my ACL has been gone for years. During high school football and baseball and clollege baseball, my knee occasionally popped out on me. I got used to it. Last fall, just a small step in old-guy baseball put me to the ground and I haven’t recovered at all. It sounds like a meniscus, but the MRI wasn’t conclusive as to that. If I know my knee, it’s shot. If Jen S’s experience is any indicator, it makes me very concerned that my recovery will be difficult due to the age of the injury. I can walk and run now, just no lateral chicanery! Options are to live with it and play no more sports, or have the reconstruction. I opt for the latter. Anyone else out there who’s had my circumstance and done the surgery?

I’ve had a bad meniscus for years. My ACL was torn in a car accident in April. After getting my Dr. to appove an MRI, I have sugery scheduled for Feb 1st. Both meniscus and ACL (same procedure as above). I believe is referred to as bptb (bone-Patella tendon-bone. I’ve linked the site and try to update.

It varies… my dad had surgery on his.. and was back riding bicycles within the month, and up moving around almost immediately after the effects of the anesthesia wore off.

My friend’s mom had the surgery done at about the same time, and was still hobbeling around with a cane nearly a year later.

Hi All: I tore my ACL and meniscus on Oct. 9 2004 and had reconstructive surgery on Friday Dec. 12, 2004. My pain was excruciating due to postoperative swelling. The pain is manageable when I’m sitting or lying down with my leg elevated. That said, when I get up to walk a little on my crutches, the pain is almost unbearable. My surgeon informs me that the swelling is causing all this to happen. At day 4 I was re-admitted back to the hospital overnight to help alleviate my pain so that I could sleep. They gave me morphine and painkillers throughout the night, and I still had trouble sleeping. My Dr. says that the knee looks good, but the swelling is more than he usually sees after surgery. It’s now 6 days after surgery, and the swelling is still pretty significant. I cannot start PT until this swelling goes down, but I have been doing several exercises on my own at home with lots of pain. Does anyone have suggestions on getting this post op swelling under control?

Best regards,

Nik

I completely tore my ACL and severely sprained my MCL in October of 2003 going up for spike at a volleyball game. No physical contact from any player. But my knee didn’t show the classic symptoms of an ACL tear. My doctor would pull on my knee and I was in no pain and that test was supposed to determine whether my ACL was torn. The day after my injury my knee wasn’t swollen and my physical therapist told me my ACL was good and strong. My doctor wanted to wait 2 weeks before an MRI to see if it would heal by my next visit he said to waited me to wait another 2 weeks again. Finally my mom and I got sick of the non improvement of my knee and schedule an MRI against his orders. Comes to find out I was walking on a completely torn ACL for a month and my doctors didn’t even no it. I had surgery the next day and spent the night in the hospital which was the best decision I ever made. I was on morphine then got on vicodin which made me sick, so for the first week after my surgery I was on ibuprofen for my painkiller. I went through 6 months of rehab at times which was painful. A suggestion for anyone who has this injury is to do exactly what your PT wants you to do in your training. Don’t skip session and do whatever extra work you can do with permission by you PT. 8 months later I was catching in softball again but with pain and swelling after games. I wore a brace during volleyball to prevent the injury. Also train when you are not in sports because I haven’t been in volleyball for a month and my knee has been hurting a lot because I’m not active as much as I was. If you have any questions you can email me at stickje3@hotmail.com. sorry about the long post

for paul, do it mate i was in the same way.i had mine done on dec 1, for the first week you have pain but after that you just enjoy the time off work and go swimming every day.

Everyone’s stories really illustrate how different all the surgical procedures are and of course, how differently we all respond. I had my ACL surgery exactly 4 weeks ago. The graft got stuck in surgery so I’ve got a rather large scar down to the top of my shin, unlike Adam’s nice and neat ones illustrated. I’ve not had any pain at all really and have been very very lucky, I appreciate this. I was aware of the problems with swelling for PT so I would completely recommend lying on your back for hours and hours and hours for the first 1.5-2 weeks, leg up, dead straight as high as poss with ice/cold things packed around your whole knee for as long as you can bear. It may feel painful to straighten your leg so much, it feels almost forced, but its invaluable to do the full extension from day 1. I was lowering myself onto the floor every 2 hours to do basic physio movements, flexing at the ankles, pressing the back of my knee into the floor and then raising the leg in that dead straight position. I’ve got weak quads so could only manage 3 leg raises in one session but have got this up to 10 now, holding the pose for a good 10 seconds. Nik in particular and anyone with pain after surgery, I’m thinking of you.. remember mind over matter.. this will help.. be strong and good luck. Oh.. and MERRY CHRISTMAS!!

I was playing softball for our school team and slid into third base. I got up and felt my knee wobbling, but I ran home,went walking around thinking it was just a minor thing. I went to the hospital and got out to stretch my legs and my knee popped. I chose to have surgery and I stayed overnight. My knee was stiff and I had barely any muscle tone in my quads. It took about 5 1/2 weeks to be completely off crutches,because my leg was so weak. I played volleyball after 4 months but was still slow and limping. My knee also does weird cracking noises when I straighten it out sometimes. Keep to therapy! Remember that progress doesn’t always go at the same speed as others, and I learned that the hard way.

I had my surgery 2 weeks ago tomorrow and didn’t have much pain at all, mostly just stiffness due to swelling. The swelling was pretty intense at first but I’ve been icing it and exercising it, and it’s starting to look like a knee again. My foot swelled up a lot at first, too, and my doctor said that was because the brace restricts circulation. For about four days now I’ve only been wearing my brace when I go out, and around the house I leave it off. This has helped me improve my mobility a lot and drastically reduced the swelling. I can hobble a little without the crutches if I have to but I’m still using them partial weight-bearing most of the time. I got on an excercise bike 2 days ago and was able to pedal a little, but only excruciatingly slowly. The leg lifts and quad tightening exercises I’ve been doing have caused a noticable improvement over the last 2 days or so, and I’m planning on trying the bike again tomorrow.

I torn my ACL and blew my meniscus up sliding into thrid base. I had the hamstring replacement done, somewhat like Adam. When I woke up from surgery, my back was in tremendous pain along with my pelvic from the femoral block. The doctor had no explaination for why my back hurt and why my right side of my leg was numb. It has been 12 weeks since my surgery and my leg is still numb. Has this type of thing happened to anyone else? I am concerned that my doctor may have done something wrong and is hesitant to say anything. Your comments will help me to decide what I should do.

I had ACL surgery in Jan. of 1989, before the ACL could be repaired I needed Miniscus surgery first. I was 40 years old and injured my left knee by attempting to set a 25 ft. light pole in the ground. When that healed we did the ACL. The procedure was very much like yours, using the Ham String to replace the ligament. When this particular procedure was performed on me by DR. Frank Nichols, Fort Atkinson, WI it was a realitvely new way of repairing the ligament, so I received a lot of attention form a lot of courious Orthopedic Surgeons. My recovery was a lot different than yours. I was in the Hospital for 4 days, I was fitted for a Lenox Hill brace and a few weeks after that and i was on crutches for 6 months, after which I began Physical Therapy that lasted every bit of one year. During which time there was no sports activity at all, and no work. I was very aggressive with the therapy, which was to my benefit. To date the ACL surgery knee is a lot tighter than the other one. I have had no problems with it, other than I do notice that at times the left leg does not seem to lift as high during a walking stride, causing the toe of my shoe to catch on throw rugs etc. But other than that I have a strong knee that has not held me back at all.

I had ACL surgery in Jan. of 1989, before the ACL could be repaired I needed Miniscus surgery first. I was 40 years old and injured my left knee by attempting to set a 25 ft. light pole in the ground. When the Miniscus healed we did the ACL. The procedure was very much like yours, using the Ham String to replace the ligament. When this particular procedure was performed on me by DR. Frank Nichols, Fort Atkinson, WI it was a realitvely new way of repairing the ligament, so I received a lot of attention form a lot of courious Orthopedic Surgeons. My recovery was a lot different than yours. I was in the Hospital for 4 days, in terrible pain, and could not be discharged until I had learned to get around with crutches. I was fitted for a Lenox Hill brace that I wore pretty much continuesly day and night for the first year. Physical Therapy began about 60 days after surgery, and lasted every bit of one year. During which time there was no sports activity at all, and no work. The brace was regulary adjusted by the DR. to allow for more leg straightening as time went on. I was very aggressive with the therapy, which was to my benefit. After being released from the DR. (2 years after) I would be seen and evaluated by him yearly for the next 5 years. During which time I would continue wearing the brace for actiovity other than walking. To date the ACL surgery knee is a lot tighter than the other one. I have had no problems with it, other than I do notice that at times the left leg does not seem to lift as high during a walking stride, causing the toe of my shoe to catch on throw rugs etc. But other than that I have a strong knee that has not held me back at all.

I had ACL surgery in Jan. of 1989, before the ACL could be repaired I needed Miniscus surgery first. I was 40 years old and injured my left knee by attempting to set a 25 ft. light pole in the ground. When the Miniscus healed we did the ACL. The procedure was very much like yours, using the Ham String to replace the ligament. When this particular procedure was performed on me by DR. Frank Nichols, Fort Atkinson, WI it was a realitvely new way of repairing the ligament, so I received a lot of attention form a lot of courious Orthopedic Surgeons. My recovery was a lot different from what I have read with the other posts, looks like things have changed for the better. I was in the Hospital for 4 days, in terrible pain, and could not be discharged until I had learned to get around with crutches. I was fitted for a Lenox Hill brace that I wore pretty much continuesly day and night for the first year. Physical Therapy began about 60 days after surgery, and lasted every bit of one year. During which time there was no sports activity at all, and no work. The brace was regulary adjusted by the DR. to allow for more leg straightening as time went on. I was very aggressive with the therapy, which was to my benefit. After being released from the DR. (2 years after) I would be seen and evaluated by him yearly for the next 5 years. During which time I would continue wearing the brace for activity other than walking. To date the ACL surgery knee is a lot tighter than the other one. I have had no problems with it, other than I do notice that at times the left leg does not seem to lift as high during a walking stride, causing the toe of my shoe to catch on throw rugs etc. But other than that I have a strong knee that has not held me back at all. For advice, be aggressive with the PT, I have seen others who were not and to this day they can not straighten out the leg.

I had ACL surgery in Jan. of 1989, before the ACL could be repaired I needed Miniscus surgery first. I was 40 years old and injured my left knee by attempting to set a 25 ft. light pole in the ground. When the Miniscus healed we did the ACL. The procedure was very much like the ones mentioned, using the Ham String to replace the ligament. When this particular procedure was performed on me by DR. Frank Nichols, Fort Atkinson, WI it was a realitvely new way of repairing the ligament, so I received a lot of attention form a lot of courious Orthopedic Surgeons. My recovery was a lot different from what I have read with the other posts, looks like things have changed for the better. I was in the Hospital for 4 days, in terrible pain, and could not be discharged until I had learned to get around with crutches. I was fitted for a Lenox Hill brace that I wore pretty much continuesly day and night for the first year. Physical Therapy began about 60 days after surgery, and lasted every bit of one year. During which time there was no sports activity at all, and no work. The brace was regulary adjusted by the DR. to allow for more leg straightening as time went on. I was very aggressive with the therapy, which was to my benefit. After being released from the DR. (2 years after) I would be seen and evaluated by him yearly for the next 5 years. During which time I would continue wearing the brace for activity other than walking. To date the ACL surgery knee is a lot tighter than the other one. I have had no problems with it, other than I do notice that at times the left leg does not seem to lift as high during a walking stride, causing the toe of my shoe to catch on throw rugs etc. But other than that I have a strong knee that has not held me back at all. For advice, be aggressive with the PT, I have seen others who were not and to this day they can not straighten out the leg.

I have just been notified by my doctor, that I will have to have surgery on my knee! After over a year of dealing with the pain and going to therapy my knee keeps giving out. I was relieved to hear there is finally something that can be done to have my knee back to being somewhat normal. All of my joints hyperextend and my body is always sore, but it’s my knee that keeps popping in and out! Which of course makes it very difficult to walk for any amount of time. I guess I’m writing this to kinda get my thoughts out and see if anyone else has any advise how to prepare myself. I know the recovery is going to be tough, I would just like to know a little more about what it feels like, what happened after, and just as much information as possible. I also have a job that requires a lot, so I just want to know what to expect. Thank you so very much!

Hey, I just got ACL and meniscus—today. No pain yet—could be the drugs. I’m pretty tough, so I’ll say “1” on the scale. If you’d like to mail me, go for it, as I’m a pretty quiet kid. I prefer not to take their painkillers, so it could be a rocky road. We’ll see. I almost welcome the challenge. My email IS my email, so please don’t abuse it.

Paul

Today is the day after surgery and I tried to go it without any pain meds. Oops! Not a good idea. It really does ache like hell without the drugs. I didn’t put my email yesterday. If you’d like a day-by-day you can write me @ pkosterman@cs.com

Paul

I tore my ACL this past October in a football game. The doctor used the patella-tendon from the front of my knee. Surgery was two days before Thanksgiving and I spent one night in the hospital. Once I was home, they made me sit in a CPM (continuous passive motion) machine for 8 hours a day to get my motion back in my knee. The pain wasn’t anything I couldn’t handle so the only pain meds I took were to help me get sleep at night. I was supposed to be in it for two weeks…I hit the target degrees(110) in 5 days. I was able to walk around without crutches within two weeks and was told to ditch the brace. In the next two days the doctor cancled my PT because of how fast I was coming along. I still have exercises to do, but I’m able to do them on my own. A month after surgery I was able to jog but I had to be carefull. I’m about 6-7 weeks out…and the only way you could maybe tell if I had surgery is if you looked at my scars. I’m trying to get my strength back in my knee right now by going to the weight room at school. The only real pain I have right now is when I stretch my leg to both extremes (flexion/extension). I can pull my lower leg almost all the way back so my hamstrings are sitting on my calves. The doc. says I still have a few degrees on my extension but he has no doubt I will get them back. I’m 18 years old and I am planning on being back for track this Spring. If anyone wants to ask me any questions on my recovery, email me…(henryboy_24@yahoo.com)

I just had reconstructive ACL and meniscus surgery on Friday. So far so good. I am on vicodin and have been since I left the hospital Saturday morning. Not much swelling or pain. Maybe the vicodin is working? Well taking it consistently keeps any pain at bay and I am very compfortable. I have been doing my PT since my surgery and have been able to achieve 90 degree flexsion, probably more if it were not for the bandages. I get them removed tomorrow with my first visit with my Therapist since the surgery.

It’s been a week since my skiing injury. I have a torn MCL which needs to be rehabbed first. That’s about 4-6 weeks. Then, if I’m going through with the ACL surgery, I’ll start the PT to prepare for that. Because I’m 45 years old, my orthopedist said surgery was an “option” for me. I could certainly live without it and just use a brace when doing any activities which may have lateral movements. (skiing, tennis, water skiing, etc. All of which I do often!) I can’t even imagine carrying a brace around with me for the rest of my life. Maybe if I were 70! My first reaction was to go right ahead and plan for the surgery. I would rather take the time out now to do it. I’m very active, in great shape, and do local road races and triathlons. I’m not ready to slow down yet. I would love to hear from others who may have done the same (MCL & ACL) and have had full recoveries. I’m disciplined enough to do ALL the PT. My doctor prefers to use patella tendon. Would love to hear from some of you “middle-age athletes”.

I’m 17 years old, a junior in high school, and I went through my second knee surgery on December 3, 04. About three years ago I had lateral release surgery to help stop my knee cap from popping out. I tore my right ACL playing basketball, I went and my leg didn’t. I had surgery about 6 weeks ago. I can bend and straighten my leg all of the way. I am happier than I was before bc my PT is letting me do more exercises. The only thing I have to complain about is my doctor is really conservative and I probably won’t run until 4 months after surgery or play until June. I guess I will be back in time for summer basketball.

Hi, i have a question i got an acl surgery on friday 14 of january and the date i am posting this 20, and they have me on Tynenol 3 and is that like a strong thing compared to the stuff you guys use cause i feel pain and i dont want to be popping pills every 4 hours on the dot, and how do you sleep at night ? i sleep like a stick practictally with my face facing the ceiling, but i wake up in pain and my knee would be in extreme pain.

I have a question. I am wondering how I can tell if I tore/sprained/strained my ACL. Is it possible to just strain it and have it recover? I fell snowboarding about 2 months ago and my knee hurt. I got up and boarded down the rest of the hill (gingerly I may add). I walked to my car and drove home. My knee hurt but it wasnt too bad. I could walk and fully bend it. The next morning it hurt alot more. (Kind of like a sprained ankle) but througout the day it got better. Infact it was good enough to go to my works holiday party. I did a little dancing…but took it easy. It doesnt hurt any more at all but there are some time when I tweak it just right and it can hurt (maybe once a week this happens).

I guess my question is, how do I know if I tore something.…I would only assume you would be screaming in pain, but then again I could be wrong. I dread that I have to have surgery or something I feel for all of you out there with a bad knee. You can post here but do not hesitate to email me if you like.

mail(at)ekoesling.com

Thanks

Elliott

It has been approximately 1 week since my ACL /meniscus surgery. I have not had any pain since the day of the surgery and I have been off of pain killers for almost 3-4 day and take advil as need for swelling and minror pain relief.

I met with my Physical therapist today and I was able to achieve 118 degree flexsion and less than 1cm from full extension. However, I was able to gain full flexsion after a 20 minute leg stretch.

I am ahead of recovery schedule and was placed on the bike for the first time today. It felt really good. My PT would not allow me to go full 360 on the bike but 350 and then reverse direction. It felt really good. Initially my surgically repaired leg fetl awkward. The supporting muscles that had laid dorment since the surgery were finally asked to fire and I had a tough time controlling this, spasmatic almost?

I can begin to bear some weight in 30% increments in the upcoming weeks and possibly be full weight bearing and crutchless in 1 1/2-2 wks.

This recovery has not been all cake. I do exercises on the hour every hour for almost 30-40minutes. By the time I finish and rest/ice for the remainder of the hour, I have to start up the exercises all over again. This begins at 9 am and lasts all day long until 10pm. But it works and my PT said I am ahead of schedule.

Diligence is the key to my recovery. These first few weeks is most critical following your surgery, it will shape how quickly and how well you recover. No pain no gain right? So my advice is to get your pain under control and be diligent and don’t cheat your therapy exercises. It gets easier every day and the leg gets stronger. The first exercise is always the hardest but after that its downhill.

Keep you posted on my recovery.

I have a question for anyone browsing or reading these blogs. I just recently had my ACL and meniscus surgery approximately 8 days ago, Jan 14,2004. Something really weird happened today. While I was doing one of my quad sets, right before full contraction I felt an awkward pop or sliding in the outside of my left knee. almost like something went in or out of groove. The only description I can give is that similar to your thumb when it pops out of joint for those “double jointed” individuals.

There isn’t any pain, just really awkward. My first reaction was that I blew my new ACL graft out.

I don’t see my PT until Tuesday and my surgeon not until Thursday. Can anyone provide some clues or have a similar experience an a possible explanation of what is going on? I’m somewhat fearful to continue my rehab exercises.

Again it only occurs while in transition to full quad contraction. I feel the sensation on the outside of my left knee. The swelling in my knee has lessened. Does anyone think that the swelling is allowing some additional things in my knee to move or did I blow out another ligament?

You can email me directly at stevemounnarat@mounnarat.com.

-Steve

ACL right knee injured on 30 Mar 04. Took over 4 months to get correct diagnosis. Have had other surgeries before, but this was the most painful of all. ACL was replaced with “doner” Wore brace from top of thigh to ankle for 1 month. Was on crutches for 3 weeks.

Had to have front screw removed 3 months after surgery as it was trying to work itself out and was causing a lot of pain. Has this happen to anyone else?

Been close to three months since screw removed. Have noticed that there is pain on the right side of the knee, and have had it “pop” on occasion.

Again, has this happen to anyone after undergoing ACL replacement.

I had ACL reconstruction and a patella release on November 30, 2004. I have just finished the physical therapy my insurance will pay for. Now it’s up to me ro finish my recovery.

My surgery was two-fold. I had the ACL reconstruction hamstring graft and a Patella release to allow my knee cap to track properly. It was day surgery and took a few hours. Thank g-d for the ice pack take home apparatus they gave me as a going away gift. My knee was swollen up like a grapefruit for about a month and a half.

It’s been two months since the surgery and I can tell you that although it didn’t seem worth it at the time, I know that the surgery will be worth the effort and time to recover.

I haven’t been able to hike, run, ski, etc. for over 10 years since I torn my ACL hyperextending my knee in a freak accident. I was told to do PT to strengthen my knee but never did and my ACL disintegrated until my ACL was completely gone. I wasn’t able to do any sports because my knee kept slipping out of place. I would feel my kneecap slip out of place when I got out of the car…finally I couldn’t take it anymore, the pain was annoying and I missed hiking and running not to mention the 40 pounds I had gained from not exercising.

My surgery went well. My doctor, Dr. Lyle Micheli is one of the best orthopedic surgeons. He goes with the olympic ski team when they travel. He did my surgery in a few hours. Two weeks after the surgery he thought my swelling had gone down quite nicely. I regret to say, I haven’t seen him since, he is quite a busy man!

I went home from surgery groggy, happy to have the pain meds - percocet. I had to make sure that when the pain med was supposed to wear off, I had already taken the next one. The pain was almost unbearable but I slept in and out for about 3 days straight, only waking up to my alarm clock to make sure I took my meds and to hobble to the bathroom. The blood rushing into my leg was excruciating. I remember feeling like a little baby, crying, pitiful but at the time it was all I could do.

I thought for sure I could go back to work after a week, but after having the double surgery it was not to be. The pain finally subsided after 1 1/2 weeks and I actually thought the pain in my hamstring would never go away.

I was in a continuous passive motion machine for about a month but at that point I could bend my knee 80 degrees on my own and I thought the the machine, although very helpful early on, had done it’s job. It is a very large, cumbersome machine that caused my boyfriend to have to sleep in the living room for an extended period of time. It’s great if your loved ones are patient and caring throughout the early days! Mine was!

I had crutches for over a month until I could finally bear 1/2 my weight without them. Now, over two months after surgery, I sleep without my brace, I can almost walk full tilt without my brace or a limp but my muscles in my leg are still very atrophied and I have to start building up my muscles again. I see my doctor tomorrow and I am curious to see what he has to say. I am anxious to work hard on my own to build the muscles and start working out again and feeling like I used to.

I am a big pool player and miss my 9-ball game!

It’s been a long two months, but I’m told it usually takes at least 6 months to be back to normal. Needless to say, I wish it didn’t take as long. I would recommend the surgery, but make sure you are aware, if you have double surgery, recovery takes longer and just when you feel you are getting nowwhere in recover, just remember how you used to feel with instability in your knee and remember when you couldn’t withstand any weight on your leg and now you can walk without crutches.

I still have a long way to go, but I know I’ve had two surgeries in one and I have to expect to take my time but in the end it will be well worth the pain, agony and inconvenience.

I remember when I was able to finally get in my car and drive on my own without having pain from pressure on my hamstring! My commute to work is over 45 minutes, so I had some adjusting to do.

Good luck to all and write me if you want some advice, stories or have questions. Both my dad and brother are doctors and my PT therapists are very well informed.

Carole

I just stumbled onto this site looking up information on ACL surgery and ligament tears. I tore my ACL back in 96 when I was in the Army. Took about 2-3 weeks to recover and I was pretty much fine and hardly ever experienced and pain from the knee though I was advised to have surgery I chose not to. Friday night I was out dancing with a friend of mine and twisted my knee and heard a loud pop. I was unable to put pressure on my knee without extreme pain and can not fully straigten out the knee either. I was advised at the ER to wear an immoblizer brace and elevate the leg and put ice on it 20 minutes 3X a day. And of course take my pain meds. The pain is almost gone unless I try and straighten out the leg completely or walk on it. As long as I use the crutches or slide around in my office chair the pain is manageable. I go into the doctor on Friday to determine what steps we are going to take next. I think my kneecap has slipped preventing me to straighten out my leg fully. I am almost certain this time that I will have to have surgery. It is refreshing to read all of these stories of recovery and know that I will be okay. I am the mother of 5 beautiful children and a wife to an awesome hubby. When things like this happen doubts enter my mind and it scares me to think that I might never be able to walk again. Seeing these really helped me to understand that this might be a major surgery but I will get through it and will be walking again soon.

I am 29 years old. I’ve completly torned my left ACL in January 2000, in a sking accident. It took me more than a year to get to a doctor who told me what my problem was and recommended me for ACL reconstruction surgery. I got the surgery in April 2001. I’ve been doing pretty good for the last few years. I do not reggret having the surgery at all. If you love sports is essential having this surgery. Before it I had no stability in my left leg which was popping out all the time and was hurting me a lot. For the last few years I’ve been rowing competitively (I actually won a few medals), and I’ve worked out a lot. I had absolutely no problems rowing. I’ve recently decided to start race walking. I would like to compete in the World Master’s Games (in both rowing and racewalking). I was wondering if anybody with an ACL reconstruction is a race walker and if he/she experieced any problems and could recommend anything. I can race walk decently fast. My problem is that I feel weekness in my hamstring (which was used for reconstruction) and after a while I feel my leg a little numb. I also have the feeling that one of my legs (the injured one) is a little bit shorter than the other one. It is probably because I have to extend the leg a lot, and sometimes I have to overextend. Do you think is detrimental to my leg to do this, or I just need to train my specific muscles involved in racewalking and everything will be fine?

Thank you!

I have recently tore my ACL and Miniscus during a snowmobile race. I was and still am absolutly terrified of having surgery. I decided to get on the internet to find out what the whole process consisted of. Im 18 years old and thankfully have never been this hurt before. My biggest fear is just the whole surgery issue. I dont know why but it just is. After reading this, I felt like everything would be ok after hearing a recovery surgery. Im afraid that something will go wrong and I wont ever be able to race professional Sno-X again. I wasnt sure which surgery I was going to get but after reading this I think I will take the hamstring apporach..Thank You! Best of luck to all in surgery and your recovery

I tore my ACL and miniscuis in a softball game last May and I had to get the hamstring replacement. After a month or so I was fine and everything and now that softball is back in season I’m hoping to be able to play well again. Only problem is that whenever I run in the grass before practice… my hamstring starts to hurt like hell and my calf muscle tightens and it makes it hard to even walk… I was wondering if anyone knew how I coule fix that… I do lots of stretches before and after pracitce… but it still hurts. Its not even my knee thats botherning me:(

I tore my ACL two weeks ago playing sand volleyball. (I live in Phoenix) When my doctor called me with the results on Mon he said we would discuss surgery next week when I come in. My knee hardly swole up and doesn’t hurt, I’m just always expecting it to buckle again. I bumped into someone today who said he used to be an orthapedic doc. He saw my brace and asked me where the scar was. I told him I hadn’t had the surgery yet. I asked him if I could pick his brain for a minute and he wasn’t all that excited about the proceedures. He said a lot of it is hipe, the surgery doesn’t have to be done. Course maybe he just said that because he wasn’t in his office giving advice. At any rate, he wasn’t the first to say I didn’t have to get it done. I just know that at the activity level I’m at for my age (44) I can’t see NOT having it done. Did any of you out there have people trying to convince you NOT to have the surgery done?

I am a college basketball player and i have torn my left acl twice. Completely both times. My doctor was amazing and really liked to push through rehab. I actually started at quarterback for my high school football team 4 and a half months post surgery. I did not tear it again until 3 years later. I was then back playing basketball at 5 months. I did the patella graf the first time and a cadaver the second time and i am curious as to why people choose to do the hamstring? Everything i have read and the 4 or 5 orthopedic surgeons i talked to all do not like that surgery. The hamstring is one if the thee most common body part injured in sports and if you take a chunk of it for your new ACL your making it even weaker just making your risk even high for a hamstring tear or pull. Can anyone tell me why that would make sense?

It has been about 8 weeks since my surgery in January 2005. I just got back from a business trip that took me from NY to Taiwan->Hong Kong->Germany and back home. It has truly been around the globe trip.

My surgically repaired ACL and meniscus is still doing well. My surgeon did not give me a choice, I received a patella graft. I trust him, considering he knows what he’s doing but he is also the head surgeon for a pro Hockey team.

It appears that it was the best choice, as I have played soccer all my life, my hamstrings can use all the help it needs.

I was transitioned into my functional brace about 3 weeks ago and had to fly immediately 1 week after this. For anyone travelling abroad, my only advice is to make sure you get hotels with a gym and bring your basic leg waits to do your exercises. The only problem is when your on business, your return to your your hotel is generally pretty late so option for hotels with gym hours that are either 24 hrs or open late and open very early. Make sure they have both cardio and nautilus equipment. Free weights do not help much when you’re trying to isolate the knee to amazingly 5-10 pound resistance. Oh another thing, weight machines indicating increment 5,10,15 etc… do not respresent pounds, they are in kilogram. So beware you maybe pushing much harder weight than your knee can handle.

My leg feels strong but I still have a bit of a limp when I am tired and walking. Otherwise, you would never know.

When flying, my doctor prescribed me to some “baby aspirin” about 81mg to help thin my blood while in the air. It helps to thin the blood and avoid clots. Ankle pumps are key and constantly getting up and walking helps too, even if you are 30,000 ft in the air. Oh, it really helps if you fly either business class or make sure your travel agent gets you aisle seating so your not restricted to just a knee bend.

Next goal, running!!!

I tore my ACL meniscus (both) in a soccer game. I am a 29 years old physical education teacher (I had to get surgery) and am 3 weeks post surgery. I have partial hamstring and allograft (cadaver). I feel like I am progressing at a slow rate as I am just starting PT on Monday. I’ve been doing my exercises and using a CamoPed vs a CPM machine. Anyone else using one too or used one? I am only at about 80 degree flexion when laying down on my back. I can’t stand the brace as it slides down my leg constantly and if I make it tight my leg swells at the bottom half. I don’t mind crutches but I think I have to ditch the brace.

Mandee, I think having the surgery is wise. I have not heard of anyone talking someone out of having it. I would honestly just recommend the allograft no hamstring. That’s been the toughest part for me. It affects your calf too. My doc. said that most females don’t have strong enough hamstring tendons and then they have to layer the allograft over it anyway. He did that with mine and I wish I had just said ALLOGRAFT only. I am 3 weeks post op and the worst part is the brace, it’s annoying. Good luck to you. Oh, and being young…you’ll heal just fine!!

I had snowmobile accident about 5 weeks ago, tearing my ACL and Miniscus. I had the surgery five days ago. I will be meeting with the doc on Tuesday to get all the particulars of the surgery. I’ve been in the Army 15 yrs and have had no major injuries. This was my first surgery and yes, it scared the hell out of me. I have a four inch long scar down the front of the leg from the kneecap toward my shin. Then another across the top of that about two inches. I just need to get back to my Army duties and will be happy. My surgeon is the medical doctor for a minor league baseball team. Can’t be that bad then. Good luck to all.

I had my reconstruction (ACL and mensicus tears) surgery 8 weeks ago. I now go to the gym 4-5 times a week, using a knee strap (to reduce the patellar tendonitis). I usually end up doing some weights (upper body, so it doesn’t matter), 35 to 40 mins of elliptical, and sometimes leg curls, hack squats (regular standing squats are out of the question). However, it still hurts when I climb/descend stairs. Is that ok, how long will it last? I think my physio said I can start jogging pretty soon (a week or two). Would be great to hear from ppl who are at the same stage of recovery or can vividly remember the pain at this point ;-)

Thanks, -Navin

I had acl and miniscus surgery on march 1st i am a week and 4 days into recovery. At first it hurt like hell having to take vicodin to releive the pain as that started to progress i was in my machine that moved my leg and i felt a slight little pop like my knee was just readjusting nothing hurt but now as the days go by its starting to irratate and feel really awkward, the pain is pretty much gone but the awkwardness of my knee is still there, it feels like when ur double jointed or bone pops a little, im 18 and i did this starting football. Is this not normal? i see my doc. on tuesday. I had the patalla surgery. Before the pop i could put decently amounts of pressure on it but now i can not having to use my crutches for most the work.

I had my ACL repair on Feb 28/05 and have range of motion of 10 to 100 degrees on day 14 from working my knee consistently. This is my second knee to be repaired with the same technique (arthroscopy & semitendonosis graft) - the first in 1991 was a complete success allowing me to continue to pursue a range of high impact sports (including squash and skiing) about six months later. I have tremendous confidence the current repair will be as good if not better because I have started with less pain, more range of motion and strength than the first time. Why? The difference: surgery two weeks after injury vs. two days; four hours of hospital vs two days; less prescriptive pain drugs and more ice and some tylenol; aggressive rehab was immediate (starting with simply moving my foot in circles, walking without crutches after five days, elastic and static resistance exercises, to stationary biking at day 14) and I anticipate this will continue to progress reasonably. My advice: get a great doctor, get the surgery and get working at it. It works if you do. Good luck.

I had surgery about two months ago, January 18th to be exact. In the third half of my first basketball game, some girl kicked my knee out from the inside. I thought that maybe I tore my meniscus or a lateral ligament, but no, to my dismay, I ended up tearing my ACL. Two weeks after the ordeal, (surgery), I was able to walk, about a month later or so, I’ve been able to run around, just last week I was able to jump rope and such. A few friends of mine that have experienced the same injury weren’t able to do half as much for atleast two months. One friend in particular couldn’t walk for a month after surgery. Right now, I feel like I might be overdoing it, I have a “bump” right where the major incision is. It’s not fluid or anything, I believe that it’s my bone. Weird huh? Well if any of you sufer from the same “weirdness” tell me about it.

I am 13 years old n i play all kinds of sports. But dering basketball i went to rebound the ball and a girl came up and hit me in the knee and then i fell and just started crying. So my mom took me to the doctors and they took a x~ray and then they said it was just a sprain. But then 3 months after that when track started i was complaining that my knee kept popping and hurting. So my mom said before i started going to track meets that she was going to take me to a specilist. So we went to another docter and he moved my knee all around and said it wasnt a sprain and made us get a MRI done. So a week after that we brought the pictures in from the MRI and he said that i tore my ACL. When he told me that i just wanted to start crying because i really wanted to do 7th grade track and i show horses so i couldnt do any horse shows that were coming up eaither. I am sooooooo scared about the sergury that is on March 22, soo i just hope everything gos well!!

Hello, My fifteen year old daughter was diagnosed with tearing the ACL dureing drills in Track practice.Her knee slid of to the side with a pop.MRI diagnosed the tear.They want to do surgery and what I want to know is has anyone chose not to have the surgery and find it heeled just fine? I have found testamonies that are scary with results of problem knees after surgery.Anyone find that NOT haveing the surgery can be just as fine as haveing the surgery?? Thanks concerned mom

I’m not a doctor, so my research into this and personal experience with the injury is all I have to go on. The ACL cannot heal after it tears. The ligament is like a rubber band and once it breaks, the two ends won’t ever touch again. There are many people that have skipped surgery, but from what I’ve heard, you have a very high risk of early arthritis and your knee will never be the same. All that’s holding it together are the muscles. At your daughter’s age and since she’s involved in sports, I think she should have a serious talk with her doctor about the surgery before deciding not to have it.

I tore my acl in a basketball game in december and the doctors didn’t get me in until March 16 which really screwed me over with the rest of the basketball season which I knew that I would miss but it also messed up my softball season and the basketball and softball summer leagues that I had panned on playing in. I am really afraid to play basketball next year because of this because I dont want to miss softball again. I mean my brother tore his when he was 12 and it is now torn again and he doesnt want to get it fixed again and has quit sports. The last thing that I want to do is the surgery again so it’s going to be hard for me to paly again. I also know another girl who tore hers in a bastketball game and then did it again a year later. Does this reaccuring tear happen often because I am really afraid of this??

I am 14 years old and I tore my ACL during my junior high basketball game. There was a girl in front of me and a girl behind me and i could tell she was going to pass the ball so i jumped in the air to get it but when i came down my leg went one way and my body the other causing my knee to twist and tear. right after the game i went to go get x-rays. when they x-rayed my bad knee(left) they couldnt really tell because i was still growing so they x-rayed my (right) and compared and found that something was wrong but thought it should heal on its own. The next day i went to a specialist and he looked at my knee and didnt think anything was wrong but he couldnt move it exactly like he wanted to so I got a MRI and it showed that my ACL was torn it wsa over the holidays so i couldnt get in to have surgery for a while so i went ot P.T. to get it strong for surgery. In February i had surgery and they used my hamstring because my growth plates were still open its been close to 2 months now and im doing great! I continue to go to therapy twice a week and im getting stronger every time! im very EXCITED to get back in to my sports! good luck if this ever happens to you!

I was thrown from a jeep in June of ‘04 and started having trouble with my knee giving out on me. I didn’t pay any attention to it because of the other injuries that I had that were obvious. Finally in August I saw an Ortho. Surgeon and had an MRI done. Come to find out my ACL was completey torn and thats why I kept falling. I had reconstructive surgery on August 24, 2004 and have had a great recovery. I did really well in therapy, I guess it helped being a competition cheerleader for 4 years in highschool. My therapist did a great job. I still have pain from the scar tissue and from the surgery but I’m almost back to normal. I gained almost all of my muscle back with in 4 months.

I tore my acl about 6 months ago in a soccer game. I was playing goalie, and I went to punt it, but my left leg twisted when my foot hit a little hole in the ground and my knee popped. The doctor said it was just a a sprain so i continued to finish up the soccer season. When basketball came around, i went to a specialist and he said i tore me acl. I got a brace to wear while my growth plates closed up. The basketball season went fine. Now my growth plates are closing so I am getting suregery April 18! Wish Me Luck!

Hey,

I tore my ACL and MCL two nights ago at gymnastics. I did a twisting move and my foot planted and my body kept going. I was reading everyone’s stories and it’s making me feel better about a fast recovery. I love cheerleading and I don’t know what I’d do without it. My question is of the hamstring and cadaver types of ACL surgery, which do you think heals faster? Also, how long do you think before full recovery is achieved, like able to jump and all. Please respond!

Michelle

Well my story is pretty similar to everyone elses. I don’t remember exactly when i tore my acl but i think it was when i was in junior high playing basketball. It has never really bothered me before but once i got into college it would “lock” up on me and i couldnt really walk on it. I had to go to doctor and he told me that my acl was completely torn and i had no idea. I’m 21 years old and he decided that i better get the surgery done since i was young and was having problems even walking sometime. It has been one month since my surgery and i am able to walk and get around on my own with the help of a brace. I had to start to go to physical therapy last week because my quad muscle went way down and i lost a lot of my strength to even lift my leg. but now i am able to do this and i think i am progressing much better. i have pretty good range of motion and it doesnt really bother me except for it aches every now and then. I just want to get back to normal now.….….….….

I am soooooo scared to get surgery. I just found out yesterday that I will have it the 20th of April. I have a complete tear in my ACL that happened on the 5th of March and I wasn’t sure if it was ok for me to wait this long for the surgery. I tore it while doing a jump at a cheerleading competition on a spring floor. Right in the middle of the routine. I pulled my hardest and when I landed the jump my knee cap popped out of place and it was a SHARP pain when I walked to the next spot. I was in alot of pain but I had to finish and as soon as I “cheered” off the floor I grabbed on to one of the girls and cried my heart out. The medic there said that I had dislocated my knee cap (which I did) But something about a guy in a red cheerleading shirt with “MEDIC” on the back of his shirt and no badge, where I can see, did nothing for me. I needed a real opinion. The next day I woke up at 4:30 in the morning screamin in pain trying to hop two feet from my bed to my floor in agony because i turned teh wrong way in bed. So the next day (or later that day since it was 4:30) we went to the doctor and he told me all I did was dislocate my knee cap. ERRRRR! wrong. I went to the orthopedic doctor got a MRI done (45 minutes of absolute stillness). That’s when I found out about the ACL thingy. Long story short, it sucks and I really want to get back to cheerleading. I had just got my back handspring when that happened.

I tore my ACL skiing in January. Did a lot of PT toget extension and flexion and had surgery 2 months later. At 51 I opted for my own hamstring (based on people telling me of longer rehab and more pain and long term issues with patella) rather than a cadaver (risk of infection, rejection, etc). I did surgery on a Thursday afternoon, stayed overnight, and only had bad pain on Saturday morning (after a five hour drive home). Relieved by Vicodin and an aleve. Up and about by Sunday. Full rotation on bike at 9 days and on treadmill. A month out, scar pain, but you can barely tell I had surgery. Good PT is crucial.

I have torn my ACL twice - once in martial arts, the other playing/coaching soccer. The first time, I went through a new procedure to have it repaired and shrank, while this time, I had to have it reconstructed. I chose the cadever graft.

I had surgery January 24, 2005. I had a doctor in Colorado Springs, Co that works on Olympic athletes, as well as some from area college sports teams.

I started therapy 7 days after, lost the crutches 10 days after surgery, and lost the brace 15 days after surgery. Today, I am riding a bike full speed, treadmill at a walk/jog at a 15% incline, and jogging again in soccer practice with the kids. I can still not do cutting and twisting per dr. orders, but I feel I can physically do it.

I have had virtually no pain since the nerve block wore off the night of surgery, and have no regrets at doing the surgery. At 50%, I feel better and stronger than I have in years.

i got the surgery done on last friday (april 8th). i tore my ACL when i was playing volleyball. I don’t know what happened but when i went for a block and as soon as i landed, my left knee gave out and i fell on the floor and couldn’t get back up. i’ve been on my bed with my left knee elevated. Everytime i need to goto the bathroom and have to use my crutches to get there, all my blood feels like it rushes to my knee and feels like it’s goin to explode. anyone please tell me how long before i can stand up without any pain?

I had surgery six months ago. I followed the doctor’s orders and the therapist instruction. I can dance as well as I did before I tore the ACL. It takes time but do all the exercises recommended, but most importantly don’t push your knee to had. Do only what you can tolerate. You’ll be back on your feet doing what you like to do in no time. Also be very careful.

I tore my ACL on 3/13/05 while I was preparing to start a recreational basketball league. I went to our church that recently built a new recreation center and started shooting baskets, then went for a layup and when I landed, my knee popped and I kind of blacked out for a second. Then I found my self on the floor holding my knee in pain. After about two weeks, I was able to walk almost normal again, with the feeling that my knee was somewhat unstable. I had an MRI done and found that I tore my ACL completely.

On 4/7/05, I had my ACL reconstruction surgery done using my patella tendon (recommended by my dr who was formerly the team doctor for the Minnesota Vikings), so I am suprised to hear some negatives about it from everyone here. Anyways, I am now a week post-op and am finally able to do straight leg raises. I have a flexiation of 85 degrees and am still experiencing a bad ache when I bend my knee or do any PT. My doctor said I should have been walking by Sunday (4 days post-op), I knew that seemed really agressive. I am still on crutches and today I was able to move around without crutches, but felt really unstable and had an overall bad feeling, so I am going to stick with the crutches for at least a few more days until I feel better about my leg strength. I stopped taking my Percocet a few days ago, after they started giving me fevers after every PT appt., then when I stopped taking the pills cold turkey, I began going through withdrawal. Now I am getting cold sweats constantly, running fevers and just feel down right icky.

I am curious to see if anyone else has had these issues after stopped taking percocet? It almost seems like I am behind schedule with my rehab.

First tore the ACL on 5 January 2002 at age 42. Just a little benign fall at very low speed on the ski hill. Went the rehab and brace route which worked fine until 31 December 2004 when I had another fall while wearing the brace (braces do not guard against stupidity). My knee became totally unstable, collapsing sometimes three times a day even when just standing. Anyways I had a hamstring graft reconstruction on 8 March 2005 and really have had minimal pain and discomfort overall. I woke up in recovery feeling as fresh as any other day and the nerve block was really effective for the first 24 hours or so. I was able to weight bear basically from day one. No graft pain at all in the hamstring, just a little bruising. One tip though…when they say elevate the leg, get it way up there (18 inches), not just one thick pillow. My knee and ankle looked like a stuffed sausage until I caught onto this one. I was prescribed a cool therapy pack for the first two weeks 24-7 (51 bags of party ice) which worked fantastic. Started PT after two weeks and my only issue was with swelling and subsequent pain if I was up for too long (over 2 hours). Its been 6 weeks today. On doctor’s advice I have been on the crutches, but all I really needed them for was sympathy and to keep people out of my way. When I saw my surgeon today,he was pleasantly surprised at the strength in the leg and is very happy with the stability of the knee. He told me I can reduce use of the crutches as pain allows, so with his blessing I dropped them off at the pharmacy as I left the office. I have been stationary cycling, doing leg presses, elliptical walker and hamstring springs for three weeks and I feel great. The whole reconstruction experience for me has been good. Pay attention to the instructions, do the excercises, and be positive! I figure a good outlook is half the battle and its working for me.

I just tore my ACL one week ago in a soccer game. I was sprinting and made a cut and felt it pop. I have surgery scheduled in less than 3 weeks. I am most concerned with being able to be back to speed in October when I start my senior year soccer season. My speed and aggresiveness is what makes me stand out on the field and I am so afraid of losing that. Especially when it is my senior year when I am looking to play in college. I just pray I will be back to normal around January when districts start.

I tore my ACL on Feburary 28, 2005 doing gymnastics. I was in San Antonio for a competition and vault was my first event and on the landing of my first vault my knee just made a circling motion and gave out and i jumped over onto my stomach. I knew i tore my ACL cuz i took athletic training last semester and we studied ACL tears for awhile. but they put ice on my knee right away and i didn’t even look at it. My mom took me to the hospital that was close by and they tested it with the valgus tests and all the rest of those where they pull your knee in every direction. They told me that the good news was that it appeared that i didn’t tear my ACL but it looked like i tore my MCL. Once i got back to Colorado i had an MRI and found out i tore the ACL but everything else was ok, just a slight tiny tear of the meniscus which was nothin to worry about. My dad has had problems with his knee so i went to the same surgon he does, he’s supposed to be on of the best in colorado! He’s worked with many athletes and one of my teammates blew out her knee last year and went to him. I had surgery on March 30, i was put to sleep and was released about an hour after surgery. I had the block done (Where they numb your whole leg) and it left my leg numb for the rest of the day. I had to have my sister lift my leg while i used crutches so i could get into the house, but i was not in pain that whole day thanks to the block! I stayed home from school the week following surgery and for the first 5 days after surgery everytime i stood up, all the blood felt like it ran to my knee and it would start throbbing. I started Physical Therapy about 1.5 weeks after surgery. about 2 weeks after surgery i was off crutches but i still have my brace on and i still have to wear it when i sleep. They PT did fix my brace so that i can bend it 30 degrees 3 weeks after surgery. It’s almost been 4 weeks since surgery and im starting to walk better, i can almost get the pedals all the way around on the stationary bike and i can straighten my knee all the way. i have a few questions tho…How long after surgery was it til you can go for runs again? and i want to try out for Cheerleading in august, will i be able to tumble and jump like i could before by then?

I tore my acl March 14 while hurdleing in track practice. i felt strong after 3 weeks of rehab but then it gave out on me and swelled up just like the first time. I am going to have surgery on June 8, and hopefully i will rebound back soon.

I tore my acl just the day before yesterday playing basketball. I’ve heard basketball is one of the hardest sports (especially for girls) on your knee. I have school basketball in six months. If I do everything they say, can I be 100% by then? Also what is the best surgery of all the options?

Tore my Acl playing soccer and few years back, when i was 14. I managed to live with it having a partial torn acl. unfortunatly it Pop’s out here or there and i eventually tore the whole thing. Im 18 about to get my acl reconstruction this wensday. Im trying to find out what my recovery is going to be like, but everyone is different. Hopefully all is well, i keep you up to date.

My name is Peter I live in El Paso Tx. (23) and I am a senior at UTEP I tore my acl about five years ago playing soccer and I finally had the resources to pay for the surgery. After the surgery I had a negative reaction to the morphine and anesthisia I was throwing up and had difficulty breathing so I was admitted to the hospital and stayed 24 hours until I was realeased. I had surgery about a week ago and I currently have problems sitting and even sleeping, but as each day goes by everything improves. The pain is non stop eventhough I am taking the pain pills I constantly feel thumping on my thigh and I still have not manage