Just a quick note: The reason I haven't added to this blog since my recovery more or less completed is that I have nothing to report, and by nothing, I mean nothing.
The repaired knee feels the same as my other knee. I have no pain, no strength issues, and I give no thought whatsoever to the "involved" leg. If my doctor were to examine me, he would not be able to tell the difference between my repaired knee and the other one. I couldn't be happier with the results.
Same message as before if this is something you are facing: Make pre- and post-op rehab your mission in life.
You can't really control the surgical procedure and you can't change the extent of the damage to your knee. You can only control your response to these things. So own it, work it, make it yours. Whatever happens, you decide how it will affect you, how you think of it, where to take it.
I hope like hell that your experience and recovery are as good as mine was. Whatever you learn from your experience, I hope you'll share here.
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22 comments:
It has been 5 months now.i am still having problems with the strengthning of my hamstring.is it normal? Leg curls, extensions and leg press are a part of my rehab along with stationary cycling, squats.
Parth: My experience was similar. Even though the size of the graft tissue they harvest is fairly small, as far as I understand it, the affect on your hamstring strength is significant. It's a long term rebuilding process, so keep at it.
As I mention in my blog, if my hamstring had been stronger to begin with (pre-injury) I might have avoided tearing my ACL altogether. Good luck. Let me know how you make out.
Hey man,
I had acl surgery 5 weeks ago; I am usually a very motivated 28 year old athlete(basketball / snowbaording) training 5 days a week, but I've been feeling a bit down lately. Reading your Blog has really given me a boost and helped me refocus on my rehab.
Thanks alot for writing this, I'm sure many people have found this helpful.
Thanks again
Ross
I am 2 days pre-surgery for my ACL replacement of my RT knee. Thanks for the blog. I am a type "A" personality. I need to know what is happening or going to happen. Thank you again for your insight into your adventures. I have started a blog myself to chronicle this event.
Thanks
JOHN
I tore my ACL (taking some bone with it), my MCL and PCL to a lesser extent, and shredded my meniscus when my right ski didn't release during a fall last February. I had ACL reconstruction in March, following 6 weeks of pre-op therapy. I did 4 months of PT after, until I could push my weight with both legs and half my weight with either leg (I had injured my left knee in a motorcycle accident when I was 16, detaching my patella tendon and crushing the lower half of my kneecap. I didn't get PT then, but recovered enough to run a race a year later). I spent two weeks hiking up and down stairs and caves in Israel and that went fine. I started back as a ski instructor this winter, but tripped during lunch and bruised my patella. Since I was out for a couple of weeks and it was a lousy snow year, I was laid off. I kept up my exercising, but experienced nearly a week of swelling, stiffness and pain after a PSIA 2-day training session. I was wearing my brace, and didn't have any problems during the two days, but after driving home after a half day of skiing on the third day, the pain kicked in. I guess I need to ramp up my exercise a bit more. I was happy I was able to ski well, but I hope this isn't what I will get every time I ski for more than one day in a row.
Lori, your injuries were really serious --it's a testimony to orthopedic medicine that you (or any of us here) are able to get back to skiing, running, climbing, and so.
I think your conclusions are the right ones, however, We might like to think we're back to 'normal' but that's only because we've worked hard to get there. To stay there, we need to keep working hard. Thanks for your post. Let us know how you make out.
Hello sir,
it has been 10 months now. My hamstring's is better than before. Still not normal. I have been doing leg curls and lunges only. Nothing else. Do u think that I should do quadriceps aswell? And also sometimes I get the feeling while jogging that my ACL might tear anytime! Can this happen?
Thank you
Parth, your strengthening workouts should be balanced, so for every quad workout you do, also do a hamstring routine as well. Over time, the balance will return. I'm still weaker on that side 4 years later, but I don't know if it's because I haven't worked hard enough at it, or if it's because there's a limit to how much I can get back. After my surgery, doing leg curls using a swiss ball, for example, was really hard. But I also think that if my hamstrings were stronger to begin with, I may not have gotten injured.
Thank you for sharing your story.....I wish my story was as successfull as yours though. Im 3 months post op and have made PT my first priority however, Im having nothing but trouble :( I actuallty started losing my range of motion.,14 degrees, but its slowly coming back. Im a fighter so Im going to keep plugging away :)
Angel, keep at it. That's all you can do, right? Stop back here and let us know how you're making out.
Hi, Stephen:
I just finished reading a bunch of you're posts here and found them very encouraging. At age 52, I am into my third week post-op for an ACL reconstruction with an allograft, following a disastrous dismount on an obstacle at a mud run here in Texas.
It is wonderful to see that your involved knee feels normal and strong and that you have full return to the activities you enjoy. Thank you for sharing your story.
I am also blogging about my journey, as I found so many other people's posts extremely helpful. My blog can be found by typing valerielculp.com in the address line, NOT the search line. Thanks again ----- Valerie Culp
Typo correction for my above post: "your" instead of "you're." Sorry. Thanks! --- Valerie Culp
This is a great story! I am a 16 year old girl, and tore my ACL playing soccer in september, and was cleared for practice at the end of april. At my fourth practice back, I cut to the left and tore my ACL yet again in the same knee. I am 7 weeks into the surgery, and I decided to blog about it this time! I was wondering if there was any chance you could put my link onto your blog? It would be awesome if you could! Thanks so much!
http://aclplainandsimple.blogspot.com/
Katie, sure thing. How about reciprocating? Good luck with your recovery.
31My son tore his acl in February at age 13. He landed "funny" while playing basketball. He had a hamstring graft. He is 7 1/2 months post op and cleared for sports. Tonight during his first basketball game he was knocked down by another kid. He had immediate knee pain and he thought he heard it "pop". The pain seems to be mostly in his hamstring area. The MD warned us that there will be pain as scar tissues breaks away. It is so hard to know what is "normal" pain and what is "pain" to worry about. Any advice?
Jen, he might have indeed torn some scar tissue. If he never did that during rehab, that would be my guess.
It kept happening to me until I found a PT who helped me break it up by rolling my hamstring over a very firm form roll, which I continue to do in my own training.
I would definitely try that. It hurts like hell, but in a good way. Let us know how you make out.
My son's knee is now swollen right in the back of the knee and looks bruised. he has a lot of pain when pulling the leg towards him but none with extension. Sees the MD on monday. Did he retear the acl? tear the meniscus? is it just a bad hamstring sprain? something else?? I am not good at not knowing!!
So the MD and PT were "certain" the acl was fine but the MRI showed complete tear. Now what???
Time for second opinion on both the MRI and the examination. Read up on the Lachman test: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gfN-p-xZx24
Three opinions later... 1 doc said growth plates are too open to do patellar bone tendon surgery so wait 6 mts and re-xray. In the meantime, don't let my son do anything physical except walk, swim, bike and lift weights. Another doc said we could probably do the patellar surgery now but with some risk for angular deformity or growth discrepency. The third doc (peds ortho) said dont wait but dont do patellar. He said our son could continue to grow for years yet and we wouldn't want to risk growth plate damage. He recommends a cadaver but we are reading that there is a high failure rate with cadavers in young athletes. Any input?
It’s good to know that you've recovered from your injury, Stephen. Having experienced an ACL tear is just excruciating and not everyone could recover properly. I agree with you that you have to own it, work it and make it yours because you're the only one who knows your body, so it is up to you if you want to sulk or fight on. Thank you for sharing this, Stephen!
Sienna Christie
Nice blog thanks
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