ACL

[Fridaythe13th]

Does anybody have any experience on A C L tare. the wife was skiing 2 weeks ago caught an edge and pop goes the knee. She is mid 30's very active running, volleyball, softball and lots of outdoor. Thing like how long did it take you heal, run, jump be back on your feet again? Could you ride a bike in 3 months or more like 8 mouths? All the doc said a year or more before skiing or any cutting on that knee. In info. would be great.
Thank you
Eric

[ishy]

Not myself, but have had buddies do it. I would think you're looking more towards 8. I'll check with a buddy that is atually a serious mountain biker and a pt that just did his in plus mcl and some chunks pulled off the condyles of the femur. He's already going crazy with the weather warming up, and he hasn't even gone under the knife yet.

[ishy]

Actually sounds like stationary biking is a big part of his rehab program for acls. He did mention time tables are very variable depending on the actual damage done usually more time for meniscus involvement/repair. They like to start it as soon as possible when rom is to a point it can handle the motion that is anywhere from 6 weeks on.

[Fridaythe13th]

She goes under the knife on 28th the earliest she could get in. She's not the type to sit in a chair for a week especially when the weather gets nice.
thank you

[TJB]

I am two years out from mine and the time frame totally depends on what other damage was done during the injury. My therapy involved a lot of stationary bike to regain the range of motion in the knee and stared two days after my surgery. If she listens to what her doc and therapist tell her and does her therapy as instructed, she will be back at it in no time. I was playing sports again around the 10 month mark with a brace on and I did significant damage to my meniscus an also cartilage. It is a slow process that can be frustrating, but it will get better. Stick to the therapy for as long as prescribed and she will be fine.

[Fridaythe13th]

more good advise thank you

[Mav]

If I can say anything it's like my dad used to say for cooking bacon. Low and slow. I did a 3/4 tear and messed up some cartilage. I was back to football in six months (no pads). Stationary bike and the rubber bands were my best friends

[LckyTylr]

When I tore mine, a lot of my research was centered around which "type" of surgery I wanted. There were 3 options, Cadaver, Hamstring or Patella Tendon.

Cadaver - Quickest recovery time, basically harvesting a replacement ACL from a donor and bolting it in. Con: It's only a bandaid, if your Wife is really active like you say, she will very likely tear this again. Also, sometimes recipients will reject a donor bit as it's "foreign matter" and doesn't belong there.

Hamstring - I hear that it's pretty painful as the doc would harvest a portion of your Wife's own hamstring and screw that into place. The benefit of this is that her body likely will NOT reject it. Again, it's somewhat of a bandaid because there will never be bloodflow through the new ligament, it's basically just a string that's screwed into place. Eventually, the string will weaken.

Patella - Doc cuts your Wife's Patellar tendon right down the middle into 1/3's. This is the tendon that holds the bottom of the knee cap to the top of the shin. He will cut out bits of bone from the knee cap and from the shin, so the tendon will have hunks of bone on each end. Conveniently, nature made the patella tendon almost precisely the same length as your Wife's ACL. So, Doc will cut holes into the two locations where the original ACL should be attached and will place the chunks of bone into these holes. Then he will screw them into place for the recovery process. Over the next few weeks and months, Bone will grow around the chunks of new bone and will seal the whole assembly off. After several months, blood will begin to flow through the new bone grafts which will also allow blood to circulate through the "new" ACL. This is a good thing, this makes it a living part of your Wife's knee structure, so if she has a really physical day of skiing in two years or a really hard game of volleyball, her body will circulate white blood cells to the new ligament and make any minor repairs as necessary. Con: this is the longest surgery to recover from and it's a pretty painful process. For anyone that's young and athletic, this is the surgery to get.

Disclaimer: this is all what I learned 7 years ago when I was getting ready to go under the knife. Technology and the medical field are always evolving, so some of this may no longer be true. I'd suggest to do more research and really understand what's going to happen to your wife when she's on the operating table.

For my Physical Rehabilitation, I was very aggressive, as proactive as my therapist would allow . . . and then I'd sneak back in and do a few more minutes on the bike or a few more reps on the weights when he wasn't looking. It was painful and frustrating, but I was very driven to recover as quickly as possible. I was hiking about 45 days after surgery, not very far and with ZERO weight, just out for a gingerly walk in the foothills. I had my surgery in the fall so that I'd have all winter to dedicate to rehab. When spring rolled around, I was strong enough to do really light mountain biking for short durations. By early summer, I was improving dramatically on a weekly basis and by end of summer, I was strong enough to do fairly long rides. I was able to hike with 20 - 30 lbs and went hunting with the understanding that it was Deer ONLY that year and would require MANY trips to do it safely. I got finally got my knee brace about half way through hunting season and that made a HUGE difference in what I was able to do. I went snowboarding that winter with the brace. So, from Surgery to snowboarding was a year and a few months.

I will offer one "lesson learned" about the recovery. Getting a knee brace was the best thing I did. Also . . . getting a knee brace was the WORST thing I did. It allowed me to do a lot more activities with confidence which was awesome for my confidence. The bad part was that I used it as a crutch for 3 years. I didn't do ANYTHING without my knee brace and it was making me weaker. My left leg was visibly smaller than my right, it was much weaker and I had NO stability in that leg without the brace. Ultimately, it was Wildland Firefighting that made me abandon my brace. I was spending weeks at a time working 14 or 16 hour days in the hot sun with pants on, carrying a loaded pack and swinging a polaski. It was hard work and we walked a lot of miles. After my very first fire, I'd spent 30 days humping mountains with only two rest days. I had blisters and welts from the brace. Obviously, I didn't have the luxury of a shower every day and the work didn't stop, so the situation got worse and worse throughout the summer. I still have scars from that brace. When I finally abandoned it, I was wobbly and weak. A very shaky little puppy. It was like starting all over again with the PT. I am now to the point where I can play soccer, basketball and lacrosse, or ski and snowboard without a brace and without fear of it going out on my. My leg is finally strong enough to rely upon. So, with my long-winded reply, I wish you both good luck and a speedy recovery.

I'm sure you will research this as well, but my knee brace of choice is what most football players use, a DonJoy. I would recommend getting one, but don't rely on it for too long. Get back into sports, but continue working on strength and conditioning WITHOUT the brace as much as possible until it's no longer required.

http://www.djoglobal.com/products/donjo ... knee-brace

[Fridaythe13th]

I did not know there was 3 different surgery's the Dr only gave us 2. of course the patella was the one he did not offer. I well check it out. great reply thank you
But I got a feeling the wife not much for pain so I think she has her mined made up with the fastest recovery time the," Cadaver" but I well show her your post.
We got the MRI back and it 100% tore

[Elkduds]

In about 1998 I had my L ACL rebuilt, using my patellar tendon. I had PT for a few months, and strongly-worded advice to follow orders in rehabbing, not to hurry the process. It was then very common to reinjure the repaired knee by resuming activity when knee felt better, instead of rehabbing it until it was actually stronger. So I went slowly, lots of walking on level ground, hunting that fall in brace, fairly cautious alpine skiing in the season that started 6 months after the surgery. CTI-2 derotation brace. By the first anniversary of surgery I was 90%. After 2 years the fixed knee was stronger and tighter than the unrepaired knee. It has never needed further surgery, works great @ age 55, not arthritic

[LckyTylr]

If at all possible, I would Strongly encourage your Wife to seriously consider the Patellar surgery. In addition to researching what type of surgery I wanted to have, I spent a LOT of time trying to find the "right" surgeon. I was living near Boise at the time but couldn't find a surgeon that instilled confidence in me for the longest time. Finally, through a lot of Googling, I found a guy in Idaho Falls that used to be the head surgeon for the 49ers. Okay, so here's a guy that fixes knees and ankles of professional athletes that rely upon his expertise to get them back in action as quickly as possible with the best possible long-lasting outcome . . . sounds like my kind of surgeon. At the time, his office did Not accept TriCare insurance. I bought his receptionist/secretary a boucay of flowers and asked very nicely in person if she'd be willing to go through the lengthy paperwork process to accept my insurance. 2 months later, I was getting patellar ACL replacement surgery by that surgeon. He'd told me that it was not uncommon for top-tier athletes in the middle of a season to get a cadaver replacement if they tore an ACL mid-season . . . just so they could get back into the lineup as quickly as possible . . . but ultimately, nearly every single athlete would come back in the first week of post-season to get the Patellar surgery as it's the stronger / longer lasting option.

I know that pain sucks, but the pain will be there regardless of which surgery she has. If she truly wants a lifetime replacement that she can play sports on . . . IMO, the patellar is the way to go.

[Fridaythe13th]

Thank you. LCKYTYLR. We are looking into all the option and I'm trying to talk her into patellar surgery. she is young and would love to ski again. But it sound like more pain and a longer time frame to do the things she loves. huge down fall for her. All I can do is put in my 2 cents. One very good thing is the DR we have is in the top 10 for knee surgeon's in Minnesota.