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Tore my ACL

Home ▸ Archive ▸ Serious Business ▸ Tore my ACL
brutus161's avatar

brutus161

The Navy Guy

1,686 posts
Sep 28, 2010 7:18 PM
Tore my ACL during training. Surgeon said some people can tear it and the rest of the body will compensate for it and just keep going. Surgery is next Friday, what can I expect afterwards? Any tips from those of you that have had knees reconstructed?
Sep 28, 2010 7:18pm
B

Barry Badrinath

Senior Member

176 posts
Sep 28, 2010 7:24 PM
All you can eat pain meds. Wooooo
Sep 28, 2010 7:24pm
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slingshot4ever

Senior Member

4,085 posts
Sep 28, 2010 7:26 PM
Simply put, the first month is going to be hell. I tore my ACL and meniscus October 2007 in a flag football league. Initially diagnosed as a sprain and I played about 4 weeks later. My knee kept giving on cuts so I had initially thought I just tried to play again too early. Had the problem for about 10 months where it would just feel like it was popping out. Finally had an MRI and they found the issue. I had been living with a torn ACL for about a year which probably made the tearing even worse.

I don't remember the last time I was in as much pain as I was for the first week after surgery. Taking baths/showers was almost impossible because your knee is essentially immobile even if you try to challenge yourself to bend it when you take off thbe brace to bathe. They kept my knee immobile in the brace for the first 6-8 weeks when I wasn't doing therapy.

They had taken part of my hamstring to re-construct my knee and they had to do some shock therapy on my hamstring to make that strong again as it was very weak. I will never forget when they put me on a bike and the goal was to do a full spin. I was sometimes able to get near the top of a spin, bt it took about 3-4 weeks before I could stretch the knee enough to get all the way around on the bike.

The more serious you take the PT the quicker you will recover. When they tell you what to do outside of therapy, do it. I had my surgery October of 2008 and was up an running in any sport I wanted by the beginning of June 2009. It took a while for me to trust my knee again even with a brace on (like an offensive lineman type brace).
Sep 28, 2010 7:26pm
-Society-'s avatar

-Society-

Senior Member

1,348 posts
Sep 28, 2010 7:32 PM
That's horrible.
Sep 28, 2010 7:32pm
Red_Skin_Pride's avatar

Red_Skin_Pride

Senior Member

1,226 posts
Sep 28, 2010 7:33 PM
Rehab takes forever. I tore my ACL, meniscus and 90% of the cartilage in my knee at the end of my sophmore year playing football. I went to Dr. Kaeding over at OSU, who does all the OSU football players. Had surgery a week before christmas (Dec. 18th) and wasn't cleared to start LIFTING lower body again until the last day of April. From Jan through april I did rehab 4 days a week for 1.5-2 hours per session. Cleared to start running full speed again in June (just in time for conditioning) and cleared for full contact in July. And keep in mind, this is one of the top 10 surgeons in the country for what he does. I've known several people that have gone to their local, hometown hospital for a surgery like this and it takes a year or more to get cleared to play a contact sport again, so I'm not sure how you're going to do military training...

My advice to you is to stay off of it as much as possible between now and when you have the surgery. Your ACL is what keeps your knee solid and keeps the bone in your thigh from grinding against the 2 bones in your lower leg...without your ACL, this WILL happen and it hurts almost as bad as the original injury, and you can do more damage to the inside of your knee while you're waiting to have surgery.
Sep 28, 2010 7:33pm
lhslep134's avatar

lhslep134

why so serious?

9,774 posts
Sep 28, 2010 7:35 PM
Slingshot, on a lot lesser of a note but similarly, I had an immobile knee brace on for 3 weeks after tearing a hole in my knee that required stitches, and I can attest that it's SO painful trying to bend it to get in and out of a shower.
Sep 28, 2010 7:35pm
brutus161's avatar

brutus161

The Navy Guy

1,686 posts
Sep 28, 2010 7:42 PM
Luckily, I have a walk-in shower.
Sep 28, 2010 7:42pm
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slingshot4ever

Senior Member

4,085 posts
Sep 28, 2010 8:01 PM
^^^^

Lucky fuck
Sep 28, 2010 8:01pm
UA5straightin2008's avatar

UA5straightin2008

WOMP WOMP WOMP

3,246 posts
Sep 28, 2010 9:56 PM
my dad doesnt have either of his acl's in his early thirties, tore them both at the same time, both went all the way down his legs..opted out of the surgery and stayed relatively active for the next 15-20 years
Sep 28, 2010 9:56pm
Hb31187's avatar

Hb31187

Senior Member

8,534 posts
Sep 28, 2010 10:22 PM
Ive had both ACLS reconstructed and im only 23 lol. I feel for you, any questions you have im sure i can answer, twice haha
Sep 28, 2010 10:22pm
M

MontyBrunswick

Sep 28, 2010 11:48 PM
slingshot4ever;500601 wrote: They had taken part of my hamstring to re-construct my knee and they had to do some shock therapy on my hamstring to make that strong again as it was very weak. I will never forget when they put me on a bike and the goal was to do a full spin. I was sometimes able to get near the top of a spin, bt it took about 3-4 weeks before I could stretch the knee enough to get all the way around on the bike.

I'm normally pretty desensitized when it comes to injuries and stuff, but this made me cringe.

Glad I'm lazy and don't do anything that could result in a torn ACL.
Sep 28, 2010 11:48pm
Hb31187's avatar

Hb31187

Senior Member

8,534 posts
Sep 29, 2010 1:04 AM
Both of mine were done with the center 1/3 of the patella tendon to construct the new ACL.


But yes not to give you any horror stories about rehab...but sling shot hit the nail on the head, i was the exact same with the bike, its frustrating as all hell. Also they gave me a machine the DAY i got home from the hospital that iw as suppose to use a few times a day. You basically strapped your leg into it and it bent your knee and straightened it out over and over again...it was hell lol
Sep 29, 2010 1:04am
brutus161's avatar

brutus161

The Navy Guy

1,686 posts
Sep 29, 2010 7:17 AM
I am not taking part of my patella or hamstring, I am getting a tendon from a cadaver. It has a faster recovery time, which is very important when you are in the military.
Sep 29, 2010 7:17am
Speedofsand's avatar

Speedofsand

Troublemaker

5,529 posts
Sep 29, 2010 2:35 PM
Good luck in surgery.
you need to Rehab your knee. Rehab every day until 100% satisfied.
Sep 29, 2010 2:35pm
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slingshot4ever

Senior Member

4,085 posts
Sep 29, 2010 9:25 PM
Hb31187;500956 wrote:Both of mine were done with the center 1/3 of the patella tendon to construct the new ACL.


But yes not to give you any horror stories about rehab...but sling shot hit the nail on the head, i was the exact same with the bike, its frustrating as all hell. Also they gave me a machine the DAY i got home from the hospital that iw as suppose to use a few times a day. You basically strapped your leg into it and it bent your knee and straightened it out over and over again...it was hell lol

I had that machine too. Used it for like 1-2 hours every day while watching TV. I was so proud when I was able to increase the angle that it pushed my knee.
Sep 29, 2010 9:25pm
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slingshot4ever

Senior Member

4,085 posts
Sep 29, 2010 9:31 PM
dlazz;500887 wrote:I'm normally pretty desensitized when it comes to injuries and stuff, but this made me cringe.

Glad I'm lazy and don't do anything that could result in a torn ACL.

My injury was a fluke. I was running a go route and hit an uneven section of the field and it just gave.
Sep 29, 2010 9:31pm
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slingshot4ever

Senior Member

4,085 posts
Sep 29, 2010 9:33 PM
dlazz;500887 wrote:I'm normally pretty desensitized when it comes to injuries and stuff, but this made me cringe.

Glad I'm lazy and don't do anything that could result in a torn ACL.

I used to think to myself "how the hell could it take 9 months to a year for a player to recover from this?" Now I understand what every athlete has to go through that has this injury. Makes me cringe just thinking about it.
Sep 29, 2010 9:33pm
brutus161's avatar

brutus161

The Navy Guy

1,686 posts
Oct 20, 2010 8:26 PM
Surgery was rescheduled for tomorrow. Wish me luck.
Oct 20, 2010 8:26pm
Hb31187's avatar

Hb31187

Senior Member

8,534 posts
Oct 20, 2010 8:29 PM
Good luck....just think, in a few short hours youll have a morphine drip a prescription of Percocet and your significant other or family members to get you anything you can think of.

At least thats what i tried to think about while i laid on the couch after my ACL surgeries lol.
Oct 20, 2010 8:29pm
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sportchampps

Senior Member

7,361 posts
Oct 20, 2010 9:01 PM
Okay I have a ? too. My sister in law tore her ACL about a 10 days ago at some new place in columbus where you can jump on trampolines. They think she also tore her acl mcl pcl and a few other things. She went to the Dr and their not doing the surgery until Mid December. They are sending her to rehab now and letting the swelling continue to go down. I have never heard of such a long time before the surgery is this normal or should she seek a second look at it. She has good insurance so cost wont mean much. It couldnt of happened at a better time for my mom because she has a bulging disc in her back causing pain in her leg so shes getting some pain meds from her.
Oct 20, 2010 9:01pm
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sportchampps

Senior Member

7,361 posts
Oct 21, 2010 11:56 PM
ttt
Oct 21, 2010 11:56pm
brutus161's avatar

brutus161

The Navy Guy

1,686 posts
Oct 22, 2010 7:26 AM
Good news the MRI showed a tear, but when they web in, there was no tear. Just a buck of debris. They cleaned it up, and I had to have nothing more than a simple scope. Ally less recovery time, and all my parts are still intact.
Oct 22, 2010 7:26am
brutus161's avatar

brutus161

The Navy Guy

1,686 posts
Oct 22, 2010 9:10 PM
I'm in the military, I'm always training.
Oct 22, 2010 9:10pm
imex99's avatar

imex99

Senior Member

4,927 posts
Oct 22, 2010 10:30 PM
sportchampps;526612 wrote:Okay I have a ? too. My sister in law tore her ACL about a 10 days ago at some new place in columbus where you can jump on trampolines. They think she also tore her acl mcl pcl and a few other things. She went to the Dr and their not doing the surgery until Mid December. They are sending her to rehab now and letting the swelling continue to go down. I have never heard of such a long time before the surgery is this normal or should she seek a second look at it. She has good insurance so cost wont mean much. It couldnt of happened at a better time for my mom because she has a bulging disc in her back causing pain in her leg so shes getting some pain meds from her.

anything new with this situation?
Oct 22, 2010 10:30pm
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slingshot4ever

Senior Member

4,085 posts
Oct 23, 2010 1:50 AM
sportchampps;526612 wrote:Okay I have a ? too. My sister in law tore her ACL about a 10 days ago at some new place in columbus where you can jump on trampolines. They think she also tore her acl mcl pcl and a few other things. She went to the Dr and their not doing the surgery until Mid December. They are sending her to rehab now and letting the swelling continue to go down. I have never heard of such a long time before the surgery is this normal or should she seek a second look at it. She has good insurance so cost wont mean much. It couldnt of happened at a better time for my mom because she has a bulging disc in her back causing pain in her leg so shes getting some pain meds from her.

Given how much she supposedly tore, I am not that surprised. They probably will want the body to recover somewhat to all of that before they go in....That is a lot more complicated than just an ACL
Oct 23, 2010 1:50am