| Author |
Topic: Coming Back after ACL Surgery ? |
Riley1
Member |
 posted Jan-16-2007 04:14 PM
  
I am off the crutches! 4.5 weeks! Whew! It is strange and uncomfortable but, I can CARRY stuff! It looks more like a knee (half the calf size of the other one.....looks pretty funny!)Thanks for letting me whine about the crutches, I was being such a baby! Heather
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crawdad
Member |
posted Jan-19-2007 06:17 AM
I had my 3rd ACL repair 5 months ago and I am having a rough time. I am really limping and the pain is actually getting worse.My doctor is sending me for a MRI because he thinks that
I may have a stress fracture. I'm wondering if the stress fracture could have been caused by the surgery. They removed an old staple from a previous surgery and I know they can be pretty hard to get out. any ideas? This is really getting depressing.
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dskier21
Member |
posted Jan-21-2007 08:24 PM
hi all, has anyone had arthoscopy surgery for scoping of scar tissue? just trying to see what you recovery was like. i have my scoping surgery tuesday which is almost 4 months from my original ACL reconstruction, partial lateral meniscus removal, and repair of medial meniscus, thanks in advance, everyone hang in there...
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dc76
Member |
posted Feb-01-2007 11:41 AM
dskier-
I know you're probably not in the mood to post on a message board this soon after surgery, but just wanted to check in to see how you were doing? Hopefully all went well and you are recovering smoothly.
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OSNitro
Member |
posted Feb-10-2007 10:23 AM
hey guys,
i haven't been around for at least 6 months now....but i have news and hope for those of you who tore ACLs and aren't marathon runners. i tore my ACL playing basketball and had surgery in Jan of 06 (hamstring graft). Unfortunately it was a season-ending injury. But my coach gave me the opportunity to come back to play basketball the following season (although I had graduated), and so I had a lot of recovering to do in those 9 months.
I did a little bit of running, but mostly stretching and strength training, and i was fitted for a brace. In sept, i began playing basketball. I was nervous. I was scared to pivot, & had trouble driving to the basket, but slowly w/ time and patience (seems to be the key word), I was becoming my old, fearless self again.
Now, it is Feb, 1 year and 1 month after surgery. I still wear the brace (probably more for psychological reasons), but I can drive to the hoop, take charges, sprint, and jump fine. I may not be as fast as i used to be, but that doesn't stop me. I start every game and my team is 20-1.
My knee is sore at times, and I ice it after every game/practice regardless.
So i have to say this: feeling nervous about returning to sports is ok, but don't let it keep you from trying. It is do-able to return 100% (or close to) from an ACL injury. Just hang in there, and have some freakin patience 
i love this thread, and i hope everyone is doing well and accomplishing their dreams.
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Grasshopper
Member |
posted Mar-02-2007 11:54 AM
Hello Everyone, Just recently came across this discussion board and it has been very helpful..thank you to everyone that has contributred. I tore my ACL, severly sprained my MCL, pulled my hamstring and ripped my medial meniscus. The incident occured while jogging with my labrador the day after Thanksgiving 2006. I tripped on her leash. As soon as I went down I knew something serious had happened as I could not place any weight on my right leg..it was trashed. I am a 39 year old male...I was in the best shape of my life at the time of the accident and would lift weights and run regularly probably avaraging 30-35 miles a week. After the incident the incident I went straight to the er and within one week was visiting the OS with the MRI pics...he gave me the bad news and I decided to move forward and get the surgery as I enjoy an active lifestyle. The Surgery was 12/18/06 I had an Allograft and a partial removal of my medial meniscus. 12/27/06 I began physical therapy and felt like I was progressing nicely. Anyway, on 3/5/07 I will be 10 weeks out from my surgery. I have little to no pain in my knee just some stiffness. I have most of my range of motion back bending my knee to about 135. Where I am having an issue is straightening the leg and getting my knee to lock in place. I can straighten the leg to 0 and close to negative 1, but I can not get it to lock completely like the good knee. Am I expecting too much at 10 weeks? Generally how long did it take to lock your knee completely? Currently I am doing PT at home 30 - 45 minutes in the morning and evening mostly straight leg raises with a 6lb ankle weight and various stretches 6 days a week. I also started back at the gym working on the upper body and doing 2.5 miles in 30 minutes on the elyptical 4 days a week. I do take one day a week off. Any info or advice anyone can provide is greatly appreciated. Good luck to all of you in recovering from this injury.
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swbgal
Cool Runner |
posted Mar-02-2007 12:07 PM
Hi Grasshopper,I have been in your same shoes, I had surgery 8/1/06 and my knee would not lock out either, my OS went in again on 9/1/06 and scraped out some scar tissue and made the knotch at my acl larger. It really loosened my knee up a lot. I had acl reconstruction and menescus repair. I finally got my release from the doctor on 1/9/07 and have now begun to run again. I am training for a 10k on 3/31 and my weekly milage is back up to 20mpw. So hang in there, keep doing your pt, it seems really slow as you go through it, but each day is closer to being back to your normal lifestyle.
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kpoppers7
Member |
posted Mar-04-2007 11:11 AM
Hello Grasshopper,
Getting your extention back is probably one of the most challanging things. Something that helped for me was lying on my stomach letting my legs hang off a table, then putting an ankle weight on my surgical leg to help pull it down. Just stick with your PT and exercises! Best of Luck
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skypenny
Cool Runner |
posted Mar-05-2007 09:58 AM
Hi Grasshopper - You definitley found some friends on this site - we have all been "there" and are still "there" . You sound like you are doing great. Working on upper body was what saved me form going crazy in the beginining. I still lift regularly and now I even have soem arm definition (before I was just a pair of legs) . Your (almsot) full extension will definitely come back - it comes back gangbusters at first, then in slower increments. I was stuck at 85% (which is what OS told me is the goal and all you really need to do most thigns) up until about a month ago and then I noticed I could actually squat down. Just keep pluggin away and make the PT exercises part of your life. I am actaully in better shape, overall, than I was befoer the accident even though I don't run the big miles I used to (every tiome I try I get injured somewhere on that leg.) Keep us posted.
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Grasshopper
Member |
posted Mar-05-2007 12:03 PM
Thank you for your encouragement knoppers7, skypenny and
swbgal. Good to know that if I keep up with the PT I will get my extension back. Today is exactly 10 weeks since the surgery..I was getting concerned that I can only extend my leg a little past 0 into a -1. At what point does full extension or Knee lock out occur. I do my PT in the am and pm and go to the gym regularly using the elyptical, treadmill, and bike, have not started joging yet, but I am up to a fast walk and did 2.5 miles this morning on the tread mill at an incline. I guess I am just being impatient and expecting too much too soon. I will continue to follow the advice of my PT and not over do it. Skypenny I have tried to squat cant get my heels to my rear end yet , but it is getting closer...was hoping the 6-9 months my PT said I would need to get back was an exageration...looking more like he was serious..Good luck to everyone going throught this..Stay motivated and keep plugging away! Great to have everyone here to share with.
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swbgal
Cool Runner |
posted Mar-05-2007 04:16 PM
Skypenny - thanks for sharing your injury. I have not yet been able to squat down, it's one of the few things that has been bothering me, even though I am back running and mostly normal.
But I will be patient, I believe it will come.Sometime it is so hard to think that an injury can happen so quickly and yet take so longggggg to recover. Thanks all !
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kpoppers7
Member |
posted Mar-05-2007 09:37 PM
It is almost 6 months for me (march 12) and honestly I still cant squat down to my heels comfortably either. I guess we all just have to keep in mind that old tale of the turtle and the hare. If you go too fast and take shortcuts it won't pay off, however, if you take your time and stick to it like the turtle, then you WILL make it across the finish line!
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skypenny
Cool Runner |
posted Mar-06-2007 10:01 AM
I just realized that I was confusing extension and flexion - it is my flexion that got stuck at 85%anyway - what I meant is you don't get the full ROM for a while. I will be 2 years out from surgery this May. My knee still feels "tight" but other than that - business as usual. I would like, however, to hear from others who have successfully trained for a marathon after ACL. What did you do different ? I have been reinjured (non-ACL but same leg) twice in an atttempt to do so, using my same old training routine, and have just sort of let it go at this point. (Maybe it' s my age and not my knee.)
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APILOT
Member |
posted Mar-12-2007 08:43 AM
HI! I was searching for info on ACL rehab and found your site. I am a female, early 40's, and I tore my ACL 17 years ago. At the time, the doctor said I would be better off strengthening and not having surgery. Finally last year I got tired of not being able to play tennis well, and had the ACl replaced. I had a meniscus tear done at the same time. Now I am finding that I cannot correct my gait. I did very little running for years, but I have really worked on rehab. My legs are stronger than they've ever been-- but I am still running with a lopsided gait-- maybe all those years of compensating? Anyone have any suggestions? They released me from PT after 12 weeks--told me I was a stellar patient-- but I just don't feel 100% and I definitely still favor the "bad" leg, though I don't realize it until I look in the mirror. There is also some pain when I play tennis and kick when scuba diving. The doctor said this was normal and tp just keep working.
I'd appreciate any advice.
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skypenny
Cool Runner |
posted Mar-12-2007 09:55 AM
APILOT - my suggestion it to find a good foot guy who understands runners and who will fit you for some new soft full-length orthotics. I am getting some next month. I had old hard half-foot ones from my pre-ACL days that new foot guy said were not accounting for the subtle change in gait from the reconstruction. It sounds logical. Skypenny
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marathonskier11
Member |
posted Mar-14-2007 12:43 PM
To all of you on this thread... THANK YOU!!!I tore my ACL, fractured my tibia plateau, and sprained the MCL and PCL on 1/25/07 while ski patrolling. I had surgery (allograft) yesterday. I am a 43 year old like a motor boat in a bathtub!!! I am going stir crazy. I have run 3 Chicago Marathons and can't wait to run the next. I will continue to read your replies and post my progress. What is the most optimistic prognosis for running my next marathon? Should I forget about the 30 year anniversary this October 2007? Thank you.
------------------
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sammy0616
Member |
posted Mar-14-2007 10:43 PM
I tore my ACL and meniscus and had surgery. I went to PT for about a year...had difficulty in the 1st 3 months trying to get my knee to bend. It definitely takes a lot of time to recover. I didn't get back into sports until a year after I completed PT. Part of it was just nerves. I say take it slow, make sure you are fully recovered.
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Ikari
Member |
posted Mar-15-2007 10:03 AM
Its good to see a thread like this, i just had ACL reconstruction 9 days ago. I had my foot very swollen a couple days ago, it got better now but seems like just after getting better i started feeling pain near the ankle and a bit of redness on the skin.
I had redness and pain on the back of the calf too but its getting better, the redness there is almost all gone and the pain got better.
Now my foot seems to hurt more after getting less swollen.
Anyone had similar experiences? Sorry my poor english.The knee itself feels a lot better, no redness near it too.
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WolfpackM1
Member |
posted Mar-15-2007 01:41 PM
Hi all. . I've read these posts and glad to here lots of people are recovering from ACL surgery and running again. I wanted to post this not to be negative, but to present the failure side (10%-20%) of ACL surgery. My situation is in the minority, but please be advised that in not picking a GOOD surgeon and some bad luck can do. I had my first ACL surgery Dec 2005. Two weeks after the surgery my PT said it was not right and to go to my surgeon and ensure he felt things were good. After 5 months of intense rehab, my surgeon finally came clean and admitted my surgery was a failure. During this time due I had caused damage to other prts of the knee. I went to another very well respected surgeon in Phoenix and Nov 2006 and had my 2nd ACL surgery. Since the second suregry I have has intense pain and even 4 months out use crutches to walk. I'm been told I will never run again, plus walking for any distance is also out of the question. I have intense pain and swelling just sitting with my knee bent so even though I sit at a desk I am not able to work. So please anyone considering fixing your ACL: 1) Go to different surgeons and ask their opionions, before picking one. 2) Don't go with a surgeon because he seems the nicest or tells you what you want to hear. Go with the one who tells you what you need to hear. 3) Don't worry about recovering fast, just recover right. Why try to come back months or weeks earlier when you could have a worthless knee for life as a result.
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WolfpackM1
Member |
posted Mar-15-2007 01:43 PM
Hi all. . I've read these posts and glad to here lots of people are recovering from ACL surgery and running again. I wanted to post this not to be negative, but to present the failure side (10%-20%) of ACL surgery. My situation is in the minority, but please be advised that in not picking a GOOD surgeon and some bad luck can do. I had my first ACL surgery Dec 2005. Two weeks after the surgery my PT said it was not right and to go to my surgeon and ensure he felt things were good. After 5 months of intense rehab, my surgeon finally came clean and admitted my surgery was a failure. During this time due I had caused damage to other prts of the knee. I went to another very well respected surgeon in Phoenix and Nov 2006 and had my 2nd ACL surgery. Since the second suregry I have has intense pain and even 4 months out use crutches to walk. I'm been told I will never run again, plus walking for any distance is also out of the question. I have intense pain and swelling just sitting with my knee bent so even though I sit at a desk I am not able to work. So please anyone considering fixing your ACL: 1) Go to different surgeons and ask their opionions, before picking one. 2) Don't go with a surgeon because he seems the nicest or tells you what you want to hear. Go with the one who tells you what you need to hear. 3) Don't worry about recovering fast, just recover right. Why try to come back months or weeks earlier when you could have a worthless knee for life as a result.
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sharp76
Member |
posted Apr-13-2007 01:34 PM
quote:
Originally posted by AuntFeffie:
andrewp, my suggestion is be read through this whole site and take what you can from the sharing that has gone on and then share what you are going through specifically with us so that we can encourage you. Your physical therapist (PT) and orthopaedic surgeon (OS) are going to be your best resources for your specific situation. However, you have great goals in mind, and, in my opinion, reachable. Be sure to do all...all...all the exercises that are recommended to do beginning with day 1 and do not do more than they tell you. Especially in early post op, more is not better. Check with your PT about all that you feel capable of doing. Take one day at a time, too. ACL rehab is not for the faint of heart, and may very well test you. You will get better, but it is a process. Sounds like you are competitive and love sports. If you rehab well, then you will come back stronger; however, the competitive spirit that we have can push us too fast or make us feel discouraged. I am 3 months post op with hamstring graft and a medial meniscus repair. I was non-weight bearing for 30 days which set me back in PT (and optimistically) especially when I compared myself with others (remember that comparing is not a good thing). However, here I am about to go to my OS next week for my 3rd month check, and I finally have full ROMand can now concentrate on greater resistance, strength, and endurance(on the bike). I am thrilled! Running for me will not be in a few months, but many start before I will be able to, and it sounds like you will be earlier, too.
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sharp76
Member |
posted Apr-13-2007 01:40 PM
quote:
Originally posted by AuntFeffie:
andrewp, my suggestion is be read through this whole site and take what you can from the sharing that has gone on and then share what you are going through specifically with us so that we can encourage you. Your physical therapist (PT) and orthopaedic surgeon (OS) are going to be your best resources for your specific situation. However, you have great goals in mind, and, in my opinion, reachable. Be sure to do all...all...all the exercises that are recommended to do beginning with day 1 and do not do more than they tell you. Especially in early post op, more is not better. Check with your PT about all that you feel capable of doing. Take one day at a time, too. ACL rehab is not for the faint of heart, and may very well test you. You will get better, but it is a process. Sounds like you are competitive and love sports. If you rehab well, then you will come back stronger; however, the competitive spirit that we have can push us too fast or make us feel discouraged. I am 3 months post op with hamstring graft and a medial meniscus repair. I was non-weight bearing for 30 days which set me back in PT (and optimistically) especially when I compared myself with others (remember that comparing is not a good thing). However, here I am about to go to my OS next week for my 3rd month check, and I finally have full ROMand can now concentrate on greater resistance, strength, and endurance(on the bike). I am thrilled! Running for me will not be in a few months, but many start before I will be able to, and it sounds like you will be earlier, too.
How are you doing now? My daughter had ACL plus meniscus repair. It has been 61/2 months now. She missed most of her VB and all of BB season and track. Hopefully she will be cleared in a couple of weeks so she can participate in summer leagues. Its been a real struggle as she really wanted to get back into the games, but doctor would not clear her. Any advise?
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Vttarheel
Member |
posted Apr-13-2007 02:53 PM
hi everyone. This thread has been very encouraging to a fellow ACL tear-er. In April of 2005 I was dropped from 9 feet in the air (competitive college cheerleading) and tore my ACL, MCL, LCL, meniscus, cartilidge, and most of the tendons in my left knee. THE most painful experience of my life, by far. I was on crutches for over 3 months, had the reconstructive surgery, and was in PT for just shy of 6 months. Nearing the end of 2005 I was determined to set a goal and keep it- you tend to do that when you realize that even the most basic of all things (like walking) can be stripped from you in a second. I decided, with the support of a friend, to run a half-marathon. I graduated from college, came home and we began training. Following reconstructive knee surgery your training plan looks more like 3 ibuprofen, ice, and 3 mile runs than anything else. BUT, I did it. I ran the 13 mile race and told everyone I knew that I had run a HALFMARATHON! I was ok until the last 4 or 5 miles and crossed the finish line with more than a lopsided gait. I got very sick following the race and took 6 months off, but I'm back to training again- this time with a marathon goal in mind! My knee still hurts and my left quad is still considerably skinnier than my right quad but I can't wait to cross that marathon finish-line. If I can run 13 miles after a knee injury like I had, I can certainly do anything... right?! =) Thanks for the encouraging stories!
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Vttarheel
Member |
posted Apr-13-2007 02:56 PM
hi everyone. This thread has been very encouraging to a fellow ACL tear-er. In April of 2005 I was dropped from 9 feet in the air (competitive college cheerleading) and tore my ACL, MCL, LCL, meniscus, cartilidge, and most of the tendons in my left knee. THE most painful experience of my life, by far. I was on crutches for over 3 months, had the reconstructive surgery, and was in PT for just shy of 6 months. Nearing the end of 2005 I was determined to set a goal and keep it- you tend to do that when you realize that even the most basic of all things (like walking) can be stripped from you in a second. I decided, with the support of a friend, to run a half-marathon. I graduated from college, came home and we began training. Following reconstructive knee surgery your training plan looks more like 3 ibuprofen, ice, and 3 mile runs than anything else. BUT, I did it. I ran the 13 mile race and told everyone I knew that I had run a HALFMARATHON! I was ok until the last 4 or 5 miles and crossed the finish line with more than a lopsided gait. I got very sick following the race and took 6 months off, but I'm back to training again- this time with a marathon goal in mind! My knee still hurts and my left quad is still considerably skinnier than my right quad but I can't wait to cross that marathon finish-line. If I can run 13 miles after a knee injury like I had, I can certainly do anything... right?! =) Thanks for the encouraging stories!
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AuntFeffie
Member |
posted Apr-20-2007 03:26 PM
Dear Sharp76,
The main advice I can offer is to take the time now to rehab correctly. Impatience has been the regret of many. The ACL/meniscus repair leg must be as strong as the other before participating in the cutting type sports. The joint at this time of 6 1/2 months is well on its way, but the muscles might still need some more work. Then when finally cleared by the dr, some of us have experienced hesitation from a mental/emotional side. Going slowly here is also important, but we must also go through this hesitation to show ourselves that we can now participate. It is a fine line sometimes. I am so glad to hear that your daughter wants to get back to her sports. Sports are so wonderful in life. It is very hard to be on the sidelines. I encourage her to do what she can...the bike, the treadmill, even some outside track running (even surfaces), weights. Try to add the sense of competition that is missing from the sports in other areas of life for now...grades (I don't know how old she is), games, other hobbies. But don't wallow and pick up bad habits during this down (and sometimes, boring) time. I know it is not the same, but we competitors need something!Please keep me posted on how she is doing. I have not been on this site for quite awhile, but I know that the encouragement I have gotten from the folks here (whether responding to me, to another, or just sharing) has been a life line for me in my 9 months post op! God Bless.
Aunt Feffie
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