Had an mri yesterday, i have a torn acl and torn capsulate (or something) at the back of the knee. Im seeing a surgeon next week to discuss surgery. The referring doctor said re constructive surgery is most likely necessary. IM pretty nervous and pissed off at the moment. Has anyone else had similar knee problems or knee surgery?
I’ve had two ACL reconstructions (left and right knees) along with two other knee surgeries. I had them done before I got into weight lifting so I can’t comment on how that has altered lifting. It HAS changed my athletic abilities in sports like football or basketball. The truth is though, I feel, that it has altered my confidence in such a negative way that my play has suffered. I simply won’t do certain slashing, lateral movements or jumps I would’ve in the past… even if I’m still capable.
Having said all that. Do your rehab and go to a physical therapist. You’ll recover fine if you stay on top of it and do everything you’re told. Many people recover just fine from these. Structurally, my left knee (the knee with only 1 surgery) is just fine.
If your ACL is torn, you will for sure need a complete ACL reconstruction, which is usually done with an Achilles tendon (from a cadaver). If you stay on top of your rehab, and do everything the doctor recommends, you will make a full recovery and will have all of the range that you had before.
In a fair amount of cases, repaired ACL’s are actually stronger once they are done. Just be very dedicated to your rehab and the use of your brace.
Operation #1 age 22
Left knee ACL repair
Operation #2 age 25
Right knee torn meniscus repair
Operation #3 age 26
Left knee torn meniscus repair
I was able to play D1 rugby until I was 30 when I fucked up my shoulder beyond effective repair. Do your rehab. I was squatting 405 just fine when I was in peak shape at age 30 after all of the surgeries.
Now that I’m 36 and less active, left knee is like a barometer - it hurts right before it rains, aches in the mornings until I start moving around a bit and gets stiff in the cold. Not bad, but it’s noticeable. I can lift just fine, but I warm up well - just like most guys my age have to.
Don’t worry! Keep your chin up! There is life after a torn ACL! Do your rehab!
i tore my acl mcl and meniscus back in august. surgery in september. been squatting and lunging since november.
it is a huge surgery, and takes a long time before it feels “right”…but i have been pleasantly surprised with how quickly i have been able to return to normal activities.
My friends acl tore in wrestling and she had to have it completely replaced sense the body eats it… took part of her hamstring to do it… also repaired a damaged mcl. Shes still doing rehab but shes only 4ish weeks out of surgery
had my surgery 5 months. I feel completely normal now and I feel faster than ever. I am a d1 athlete and have not been cleared to play though (the minimum for my sport is 6 months).
Each day gets better I promise you, just make sure to work really hard at the beginning for rom stuff, it hurts but you really can’t hurt yourself
I have a funny story about that actually, my trainer told me about a baseball coach who tore his acl (i don’t know how) the day after surgery they told him to work on range of motion so he just reaches back, grabs his foot and does a quad stretch… a day after surgery. The pain must have been unbelievable
I tore my ACL playing indoor soccer a couple years ago. They either use a 1) hamstring graft, where they take a length of hamstring muscle and fold it over, braid it etc. to make a new ligament, 2) they can take the middle third of your patella tendon, 3) shave an Achille’s tendon from a cadaver or 4) use kevlar or some other tough foreign material.
I had a hamstring graft since I thought the muscle would grow back quicker than the patella tendon, which can also cause soreness whenever you kneel. There’s a chance the body will reject the Achille’s tendon and the foreign material route is still fairly new I think, normally used for top level athletes like skiers.
My knee is almost as good as new. Occasionally it gets sore if I haven’t stretched it in a full squat position for a while, but have no problems either mentally or physically playing sport or lifting.
As people have said, make sure you do your recovery exercises so that you regain full flexibility and strength back in it. The harder you work with physio at the start, the easier it’ll be later on.
You will be fine. This procedure is very common and the rehab protocol is very well established. The probability of regaining full joint function is so high that worrying about it is silly. You will be walking in short order and back to normal lifting within a year, back to 100% within 18-20 months. It might hurt a little more than normal when you get older, but that’s not worth worrying about at this point.
angry chicken how bad was the meniscus surgery?
The posts are reassuring. I’m having reconstruction done Feb 17. Going the cadaver route.
I had the pattellar ACL graft about 15 weeks ago. Just starting to get back into moderate weights for squatting (275 triple) and running and jumping. Like someone else said, it gets a little better everyday.
Good luck
[quote] Matt wrote:
I had the pattellar ACL graft about 15 weeks ago. Just starting to get back into moderate weights for squatting (275 triple) and running and jumping. Like someone else said, it gets a little better everyday.
Good luck[/quote]
A buddy of mine had the same done last year. He said after about 90 days he felt like he had a brand new knee, but if he pushed a little too hard, it reminded him by hurting for the next 3-4 days. He says that for everyday things it’s 100%, but he has a custom knee brace that costs like $700 for skiing and football.
I tore my acl, mcl, and the meniscus two years ago. Had the surgery with a patella tendon graft. I was religious with my rehab and am better than I was before the surgery. My strength is back, I can still squat, leg ext, anything. Doesnt interfere with any sports I play and never bothers me. That is my experience. Took about a year to be back to full strength though, rehab is long.