ACL Stories

After a skiing accident, I tore my left ACL back in '97 and had it replaced with a portion of my patellar tendon. I had also torn some ligaments which were sewn back on. Since I was and am very active, I too felt this was the best option and it was. The first week was tough post surgery but quite honestly I have no regrets. Physical therapy is a must and again, after the first week, it just got better and better. I was back skiing a year later with no pain. Just listen to the doctors and do the physical therapy...good luck!

I had ACL surgery 13 years ago. I played basketball in high school, which is how my injury occured. The surgery wasn't as bad as I thought. The rehab was quite challenging. I do not want to scare you, but it was painful. I will say this, make sure to finish your rehab! I was an 18 year old who had better things to do and I am not paying for it. I never really got my knee up to full strength and now I have a lot of creaking and really uncomfortable days. I recently went to the doctor to make sure i hadn't reinjured it, it seems to be going fine. A lot of my issues now are due to my age, how long it has been, etc. They suggested just doing exercises to get my knee strong again.
I have rambled for awhile now. Good luck with the surgery and make sure you have plenty of help. I was surprised at how painful it was to just do simple things even on crutches.

Leta,

I am a 28 year old gal who tore her ACL last year playing competitive volleyball. I went up to go hit the ball and the girl trying to block me came down underneath the net on my foot and I fell down screaming. I am pretty athletic and in decent shape. I did 1 month of rehab before surgery and then 6 months afterwards. I am 100% again with no problems.

I only had to wear a brace for about 3-4 months. The more in shape you are, the easier the recovery. Doctors estimate that if you are in really good shape, you will recover in about 6-8 months. Otherwise it can take up to a year or so. I will tell you, the aftermath of the surgery was awful! If you do have surgery, make sure someone is around to help you for about a week! Getting around on your own is really hard. Especially when you go to therapy 2 days after surgery and tehy start trying to bend your swollen knee! I am not trying to scare you, but just want you to be ready for that! They say that you can go on with not having surgery, but if you want to continue soccer, then you might want to consider it.

Dr. Marciniak of Castle Orthopedics in Aurora did my surgery. He did really really well. His nurse, Tom was awesome too. I did my rehab with AthletiCo on Eola with Jen. She is the best! Work hard and you will be pleased with your results!

Good luck!
C. J.

Leta, I am am athletic trainer and have done numerous rehabs on numerous ACL repairs. Everything from patella tendon grafts, hamstring tendon, and cadavar repairs. Each type has its own drawbacks. Rehab is difficult, but if you do the pre-surgery rehab you'll be in a much better place after surgery. The exercises you do before surgery will be some of the same that you do after surgery, if you do them now you'll know what they are supposed to look like and have a better understanding of them. I am very biased, but I work for a great company called Athletico we have over 42 locations across the Chicagoland area and work with all the local professional teams. (like my plug)

The key is to work hard in rehab and push yourself, you'll have good days and bad, but the harder you work, the better results you'll get and your knee will actually feel better. As as active individual it sounds like surgery is the best option, you saw what happen with Tiger Woods when he opted to not have surgery in the beginnning.

I wish you all the best, and if you have any others questions please let me know.

i had torn my acl 5 years ago playing softball. since i play softball, fastpitch in addition to slow pitch, and coach gymnastics, and work int he OR, not all at one time! but i am also very active. i worked my booty off in pre surgery Physical therapy, and had 90% mobility day 4 post op. i had to work really really hard to get back to the strength. but you get what you put in. i started running about3 months post op, with a brace of course. i had an allograft. that is a donor achilles tendon that is implanted as my acl. i had a great surgeon, and i hand picked him since i work in the operating room. feel free to email me with any more questions you may have.
____@____.com
good luck
if you are looking for less recovery, isuggest the allograft.

Hi Leta - so sorry this happened to you! I tore my ACL 3 yrs ago and had a cadaver ligament. It was a quick recovery actually. I did PT before the surgery to really build up the muscles and then did 4 mos of rehab. I was very diligent about the PT and keeping my quad/hamstrings strong. 4 mos after the surgery I was running again, and felt 100% about 9 mos post-op. If you can, request the Game Ready for the 2 wks after the surgery - it's a compression/ice machine that kept the swelling down and helped managed the pain (I can't take pain medication, so it was that and advil!). Good luck - it's tough those first few weeks but you'll be back on your feet soon enough!

My daughter had her ACL repaired last year. It was accompanied by a meniscus (sp?) repair and a bone shaving. She had it done at Condell in Libertyville and her Dr. was Dr. T. Baier. She was an outpatient and I brought her home 2 hours after surgery. She had a pain pump in for 48 hours and a "polar care" ice water pump (something like a thermos with a pad attached that continously pumped ice water into the pad and around her knee). She was on a two medications. One was Ultram and the other Flexeril (besides her antibiotic). She had so little pain that we had to cut back on her meds because she was trying to walk on the leg the night of surgery. Her recovery was uneventful and relatively pain free. She had a hamstring tendon transplant and I was glad we chose that over the cadaver tendon, as we heard later that there were issues with cadaver tendons. It does take a little longer for the hamstring type of surgery. All in all, I would recommend this surgery (with all the treatments my little girl had) to anyone. My daughter may have to do it again with the other knee and she is all for the surgery. Quite a statement for someone who complains forever about the pain of a zit. I do have to say one thing, however, Take your medication for pain around the clock for the first 48 to 72 hours. It makes all the difference in the world.

Sorry to hear, that stinks!!

Since you're young and active, I would recommend going to an ortho that specializes in sports - their practices tend to be more aggressive and definitely more current as they work on athletes - they can also help get you back to 100% more quickly than say a person who works on people who are older. I had Dr. Steven Levin at Evanston Northwestern do mine. He was cocky, but for a reason- he was very good. He does work for the Blackhawk and Bulls players in addition to several rugby clubs.

Anyway, I too am alergic to all narcotics. I didn't have a ton of pain, but did have a pain pump that was inserted in my knee that kept the area numb for the first 48 hours. It worked wonderfully! After that, I survived on Excedrin and Excedrin PM.

Couple things to consider: if you use your own graft material (patellar tendon) the healing process is longer because they've created another place that needs to heal in addition to the ACL replacement. (It was a longer healing process for me, but minimal risk of infection, I knew my own material was safe and my body wouldn't reject it.) I obviously can't speak to the other methods.

I had the bendy machine and had to sit in it for 6 hours a day so I'd rent and watch a lot of movies which helped knock out two hours at a time (Netflix or Blockbuster home is a good source since it's done online and through the mail).

The ice machine is a wonderful invention too! It's essentially a cooler that plugs in and has a wrap that you put on your knee with tubing. You fill the cooler with ice and cold water and it's pumped through the tubes keeping things continually comfortable. We would freeze water in tupperware containers that could be popped out into the cooler - but stayed frozen longer since they were much larger than ice cubes.

Get books, magazines, and if you can, a laptop nearby. My husband had me set up on the living room floor in front of the couch so I could spread out and relax throughout the day and get in and out of the bendy machine on my own. I would also take breaks and sit on the couch or recliner (with a lot of pillows under my knee and leg.)

See if you can rehab for a month prior to surgery to help build up muscle since you'll most likely experience atrophy. Shoes you can slip on are helpful too as you won't be able to bend for a bit to tie them. And remember, you don't have to totally love your surgeon - you have to love your rehab people since you work with them the most. Just make sure the doctor (and his/her nurse) is good and experienced. If you need more info or have specific questions, pm me.

Good luck and remember that in the early days and weeks of rehab, it's two steps forward, one step back. It's hard and sometimes dark, but you will get through it.

I tore my ACL about 6 years ago and did not have surgery to reconstruct as I am not active in any side/side motion. My input is simply to say that Athletico was awesome on the rehab that I did have. Since they train real athletes (my guy worked with some of the pro teams around here) they really know their stuff. They were also very good about schedules...I had a 18 month old and they would open up at 5:45 so I could get in my rehab before my husband left for work. Good luck to you!!!!!!

I tore my acl on my left knee and waited about a year to repair it. I was in denial the whole time, and even when I walked into surgery I was convinced they would see that I was just fine! I wish I would have done it sooner. My left knee is actually more stable than my right now! I pronate inward a great deal and I learned alot about overcoming that through the course of my rehab. I was in it for about 6 months. I turned into more like personal training for me, but I didn't mind because I got great instruction (that was covered by insurance!).

My son had ACL reconstruction 5 years ago with Dr. Bush-Joseph of Midwest Orthopedics after a wrestling injury. It was reassurring that the Dr had had ACL repair on BOTH of his own knees at different times. Icing & elevation are key to relieve post-op discomfort. He was also prescribed Vicodin. He had 6 months of physical therapy twice a week with Athletico. Now his knee is stronger than ever.
I wish you a speedy recovery!

I tore both my right and left ACL and had reconstructive knee surgeries on both of them. I also went through rehab before and after both surgeries which was not that bad. I agree that having surgery is the best option especially if you are an active individual with kids and want to continue to be active. I am very active and continue to enjoy sports, running, etc.

Leta:
WOW, you still play soccer. Kudos to you! My daughter, just turned 14 right after her ACL surgery on Apr 2nd. The damage was worse than expected and 2 other tears had to be mended as well. We went with Northwest Orthopedic surgeons and we also were recommended to IL Bone and Joint on Milwaukee Avenue. All very good doctors. You will need someone to help you for at minimum the first week. You won't be able to move much and will be in a lot of pain. My daughter is a tough cookie but this was unbearable for her. I heard that this was worse than having a baby. OK, just to put it into perspective for you. It's not fun and you should have very comfy and easy to get in and out of clothes as well. You won't be showering for a few days and if you are on pain meds, you won't want to do anything but stay in bed all day. My daughter needed morphine for about 12+ hours and then they weaned her off and gave her other pain meds that needed to be upped so please take into consideration that you will be totally out of commission for several days and your son will not be able to come near that leg!

You have to wear hose too to keep the swelling down and that water pump that circulates around the area for pain and swelling is a must. I think they give it to everyone!

Know that you will be going through a long haul of rehab and talk straight to your doctor on what you can do as far as lifting, driving, etc. I'll bet it's not as soon as you think. I pray for a speedy recovery but just know it's not like breaking a bone. My daughter is in 3 days of rehab plus daily exercising for 5 months and that doesn't guarantee that she will get into fall sports.

You will have to do rehab BEFORE surgery to build up your muscles around the area as being in a brace afterwards will not allow you much flexibility and your muscles need to be strong before they perform. It is a very common surgery but the rehab is long and the time after surgery is painful but does get better with every day. I went through every minute of the day and night with my daughter for several days. I was exhausted and it pained me to see her the way she was but she is coming along fine and is now riding a bike and able to go swimming. I suggest doing this well before the winter comes. Best of luck to you as well. Make sure you have good vitamins to take before and after. I can make some product recommendations to you as I am in the health and wellness industry. You will need to put oil on your healing wounds daily to make the scaring less intense and do massaging so the new tissue doesn't get bumpy underneath. Please email me any time if you have any other questions, concerns or need suggestions. Again, my best to you but get help line up now!

K.

I tore my acl (and medial and lateral sp?/collateral) a few years ago. I waited a couple of weeks before having the surgery and worked with physical therapy to build my quads and upper arm strength. I had total reconstruction, with immediate cpm machine hrs and immediate PT. The first week was tough, but I am allergic to vicodan, codeine, demeral, etc., so could only take tylenol - didn't touch the pain! I worked with PT 3 times a week for a couple of months and truly carried out the exercises at home as well. If I tore my other knee, I would do the same schedule again.

I tore my ACL about 5-6 years ago. I had surgery to repair it using a ligament from a cadaver so they wouldn't have to take one of my own from another location. I have to say it took AT LEAST 2-3 years before it felt almost 100%. I take water aerobics and yoga now and still have to be careful as every once in a while it still bothers me. I would love to go downhill skiing again, but I'm scared to death it will blow out again. It just doesn't feel stable enough for that.
The surgery and recovery were very painful, much worse than I expected, and I've had several surgeries in my life. Therapy wasn't pleasant either, but I would never be able to do the things I do today without it. I know I don't sound very positive, but I want you to know it isn't going to be an instant fix. Eventually it should be worth it, but you have a long road ahead of you. Good luck!

My niece tore her ACL about 4 years ago and had surgery. Not the right surgery and it retore. They told her that that was normal. So she just made due with the brace and played intermural soccer at University until she completely tore it again. Found out the she was attached by a string. She had the surgery done at Clemson, SC (Oconee Memorial), I don't know the doctor but my nephew also had his done in May. My mother who is 70 is is going in for a knee replacement. So far everyone is healing great. My niece skated with us 8 miles a day when I was down there in June. I basically am suggesting that you find an excellent doctor who specializes in it. The first surgery my niece had was not good and they paid a bunch of money with it. At Clemson they were dealing with a football player who became a surgeon who worked with Athletes....They told them it was imperative to have the surgery done.