ACL surgery

Hey Guys,

Just a quick one for you experts out there.

I am booked in for acl reconstruction next Tuesday and am wondering how anyone whom has had this surgery have recovered.

I am getting a patella graft on my right knee.

I play high level sports including soccer, gaa football and hurling.

I really just want to know what the level is like when you return to sport, I know alot depends on the person and the rehab which I will have no problem focusing on!!!

Any advice on nutrition also would be great and advice in general, really appreciate all your comments.

Stay classy

Hi again,

Just filling everyone in on my op.
So I am now 14 days post op and have to say i feel great.
Still a bit of stiffness when bending but can straighten leg and bear weight no problem.
Was off crutches after 5 days so all is going well, once I dont get carried away and push to hard.
I have had a few physio sessions and they are happy with the progress Ice and elevate is key!!
Basically had the op on a Tuesday in SSC, stayed in overnight 0 pain, knee was all numb (still is on outside!) went home , first night home was difficult to sleep, a bit a pain etc.
Have not looked back since, absolutely flying.
Meeting surgeon tomorrow to remove stiches then let the pool rehab begin!!
Anyway from my own point of view I had no pain and would not fear this op again its just the rehab is the long part!!
Will keep you ACL heads posted!!

Hey everyone!I know it's yeeeears from the thread but I've just come across it! I need an acl reconstruction if I want to play soccer again. Im 23 and im devastated! I've just had my meniscus fixed last week and hoping to get the reconstruction done too if my club's insurance will cover it.

Assuming they do, the next thing for me is to decide when to get it done. This is where I'm looking for advice. I can't take any more time off work and my next time off is 2 weeks in april. After that my next time off would be the months of july and August.

I've been told it can be 9 to 12 months before im back playing so obviously id rather have it in april as id then be back sooner than if I have it in July. But is two weeks off enough time to then return to work. I know the nature of work is a factor so I am a montessori teacher. Any advice/persona stories appreciated. Thanks. oh also my surgeon is shea o flanagan anyone any correspondence with him?

11amie11, I'll fill you in on my op;

I had patella tendon graft on right knee done in SSC on 21/01/2014.
I had meniscus repair on 21/12/2013, had a month to build muscle for acl recon op.
So I stayed in for one night, no pain, knee completely numb, felt good. Was discharged next day and went home to rest. I was on crutches for 4-5 days and started to get off them, its better so my muscles in the leg would not die completely.
I was off work until the following Tuesday, 1 week, but I stayed in the office for probably a month after that.

Week 2: Gym, pool mainly stretching and upper body, no leg work, was still a bit unstable on knee and was very careful.

Week 3: Gym, bit of leg work, a lot more movement bend and straightening. Physio had look, very happy full ROM etc.

Week 4-6: Gym, Minimal swelling, started stationary bike low resistance, pool walking etc. Had electric treatment on knee to get rid of swelling. Bit of pain occasionally.

Week 7-8: A lot more leg work, glute and hip work. Squats, single leg squats, lunges etc. Slight pain developing in hip on side of injured leg. working on balance, very poor!!

Week 9: Leg work, stretching, hip and glute activation, road bike, slow jogging on road, not too much as knee feels it alot more. Physio appointment, working on single leg stance on bosu ball. Started to jump from height landing and sitting into land so as not to put pressure on knee more so on bum area.
Very happy with progress. Slight/constant pain now and again on knee depending on the daily activities.

Week 10: Current week, feel great, leg muscle still not the same, trying to get there. Have 2 D Iso Testing on week 12 with physio, this will help guide on rehab.
Hopefully all will be ok, I am not going to be back playing hurling or football until at least month 9 and even at that I will be careful, no competitive games but I will begin training and constantly looking after and working on knee.

It is slow but it is not as bad as expected provided It never happens again!! I am trying to develop other areas of my game now in terms of upper body strength and conditioning. Can't wait to kick a ball again, will try and develop left leg(bad side) kicking.

Other than that guys, I feel good, always conscious of the knee and careful, but getting stronger and stronger day by day, doing alot of cycling which is ok.

Will keep you guys in the loop.

Hi,

I'm after rupturing my ACL also, can anyone recommend someone who works out of Santry sports clinic and a public hospital, its just my personal insurance will only cover the surgery from a public hospital. Iv been looking at going to Michael Donnelly if anyone has heard anything about him? He also works out of Cappagh Orthopaedic Hospital.

Many Thanks,
Siobhan.

Thanks a million, its great to hear you found him good, think i going to go with him. Really just needed some reassurance. Will put my mind at ease at least

Hi 123moose, I am just coming up on 6 months post-op after my 2nd ACL reconstruction (did my right leg in 2005). One of the biggest changes I noticed in the post-op physio is early mobilisation. I tried to get out of bed every few hours and walk up and down the stairs and around the house. I think this definitely helped with the early phase of my rehab. However, my first ACL reconstruction involved some cartilage clean-up also so this probably slowed my recovery on that occasion.

Another thing which I could not have done without is the CryoCuff. It allowed me to ice my knee almost constantly for the first two weeks without fear of damaging the skin around my knee. I would look into getting one if you don't have it already. I am still using mine after gym sessions/running at 6 months.

Have you a physio appointment coming up next week? They should be able to give you some guidance on how your recovery is progressing. It's a long road but hopefully you will be seeing some improvements soon.

Hi Marty, yeah suppose I didn't really think of the fact that it may be quite common to have quite a bit of other damage other than the acl tear. I was kinda putting that down to my slow progress but most people probably have had the same with there surgery. Walking after a week that's some going! I haven't actually tried to walk yet without the crutches, kind of do it when I'm in the bathroom and it just feels very weak. Your right though one week is still very early days, was just getting worried when I heard people were walking after a week like yourself, I'm so jealous ha! That's crazy that your ahead of your friend in recovery. What graft did you have for your surgery? I got a hamstring graft. Fortunately I don't have much pain there, something I heard a few people struggle with after. How long is it since you've had your operation? I'd say fully straightning the leg is some challenge alright, hopefully you will get there soon!

Redzer, I was quite looking forward to getting back in the gym but the thought of the squats is dreadful alright ha! Still discomfort and swelling? Is that even from walking? That's good news about the check ups, must be making solid progress! Those CryoCuff's sould like the business, definatley will look into it. Stop it's fairly grim alright, mad how difficult the little things are to do in these situations!

Hi,

Hopefully you will feel the recovery pick up pace from here on. I'm almost 5 months post op now and from my experience what you are feeling is entirely normal. The first week was hell for me as I had an adverse reaction to the pain medication, solpadol I think it was, and ended up coming off all meds on day 3. You will feel better without them, trust me.

But like the others have said getting up and moving around is essential. I made a point of going for walks and trying to bare as much weight as possible. I was on both crutches up to 4 weeks (unnecessary in hindsight) and kept one as a walking aid until 5 and a half weeks. Whilst out in public/crowded areas I would advise taking a crutch with you for confidence if nothing else.

I have a very good physio who devised a home workout plan, stick to it religiously. At first it doesn't feel like you are making progress but each physio appointment you do see how far you have come. I didn't go near the gym until month 3 but from then on in the progress is crazy. I went from being only able to do a quick walk on the treadmill due to tight calves and anterior pain on day 1 to jogging at a decent pace, plyometrics, and massively increased reps of leg extensions/presses by week 2.

Take it easy though, I am experiencing my first blip in recovery at the moment, I began increasing the amount of training/weights too quickly and am now getting anterior pain due to the muscles tightening. Foam rolling, using a tennis ball has helped but it has set me back a bit.

Like you I heard of people being back at 6 months and so on but learn to listen to what your knee is telling you, everyone is different. Its probably a good thing as I now have a more realistic target. Right now it feels like a long time. But you don't want to go through this again.

I had never done much hamstring work before, like most, and on my 3 month check up in Santry the iso tests confirmed a huge imbalance between quad and ham strength on my good leg. So something to focus on in your recovery also.

Best of luck.

No offence but it sounds good for someone else to say the first week was hell ha! Most people seem to blitz through it. Yeah your right about the meds, I'm on difene and my stomach is in bits when I take it, can't wait to get off them.

When you say walks it is just simply just 10mins here and there or spending a bit longer at it? As I said before I really do need to start moving more. I'd reckon I'll be in around 4 weeks on the crutches aswel judging from my progress so far. That's good that the progress speeds up after 3 months like you said, cannot wait to get to that stage. Are you still experiencing pain or discomfort in your knee after 5 months?

Your right about the hamstring work, wouldn't even know where to start myself. Will definatley be focusing hard on this in the coming months.

Yeah my physio mentioned that because of the additional cartilage damage, that I wouldn't be able to bend my leg at a 90 degree angle for at least 8 weeks. How long did it take you to be comfortable in bending your knee can you remember?

Cheers for the reply!

Hey everyone.

In august 2013 I was playing a football match and injured my knee. Went to a physio the day after it happened and with a push I got her to give me a letter of recommendation to get mri. She was adamant it was a torn medial ligament but I wanted mri to be sure and seems as my clubs insurance was paying I figured better safe than sorry.

When the results got sent out to me I brought the report to the physio. She said it was a tear in the medial collateral as she expected. She said surgery wasnt needed for this just physio and time. She gave me a rough recovery time of 12 to 16 weeks.

In the mean time I signed for a team in the fai national women's league. They knew of my injury and from September to january I used to go training just to watch until december when physio said I could start participating in training again, so I did. In mid january 2014 she told me I could return fully and play matches, even though I had told her I still have pain fully bending and fully straightening my leg.

I told the manager and he let me play in the first game from that date. I went on at half time, nervous because altho i was participating in training, it had always been on astro. This would be my first time on grass and the pitch was sludgy and in bits but figured id be ok seems as the physio gave me the all clear. I was on the pitch about 5 minutes just jogging when my knee gave way just like first time. I was devastated.

The next morning I went to my doctor who looked at my old mri report and was surprised my physio hadnt sent me to a gp or orthopaedic surgeon. Turns out on the 1st mri it had said my medial collateral was torn but also said my acl was torn and my meniscus (which is what I was still feeling pain in when physio said I could play again, she told me some people will just feel meniscus pain for rest of their life).This time the gp sent me for mri and referred me to a surgeon.

The mri report was a lot like the first. The surgeon said I needed surgery to repair my meniscus and while operating he said hed see if my acl was partly or completely torn. After surgery in feb 2014 he said it was and if I wanted to play football again id need the reconstruction.

The club payed for surgery, well their insurance did! Although my manager coach and club physio had all known about my first injury, apparently the club secretary didn't know. So then when I told them id need the reconstruction and that it was a more expensive surgery than the first, they sent me to the mens team doctor. He examined both my mri's and told the club secretary that he feels that the surgery I had and the one I still need were in fact needed the first time round when I injured it playing for another team. So the club secretary then told me the insurance wouldnt pay out for a pre existing injury so they would not pay it for me.

I was playing for a team both times I got injured. Both teams had insurance. So now I was stuck with needing the surgery, a bandy knee and not sufficient funds to afford it. I wanted it sorted before summer because thats when I am off work so would be ideal to have the surgery then. I paid solicitors 150 euro to help me. They just told me insurance is voluntary and im under no contract with clubs for them to HAVE TO give it to me because they are not paying me money to play for them. I found this hard to believe but anyway here I am now just about a year on from the first surgery. Life without acl is rubbish. Instability in the knee is constantly on my mind. I go gym but I cant do too much and I definitely can't play sport or go ice skating. I cant even go dancing without pain the next day. I really miss playing football so im just going to have to take things into my own hands.

I am hoping to go to my gp this week and find out how to get on the public waiting list. Doe anyone know how long it is? Or how it works? Like if they get in touch with a date do I have to accept or can I wait for a diff date because like i said i can only get it in summer as I wouldn't be able to get time off during the year. Also anybody any idea of costs? Because obviously if im footing the bill myself whether or not I can get the surgery will depend on the price of it please any knowledge of waiting lists and costs would be greatly appreciated. Thanks x

gtansey44 wrote: »

Hi,

Firstly sorry to hear of your circumstances. I tore my acl outside of club activity and also had to foot the bill myself. Before the mri results came back a physio had insisted it was just an lcl tear, despite my account of events. The results later confirmed a torn acl and meniscal damage.

Went to SSC in Santry for the consultation having been told I needed the surgery even for everyday life, as my knee was very unstable 'huge wobble' as they said. Can't remember the exact figure but it was within a hundred euro either side of €5,500. That's with Ray Moran. Expensive, yes, but worth it.

If you go through the public system, I was told to expect at least a 3 month wait for even the consultation. The surgery would then be anything from 9-18 months after that. And unlike private, you cannot pick a date for the surgery.

From your post, I imagine you are in your early to mid 20's possibly teaching, so offset the cost of surgery against the next 15 years of an active lifestyle.

Thanks for reply believe me if I could afford to go private I would. I hear ray is the best. Unfortunately ive just a couple of months back got a cred union loan for 5 grand as got new windows and doors in the house. And getting married in 2017. I may just have to leave it if its that much and either leave surgery altogether or go public and hope for the lucky timing I wish I hated being fit and playing sports

Anyway, again, thanks for your input

hey there N,

I had my left knee done almost eight years ago, can't believe its been that long. First off, don't be worried, I was craping it too but you'll be fine. Stick to the rehab programme and you'll get by no problem.

I had mine done in galway and the next day the physio had me out doing work on going down stairs, harder than going up due to the strain on the hamstring.

The hardest thing about the left knee again was the hamstring and getting into the car because you have to stretch in with your left leg, if you know what I mean. I was driving three and a half weeks after the op. It was one of the things I was most concerned about cos I needed to drive for work.

Hope it all works out, have a good chat to the consultant and physio and don't worry

Hi padre78,

Firstly. Don,t take my experience as the norm as I understand it to be the exact opposite but I just want to give you an idea of my own experience regarding ACL construction.

Partial tear in 09, followed by a complete rupture in 2012.
Tried initially to build up muscle around the knee with the plan of coping without an ACL but after another 12 months and numerous episodes of it giving way I decided to go ahead with surgery in 2014.

Surgeon used patella graft and he's protocol was knee brace for 6 weeks followed by rigorous Pt.
Pre op I had excellent amount of muscle and full Rom having spent the previous 4 months doing up to 400 and 500k a week on the bike to build up the knee.

3 months post op and my pt was getting worried about my lack of progress in my range.
At this stage all I was getting was 80° at a push.
Surgeon kept telling me it would come in time.
Well . Here I am today. 15 months post op and still having major issues with my Rom. 105° at a push. Struggle to cycle and running is out also.
Having been a very active person previously it's really hard to take.
Surgeon doesn't seem to have any answers.

Personally and from doing alot of research since, I feel it was this intial 6 week period after surgery where I was kept in a fully extended state that has caused my problem.
Most people seem to be trying to regain Rom within 2 weeks of surgery.
The one thing I would say is when it comes to acl reconstruction don't waste your time trying to compare your recovery with other people's as no two surgerys are the same and everyone has different recovery rates.
As I said. I seem to be in the minority with my problem. Most guys I know that had it carried out had no such difficulties.

Best of luck with the operation and be sure to carry out your daily pt sessions religiously.