ACL tear advice

Darrenon91

Ive torn my ACL in a football game and due into see surgeon next week to decide if I defo need surgery/set a date on surgery.

Just wondering has anyone any advice on what to be doing pre operation? Im sure ill need it due to the report on the MRI so i want to start preparing now if possible.

I have spoken to a physio, but Id just like to hear others experiences.

Cheers.

wonski

If you talked to physio he should recommend exercises that could help you with pre op preparation and better day to day performance of the affected leg.

If it's torn then the only way to get back to full fitness is surgery unfortunately but you can get away for a while without it while doing physio.

Forget about football for now, though.

Done my reconstruction few weeks ago and only got into fitness forum for recommendation for some gear, but noticed your post first so felt obliged

Good luck and talk to the physio and follow both his and your consultant recommendation after the scans.

MiliMe

If you are awaiting surgery, your physio should give you exercises to do while waiting.
If its a severe tear the exercises youll be doing will be quite similar to the rehab exercises that you'll be doing once you've had the surgery.
I'd highly recommend doing them. I didn't, I had a long wait for my surgery and the muscle deterioration in my leg was fairly substantial.

aquinn

I ruptured mine in March 2016. I was operated on 5 weeks later and spent that time doing specific exercises 3 times a day to build up around the knee.

The knee operation itself I completely underestimated. It took me a long time to recover but everyone is different. I went to Mr Moran in Santry and would highly recommend. They test you at 3,6 and 9 months post-operation.

Any questions let me know.

rustynutz

I had my right ACL reconstructed in early 2016, I'd advise building as much strength and muscle in your legs pre-op as there will be some muscle wastage after. Follow your physio instructions post op to the letter, I was doing exercises the evening of the op to help get full range of movement back into the knee. 2 years on and the graft is holding up great, back training martial arts, have some pain but that's from damage to the cartilage from the original injury. Good luck

DontThankMe

Had my ACL reconstructed in 2017. You should definitely be doing pre op exercises if you decide to go down the surgery route. There are plenty of exercises available on YouTube that are easily to follow. The biggest thing for me was being mentally prepared for the long rehab process mine was about 9 months before I returned to playing sports again. It is different for everyone some people might take 6 months etc. It is very slow at the start as you are fairly limited in what you can do due to swelling/pain in the knee. I'd suggest you get a good physio that has rehabilitated an ACL tear before and I would also recommend one of these:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Aircast-Knee-Cryo-Cooler-Medium/dp/B004CM2J4C/ref=mp_s_a_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1540330727&sr=8-3&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_FMwebp_QL65&keywords=cryo%2Bcuff%2Bknee&dpPl=1&dpID=41Z0NasnuWL&ref=plSrch&th=1&psc=1

It was so handy for icing my knee post op instead of using ice cubes in a bag etc.

Darrenon91

rustynutz wrote: »

I had my right ACL reconstructed in early 2016, I'd advise building as much strength and muscle in your legs pre-op as there will be some muscle wastage after. Follow your physio instructions post op to the letter, I was doing exercises the evening of the op to help get full range of movement back into the knee. 2 years on and the graft is holding up great, back training martial arts, have some pain but that's from damage to the cartilage from the original injury. Good luck

I have also torn the meniscus quite badly which needs a separate op pre ACL op. I am doing a good bit in the gym already to prepare for the ACL operation but I am limited due to this. How long before you were back doing exercises post op?

aquinn wrote: »

I ruptured mine in March 2016. I was operated on 5 weeks later and spent that time doing specific exercises 3 times a day to build up around the knee.

The knee operation itself I completely underestimated. It took me a long time to recover but everyone is different. I went to Mr Moran in Santry and would highly recommend. They test you at 3,6 and 9 months post-operation.

Any questions let me know.

What exercises were you doing? Light stuff or were you able to build up weight on these? Im seeing Ray Moran as well so this already has me more confident. Did you do all the tests? They said many dont attend the later ones.

DontThankMe wrote: »

Had my ACL reconstructed in 2017. You should definitely be doing pre op exercises if you decide to go down the surgery route. There are plenty of exercises available on YouTube that are easily to follow. The biggest thing for me was being mentally prepared for the long rehab process mine was about 9 months before I returned to playing sports again. It is different for everyone some people might take 6 months etc. It is very slow at the start as you are fairly limited in what you can do due to swelling/pain in the knee. I'd suggest you get a good physio that has rehabilitated an ACL tear before and I would also recommend one of these:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Aircast-Knee-Cryo-Cooler-Medium/dp/B004CM2J4C/ref=mp_s_a_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1540330727&sr=8-3&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_FMwebp_QL65&keywords=cryo%2Bcuff%2Bknee&dpPl=1&dpID=41Z0NasnuWL&ref=plSrch&th=1&psc=1

It was so handy for icing my knee post op instead of using ice cubes in a bag etc.

Thanks for the link i will defo look into getting one of those. Looks very handy. Do you think if you did more rehab you could have got back quicker or was it just the way it went for you? And was that 9 months post injury or post op?

Thanks for all the replies. Just to say I have spoke extensively to my physio Im just looking for individual experiences really.

aquinn

Hey,

I was given exercises with the foam roller to strenghten around the knee. So place foot on foam roller and squuze knee from what I remember. It was 3 exercies, 3 times daily.

I have to say I was more mobile before the operation than I was afterwards. It took me a month to come off crutches and months to walk pain-free. I was housebound with my Parents after the operation and I didn't want to ask them to drive me over to Santry to their physios so went to a local guy. This was a mistake and it took me until the June to go to Santry. I would highly recommend from the start using Santry physios as they specialise in ACL rehab and will have you building up the leg strenght immediately afterwards. The physio recommended at home was a much more gentle approach but this then set me back I feel.

I was a regular runner and training for the Cork marathon. I didn't start any running until the following January and then slowly built up.

I can still feel my knee going down steps. It swells in the heat and cold but that coud be my head. They replaced the ligament with a tendon from my patellar.

Yes, I did the tests up to 9 months. They get a different physio to access your results each time for a new opinion.

I kept going to their physio until July 2017. They are excellent and did the best I could at the gym.

My confidence took a huge knock. Not to scare you but just so you know. I had to be shown how to get on/off and bike a cross-trainer. Simple tasks. The first physio told me I could cycle ok. The Santry one said build up gently and slowly.

DontThankMe

Darrenon91 wrote: »

Thanks for the link i will defo look into getting one of those. Looks very handy. Do you think if you did more rehab you could have got back quicker or was it just the way it went for you? And was that 9 months post injury or post op?

My rehab was 9 months post op. I did the isokinetic test after 7 months while the person that tested my knee said I could go back playing sports my physio wasn't happy with the strength difference between my legs so I went and did more leg work in the gym. The ranges of strength difference that people allow can vary from 5/10% to 20% depending on what part of the test you are comparing your un-operated leg to your operated leg.

I don't think I could have done more rehab but I could have done more prehab to make the rehab process easier and faster. I was told by my physio that the 4-6 month period is when the graft is at its most vulnerable period and a lot of people try to push their rehab too hard too soon since they feel like they can. I listened to my physio and took a more cautious approach and made sure I had completed each phase of the rehab successfully before moving onto the next phase. My post op experience was different to the poster above. I was able to bear weight on my leg the day after the surgery and was off my crutches within 10 days although I was walking with a slight limp. I did not have a lot of pain either post op so I stopped taking the prescribed painkillers after 3 days as I did not want to become too dependent on them.

rustynutz

I was doing light exercises (knee squeezes, leg raises etc. 3 times daily) on the advise of the physio from the day of the op. I slowly built up over the following month to more traditional leg strength exercises. I was cycling for 20 mins daily 7 days post OP, I was also off crutches at this point. I was back to training (carefully) at 6 months.

wonski

I would say 7 days cycling and off crutches post op is a great achievement, well done.

However a word of warning for op, be as optimistic as you can, but do take into account that everyone is different and depending on fitness level, age, care level etc it could take much longer to even start walking off crutches, driving and working, not to mention sport activities.

I am at the worst end of scale being a 37 years old, 3-4weeks to get off the crutches and never been to hospital in my life so all aspects of the surgery were new to me.

Now around week 7 and still not fit to work (steps, ladders, a lot of bending etc involved so no go now).

Just plan ahead and make sure you are comfortable being out of action for few weeks.

This does depend, though as if you work in the office you will be back in no time, but to add a week or two to expected recovery times.

Definitely stick to the exercise routine. As for pain I had used painkillers, which I never normally use, for a week, but after that I forgot I had them. Ice packs, frozen peas or whatever cold I had around were a godsend.

As for pre op exercises just do what the physio ask you to do. Post op exercices from day 1 and do not skip them. If you are in pain doing them post op in first few days do time them after taking painkillers, I found it helps a bit, but again only few days. They gave me more tablets that I used in my whole life and more than half of it was not used.

Darrenon91

wonski wrote: »

I would say 7 days cycling and off crutches post op is a great achievement, well done.

However a word of warning for op, be as optimistic as you can, but do take into account that everyone is different and depending on fitness level, age, care level etc it could take much longer to even start walking off crutches, driving and working, not to mention sport activities.

I am at the worst end of scale being a 37 years old, 3-4weeks to get off the crutches and never been to hospital in my life so all aspects of the surgery were new to me.

Now around week 7 and still not fit to work (steps, ladders, a lot of bending etc involved so no go now).

Just plan ahead and make sure you are comfortable being out of action for few weeks.

This does depend, though as if you work in the office you will be back in no time, but to add a week or two to expected recovery times.

Definitely stick to the exercise routine. As for pain I had used painkillers, which I never normally use, for a week, but after that I forgot I had them. Ice packs, frozen peas or whatever cold I had around were a godsend.

As for pre op exercises just do what the physio ask you to do. Post op exercices from day 1 and do not skip them. If you are in pain doing them post op in first few days do time them after taking painkillers, I found it helps a bit, but again only few days. They gave me more tablets that I used in my whole life and more than half of it was not used.

Ya I suppose thats the reason I started this to get a few different perspectives do I dont get caught off guard by anything that may happen in my own personal recovery and its great for me to see the different responses.

I have been playing football at a high level for 12 years now and I am 27 so I am hoping that will stand to me obviously.Thanks your replies.

Darrenon91

rustynutz wrote: »

I was doing light exercises (knee squeezes, leg raises etc. 3 times daily) on the advise of the physio from the day of the op. I slowly built up over the following month to more traditional leg strength exercises. I was cycling for 20 mins daily 7 days post OP, I was also off crutches at this point. I was back to training (carefully) at 6 months.

Sounds like it went as well as it could have for you. Did you do any swimming during rehab as I hear that is good or was it just cycling?