ACL Surgery

[einstein135]

Anyone had ACL surgery? Any tips for before and after?

[pinoyhero]

Tore my ACL 2 years ago, decided against surgery. Best decision I've made, do your research its not for everyone. A solid set of hamstrings can work wonders. I know it can be a bitch of a time and a hard decision to make if you wanna talk further feel free to shoot me a PM and we can chat, I'll share it all with you.

[broken_legs]

Originally posted by einstein135
Anyone had ACL surgery? Any tips for before and after?

If you have no ACL (ie snapped it) get surgery. If all you did was rip it then see above comment.



Your options for surgery are:
- Patellar Tendon Graft
- Hamstring Graft
- Cadaver Graft


I've done the first two, on both knees. Hamstring Graft sucked, i still have a giant hole in my hamstring.

After your surgery, TAKE IT EASY!

Do your Physio, take it seriously.

Don't play sports for a long time.

Don't put the cryo cuff on your knee too tight, or wrap the tensor too tight after the surgery or you might get a clot of bakers cyst. Bakers cyst sucked.

When you go for surgery I recommend nair to remove all the hair. Hairy legs clog razors fast.

Also, if you're like me and bought your own cry pack WRITE YOUR NAME ON IT. Stupid Nurses took my brand new cryo packand replaced it with a P.O.S. one that belonged to the hospital that was all dirty.

When I said it wasn't mine they actually got mad at me. Long story short the nurses at PLC are beotches and I spent X Hundred dollars on a disgusting used POS cryo Cuff.

After you're all healed, get a GII brace or something made. They are damn expensive, but well worth it. Wearing it will stop you from tearing your ACL again... Which I also did.


Good Luck!

[pinoyhero]

THe above sounds great if you're getting surg, I snapped mine entirely but did not get the surg.

[einstein135]

Yeah, mine is snapped completely, i'll be going to the PLC in December... How long were you guys out for?

[pinoyhero]

I did it in Mar and with phsyio and training got back to total full strength my the winter. Squatting, deadlifting full weight now and making gains.

[broken_legs]

Originally posted by pinoyhero
I did it in Mar and with phsyio and training got back to total full strength my the winter. Squatting, deadlifting full weight now and making gains.

Just curious,

Can you plant and pivot?

Do you play squash or play soccer?

How about jogging downhill?

[Kavy]

I torn my MCL & ACL and crushed my knee cap, i took the route of surgery and went from the first line in a division 1 school to 2 years of rehab and problems playing in a beer league and going up stairs.

I honestly suggest looking into your options surgery is not always the best options as listed above.

[t_soarer]

Tore ACL 3 years ago, chose surgery:

- Used Hamstring Graft and it feels great today
- Hamstring grafts tighten faster and you can start walking on it sooner than Patellar Tendon Graft. However, Patellar Tendon Graft is more reliable right after recovery, but if you are careful in developing strength slowly, there is no difference in the long run.

Before surgery:
- Shave your legs
- Don't eat at least 12 hours before surgery
- Practice walking with crutches

After surgery:
Week 1 - Week 3: T3s, Percocet, and lots of ice
Week 3 - Week 6: Professional physio ( 3 times a week)
Week 7 and on : Begin walking
Swelling is gone: Get GII brace (I only wear for sports now)

- Check what your insurance covers for the brace (I had to pay 20% of the $1300 cost for the brace)
- Spend quality time on a stationary bike.
- Depending on how badly you tore it, it may randomly give way once or twice a month (my case).

Good luck ! The process is not as bad as it may seem.

[pinoyhero]

Originally posted by broken_legs


Just curious,

Can you plant and pivot?

Do you play squash or play soccer?

How about jogging downhill?

Don't pivot much soccer and squash could be tough but I never played the sports, got the brace though and with strong leg muscles skiing was no big deal. Down hill running also fine, just would slap the brace on if it was going to be on real uneven ground.

I admit there are some limitations but after a whack of research I decided that the limitations would be there regardless, even if surgically repaired, the ACL is never the same.

[broken_legs]

Originally posted by t_soarer
Tore ACL 3 years ago, chose surgery:

- Used Hamstring Graft and it feels great today
- Hamstring grafts tighten faster and you can start walking on it sooner than Patellar Tendon Graft. However, Patellar Tendon Graft is more reliable right after recovery, but if you are careful in developing strength slowly, there is no difference in the long run.

Before surgery:
- Shave your legs
- Don't eat at least 12 hours before surgery
- Practice walking with crutches

After surgery:
Week 1 - Week 3: T3s, Percocet, and lots of ice
Week 3 - Week 6: Professional physio ( 3 times a week)
Week 7 and on : Begin walking
Swelling is gone: Get GII brace (I only wear for sports now)

- Check what your insurance covers for the brace (I had to pay 20% of the $1300 cost for the brace)
- Spend quality time on a stationary bike.
- Depending on how badly you tore it, it may randomly give way once or twice a month (my case).

Good luck ! The process is not as bad as it may seem.

yup, yup, yup ,yup

Only I would recommend NOT taking any pain killers.

Yeah it hurts, but this is one of those situations where you want to know when it hurts. I noticed when on the percocet i was starting to put weight on my leg and use it when perhaps I should not have.

on a side note, anyone want to buy a full bottle of T3 and4 full strips of percocet? I also have demerol from the last surgery yeeeeeeeeeeeeee!

(jk)

[einstein135]

Thanks for the tips guys!

[johnnybad1]

I was on the stationary bike working out two days after ACL reconstruction and skating / coaching hockey 2 weeks after surgery. All I can say is work hard on the rehab and you'll be fine.
Oh, and make sure you have a big time supply of ice to deal with the swelling. Your biggest problem after surgery is managing the swelling.

[einstein135]

Originally posted by johnnybad1
I was on the stationary bike working out two days after ACL reconstruction and skating / coaching hockey 2 weeks after surgery. All I can say is work hard on the rehab and you'll be fine.
Oh, and make sure you have a big time supply of ice to deal with the swelling. Your biggest problem after surgery is managing the swelling.

Holy crap, thats awesome!

[s_havinga]

Skating after 2 weeks!!!! your crazy but good for you, I am exactly 2 months post op today and I am still scared to throw on my skates. The knee feels good and I can walk and bike no problem, probably up at around 90%. As stated before do lots of physio and training. Also buy/rent/find a cryocuff, its totally worth it. I had the patella graf and it seems to have been quite sucessful. Also for the first 24 hours after surgery TAKE THE MEDS, after that you shouldnt need more then an advil or 2 each day. I decided my knee was feeling fine when I got home from the hospital but when the local freezing and drugs started to wear off it was probably the worst pain I have ever been in in my life. but ya its a long recovery but not as bad as it seems like it'll be. It took me about three weeks to be fairly mobile without crutches.

[revelations]

One the same topic, has anyone had a PCL injury (non-tear) and decided to get surgery done?

[einstein135]

So I just had surgery on Tuesday, The T3's and percocets completly fucked me up, like sick and nauseous.. it was bad, i'm much better now though, working on the exercises and on a stationary bike... very very little resistance though. I dont see my surgeon until Jan 5 though (stupid holidays)

How long did the swelling last for you guys??

[Darkane]

http://www.bulletproofknees.com/

Check it out. It's not a fad thing either, Mike Robertson is the man when it comes to Rehabilitation.

From his site:

My name is Mike Robertson, MS, CSCS, USAW. I received my Master’s Degree in Sports Biomechanics at the world-renowned Human Performance Lab at Ball State University. At Ball State, I was an assistant strength and conditioning coach and researcher in the areas of strength and power development. I’m the co-producer of the Inside-Out and Magnificent Mobility DVD’s. As a competitive powerlifter, I’ve competed at the National level and coached at the World level.

I’d like to think my background is impressive, but that's just the tip of the iceberg. A few years back, I tore my my lateral meniscus in a ski accident. After forking out over $10,000 for a 30-minute surgery, I set out to recover and recover fast so I could get back to normal. Needless to say, having a bum knee doesn’t make it easy to train people for a living, and it’s even less conducive to moving heavy iron!

Little did I know I would run into roadblock after roadblock. Even after surgery, my knee wasn’t quite healthy. I was left to fend for myself. After talking to dozens of doctors and PT's, no one had an answer. And when they did, no two recommendations were ever the same.

So I set out on a journey. I spent thousands of dollars on journals, magazines, books, photocopies of articles from the library, and hundreds of hours researching and filtering through medical jargon to create the fastest road to recovery imaginable.

After seeing trainer after trainer in health clubs give out advice on knee recovery that was flat out B.S. (I knew because I'd been through it myself), I decided to do something about it. Filtering through my notes, I put together one of the most comprehensive programs that bridges the gap between physical therapy and 100% full knee recovery. I named it Bulletproof Knees.

It has gotten me back to 100%, and I hope it can do the same for you.

Stay strong and train hard,

Mike Robertson

[B17a]

Originally posted by revelations
One the same topic, has anyone had a PCL injury (non-tear) and decided to get surgery done?

I tore my PCL years ago. It is very rare to repair this injury via surgery primarily due to its ineffectiveness. I've done full physio rehab (mostly strengthening my quad on that side) and I'm better than before. Typically there's no instability issues with a PCL tear unlike an ACL so if you can strenghten the surrounding muscles, you're far better off than surgery which may or may not be successful.

[98brg2d]

Thought I would bump this up instead of making a new thread:

I have been having pretty severe knee pain and popping and clicking since November (my gf's brother dropped a fridge on my knee). I have gone for x-rays and a bone scan and I paid for a private MRI. Everything has come back normal. I have been searching for reasons why my knee still hurts but I haven't come up with anything.

My hip and ankle also hurt. A guy fell on my foot when I was hiking and hyperextended my ankle but everything has turned up normal. I pulled my groin in highschool (12 years ago) but I haven't had any recent injuries in the hip area. My hip is popping as well.

Could my knee be hurting because of my ankle and hip?

I also had a bunch of blood work done and they are looking for infections or rheumatoid arthritis but I don't have my appointment until Tuesday.

Anybody else have a lot of pain like this without anything structurally wrong? Why would my knee "give out" if there is nothing wrong with it? My doctor did a physical exam and he even said there was something wrong with my ligaments based on how much my knee rotates medially and laterally and how much it slides. Could I just have really loose ligaments and tendons that aren't holding my knee together?

I even bought that "Bulletproof Knees" that Darkane suggested and have been doing that, it seems to be working but sometimes the pain is too great to do the exercises.

A lot of questions I know but it doesn't sound like they are going to be able to tell me what's wrong since everything keeps coming back normal.