Well, I got in an avalanche over the winter break where I was buried fully and during the experience my knee was twisted in a weird direction leading to swelling/pain and a locked knee due to a meniscus tear. Really glad I made it out alive, could have ended up much worse than a blown knee, so I'm very happy. Here is my rescue video btw. http://vimeo.com/34644625
I started doing a lot of physio but after 3-4 weeks it was apparent my knee was locked and a piece of my meniscus was stuck in there.
Had arthroscopic surgery done on Thursday. The meniscal repair was minor and it was cut away, some scar tissue was removed. However it so happens that about 1/2 of my ACL was torn as well. I had a suspicion of this as I heard the "pop" when I was being tossed around under the snow. Currently I am working on icing/elevating to dull swelling, then I am going to start with stretches to gain ROM back and then very small steps to increase leg strength. Compared to pre arthroscope I can feel that there is nothing stuck in my knee, but the swelling is there preventing full extension.
Well, I guess its better than a fully torn ACL and it gives me some time to think about what to do. The other good thing is all my other ligaments are fine. Usually when you tear an ACL some other ligaments go with it as well.
I'm leaning towards reconstruction as I do a lot of snowboarding/MTBing and I really don't want to have a compromised knee. Also, with a weaker ACL the chances of destroying your other ligaments if the ACL were to tear, are higher.
The other option is to wear an ACL brace and strengthen the knee a lot hoping that the muscles might give some "knee support" as well.
I've read a lot about ACL reconstruction and while it does sound like a pretty involved procedure, I think I am up for it. Physio will be no problem. I already go to the gym ~4 times/weekly and I'll put in the work.
Any experiences? Thanks in advance.