Anybody blow out an ACL?

[August_West]

Total rupture of mine from... Get this..... Playing ping pong. The pop was loud and sickening. I am scheduled for replacement from a cadaver in early January. I have been in physical therapy ( they call it "prehab" ) for last month to get range of motion back to give best chance of good recovery.

Anyone have any experience with this? I know there are a lot of physically active people here, someone has to have done this. The info I have looked up is all over the map.
What can I expect for post op pain and rehab?
It's been a crappy 6 weeks since I did it, but PT has it strong enough where I walk on it fairly normally without a brace or aid, but it will totally buckle at random times.

Dreading surgery but looking forward to having it fixed.

 

[PacificStorm]

Take tons of vitamic C to help recover quickly from post-surgery inflammation and quick tissue healing. Wish you the best.

 

[Dogbreath2U]

Total rupture of mine from... Get this..... Playing ping pong. The pop was loud and sickening. I am scheduled for replacement from a cadaver in early January. I have been in physical therapy ( they call it "prehab" ) for last month to get range of motion back to give best chance of good recovery.

Anyone have any experience with this? I know there are a lot of physically active people here, someone has to have done this. The info I have looked up is all over the map.
What can I expect for post op pain and rehab?
It's been a crappy 6 weeks since I did it, but PT has it strong enough where I walk on it fairly normally without a brace or aid, but it will totally buckle at random times.

Dreading surgery but looking forward to having it fixed.

Don't believe what you hear about the spirit of the cadaver taking control of your personality. I'm sure it's an exaggeration.

 

[61cygni]

Good luck! No experience with it, but I read that they recently discovered a new ligament called the ALL, and I think either sometimes damage to that can lead to the ACL (or vice versa, don't remember exactly). Might be a good thing to get that checked out too if it's covered!

 

[Mots010]

Who won the ping pong game?

 

[kelde1wd]

I am 35 and have torn both playing basketball. Neither were fixed with cadaver. Latest was last movember and they fixed with part of my hamstring. I was off crutches in 2 weeks but dealing with discomfort and swelling for 4-6 weeks. My recovery went well enough that I attended the game vs Notre Dame in Siuth Bend last year. I was golfing in March and don't really have any limitations at all. Best advise is to not cheat on the rehab. I went 3x per week for 2 months with a therapist and did another 2-3 times per week on my own. Listen to your body and push yourself when you can. Good luck.

 

[August_West]

I am 35 and have torn both playing basketball. Neither were fixed with cadaver. Latest was last movember and they fixed with part of my hamstring. I was off crutches in 2 weeks but dealing with discomfort and swelling for 4-6 weeks. My recovery went well enough that I attended the game vs Notre Dame in Siuth Bend last year. I was golfing in March and don't really have any limitations at all. Best advise is to not cheat on the rehab. I went 3x per week for 2 months with a therapist and did another 2-3 times per week on my own. Listen to your body and push yourself when you can. Good luck.

Thanks for info. Surgeon mentioned hamstring replacement for me but said that for people over 35 ( I'm 46) that studies showed that they recover just as quickly from cadaver as their own hamstring, whereas if you are under 35 it seems that your body responds better ( or quicker)to your own hamstring ( or patella tendon which was another option). So I can avoid the extra incision and healing time for that part of it by choosing cadaver.

I've never had knee problems in my life. This has been quite the experience. After the initial week after the injury where my leg was an immobile tree trunk from swelling, fluid, and blood pooling up in knee, it hasn't been overly painful. Just some quick jolts on buckles or lateral movement.
I have responded well to the pre op rehab. man, there is some pain there though. the one where the therapist has me on my stomach bending my leg so the heel is going toward my back makes me bite the pillow.

 

[huskyharry]

At age 46, you should also discuss your surgeon the option of not having it fixed (not recommending that choice, just saying you should discuss it). A colleague of mine torn his ACL skiing last year but just went through physical therapy and his normal activities (walking, biking etc) are not affected. DeJuan Blair tore both and plays without them...it all depends upon how active your lifestyle is and what movements you need to be able to do.

 

[August_West]

Who won the ping pong game?

Ha, yeah. The match was for 50 bucks best of 5 against my brother. I was up 2 games to 1 and 16-10 in game 4. He had trouble returning my serve to his backhand, hit a week defensive lob to my backhand, and I decided I had time to run around my forehand to hit a topspin cross court winner. The act of moving left, planting my left leg while twisting my torso popped it.

Oh and who won? Well my brother claimed the 50, saying I forfeit via not being able to answer the bell. Heartless bastard.

 

[August_West]

At age 46, you should also discuss your surgeon the option of not having it fixed (not recommending that choice, just saying you should discuss it). A colleague of mine torn his ACL skiing last year but just went through physical therapy and his normal activities (walking, biking etc) are not affected. DeJuan Blair tore both and plays without them...it all depends upon how active your lifestyle is and what movements you need to be able to do.

He has discussed this and I've weighed it. Still weighing it in back of my mind actually even though surgery is scheduled.I'm not terribly active and unfortunately not in the best shape of my life right now which is why surgery scares me, but I can't see living rest of my life like this either. There are times my knee just totally gives out and fear I will end up ripping my meniscus up too.

Plus I don't want to ever have anything in common with Dejuan Blair. I hate Pitt too much to live with that knowledge now.

 

[Fishy]

I'm going to merge this thread with the spiral ham thread.

 

[Huskybass]

I tore my patellar tendon 5 years ago. The best advice I can give you is to really work hard on your physical therapy in the 4 to 6 months after surgery. It will be grueling at times, but it will really pay off in the long run.

 

[ZackB05]

I've torn the ACL in my right knee twice playing basketball. First time I used a piece from my patella tendon. Second time I used a cadaver. I rehabbed three times a week for about 6 months both times. Post op pain shouldnt be too bad. Couple of days of pain killers. You should be up and about relatively normal about two-three weeks after surgery(depending on fitness level). I read an article somewhere that mentioned statistically its about 1 in 1800 who tear their ACL and the chance of re-tearing or tearing your opposite acl is about 1 in 32. My fiancé also tore hers twice playing basketball. She used the hamstring and cadaver. The hamstring is a more intense recovery process from our experience. Good luck and feel free to Message me if you have any specific questions.

 

[HuskyNan]

He has discussed this and I've weighed it. Still weighing it in back of my mind actually even though surgery is scheduled.I'm not terribly active and unfortunately not in the best shape of my life right now which is why surgery scares me, but I can't see living rest of my life like this either. There are times my knee just totally gives out and fear I will end up ripping my meniscus up too.

Plus I don't want to ever have anything in common with Dejuan Blair. I hate Pitt too much to live with that knowledge now.

I tore mine when I was in middle school, back before ACL injuries were well known. I never had surgery. I've skied, jogged, played lacrosse and soccer and other sports. Now, decades later, I do have some minor arthritis and have had my knee scoped to clean out "junk", as my doctor put it but other than that, I really haven't been troubled by my knee. I do lift weights faithfully to keep my leg muscles strong and that helps stabilize my knee but other than that, no real complaints.

 

[GlastonTim]

Good luck with whatever you decide

 

[uchusky32]

Did mine twice. 85/87. Had Dr Warren Russell porform my surgery. This was when they were first starting the new procedures ( cybex machine no cast). Second time replace ACL held up bone graph broke tore 2 other ligaments. Still have 2 pins in knee.,

 

[blackuc]

I tore my ACL and MCL about 7 years ago playing basketball and in my late 30's at the time discussed it with my doctor and decided on the cadaver. The recovery time is quicker than using your hamstring, and since my best athletic days were behind me on decided on this option. I was also told that the pain from the surgery would be less than if they had to cut and use your hamstring. I was walking on my own within a week of the operation and after 6 months of therapy and rehab was playing basketball again with a brace. I wore the brace for another 6 months before giving it up and playing without it. I just stopped playing hoops about 3 months ago, but the knee is fine.
Every once in awhile it will get soar if I push it, but for the most part life is completely back to normal.

 

[NJHusky]

I would have it fixed, not even a question for me...I blew out my acl in grad school in 91....(yes, i'm old) and didn't have it fixed for a 7 years. the doc I saw said you're not a pro athlete, just wear an acl brace when you play sports...bad decision. My knee would buckle at random times when I wasn't playing sports, and I am convinced it caused more cartilage damage every time it gave out..I have a hole in the cartilage now. I wish I had it fixed asap

When i finally I had it fixed it was Sep and was skiing by March. I had Patella tendon graft done and it is fine....I would concur with others on the need for PT....don't skimp. Ask about using a CMP Machine (constant passive motion) as it is supposed to prevent scar tissue buildup

As an aside, I actually blew out the other knee skiing...tore ACL, MCL, LCL & PCL in 96...yes its possible. Had cadaver surgery on that knee...rehab on that was over 1 year....but I still ski... so, don't be afraid of a simple acl surgery.

Make sure you go to a Dr. that focuses on knees...for someone that does this all the time, the ACL procedure is not a big deal..they do several per day. Picking the best Dr. is probably your most important decision.

 

[Husky Dynasty]

I actually just completely tore my ACL as well, and will be having ligament replacement surgery in January. I was doing box jumps in the gym (working to add the 2 or so inches to my vertical that I needed to enable me to dunk), and just landed a little awkwardly/flat footed. I was listening to music at the time, so I didn't hear a pop, but felt an excruciating pain in my knee, and couldn't put any weight on it for a couple of minutes. I tried to convince myself that there wasn't anything significantly wrong, and even completed a couple more jumps (using my quads to stabilize my leg) and jogged back to my car. The next day, my knee was painfully swollen and would randomly buckle/give out, and I realized that the injury was more serious than I'd previously thought. At that point, I was just thankful that I didn't do any more lasting damage by foolishly pushing through the pain and finishing my workout.

From what my surgeon has said, the recovery time should be between 6-9 months, but will require a dedicated effort toward physical therapy (fingers crossed). Good luck with your surgery and recovery!

 

[Husky25]

Torn ACL and cartilage in '95 playing HS baseball. Did PT all spring and road my bike when the insurance ran out. Had surgery at UMass Med Ctr. (Dr. Ferrari. Same practice as the then Red Sox team doctor) 3 weeks before I went to UConn. Living in Hicks Hall my first semester was a blessing in disguise. I had to walk up and down the hill in front of the Chem Building every day. I was out of my brace in under 6 weeks and playing basketball by the next summer.

 

[uconnell]

I also tore something in my knee skiing. Bothered me some but the main problem was lateral movement would cause me to collapse in pain and my knee would immediately blow up. Went to my surgeon multiple times in which he basically said deal with it. This was 1983.

 

[ctchamps]

Really stinks. Best of luck on the surgery and a quick recovery.

One advice I can give is that eating lots of turkey reduces post surgical swelling. Fishy should merge this thread with the Thanksgiving turkey thread.

 

[Husky25]

I also tore something in my knee skiing. Bothered me some but the main problem was lateral movement would cause me to collapse in pain and my knee would immediately blow up. Went to my surgeon multiple times in which he basically said deal with it. This was 1983.

Granted it was '83, did you consider taking a baseball bat to the doctor's knee and ask how it feels or if he/she would just deal with it? Have you ever gotten it fixed? Depending on the type of injury, they may just need to use a scope at this point.

 

[uconnell]

Granted it was '83, did you consider taking a baseball bat to the doctor's knee and ask how it feels or if he/she would just deal with it? Have you ever gotten it fixed? Depending on the type of injury, they may just need to use a scope at this point.

Truthfully , it seemed to go away over the years and I hadn't really thought about it all until reading this thread. I have so many pains now, off and on, that my friends call me for the weather report. I'm 79 now and have other things to worry about and yes I have often thought about that Dr and not in a good way.

 

[TRest]

Blew mine out multiple times in the 80's playing hoops, finally got the meniscus done in 92 and they told me the insides looked like a spiral ham. No ACL left at all. I can walk in a straight line and it's mainly pain-free so I'm not getting it done.