OT: i just tore my ACL, what to do

Step 1. Post on sports blog. Check... Sorry to hear that though, good luck on your recovery.

...and came to MGoBlog for advice?

You sir, are awesome.

Take a quick cortisol shot and get back in the game, the team needs ya

You sir win the "advice you probably shouldnt take from random, unqualified strangers without beneift of any medical training or your personal health history" award.

I tore mine at 19. The surgery was more I trust e back then. My advice, if you wish to remain active is to have surgery. The recovery takes time, but I can do all kinds of stuff without a brace, including firefighting.

Post of the year.

Walk it off

A little dirt on it, put on a band-aid and get your ass back on the slopes, pain is just fear leaving the body. In all seriousness...get surgery, otherwise your knee will fall off later in life.

1-800-CALL-SAM

.

Amputate.

Do some physical therapy before the surgery. The better shape your leg is in before surgery, the faster you'll recover.



When choosing a surgery, I would recommend going the patellar tendon route.



I'm speaking from testing my ACL in May 2010 (my graduation present) playing soccer at Elbel Field. Had surgery the Tuesday after graduation and was playing soccer again in September.



Best of luck. Hope that info helped.

"Doctors said it was my choice Re: surgery. Recommendations?"

 Need a bit more to go on. Is it your first knee injury? Is it a partial tear etc.

Otherwise, swinging a bit wildly in terms of any sort of recommendations.

Active how? You should be able to continue most activities without the surgery. Pivot activities/sports (Bball, maybe tennis) will be difficult. However you are leaning, WAIT. Your pain from the initial injury & bone bruising will heal & then you'll know what your symptoms are

As a student who was pre-med for about a week and therefore highly qualified in this department, I suggest self-operation to save some money. Not too hard to do.

I always hate to be the first serious post in a thread.  Particularly after two dozen funny ones.

But seriously:

There is only one reasonable action to take:

Blame Rich Rodriguez.

Get a subscription to Netflix.

Well my wife is a Psychiatrist and not an Orthopedist but I asked her what you should do.

She said "how does it make you feel?" That probably didn't help you much. But that will still be $300.

Are you the guy that mentioned buying skis last week to embrace winter and be active?

I talked with your Doctors, it's not looking good. We're going to have to amputate you're whole lower half of your body

Do you at least have a good story or did you just get too far back and the knee went pop?

She is a practicing physician board certified in stroke and blood. Not an ortho but a damn good M educated doctor. She says "get the surgery!" I have rarely seen her so decisive on a med care question. She's srsly you guys.

Some tussin on it.

"You just got the wind knocked out of you"
-mark dantonio

Go see Dr Andrews. Duh.

Rub some beer on it!

running back.  You satisfy their most important selection criterion.

as restitution

You don't need to make any decision quickly. First goal is to get the swelling resolved (time, icing) and get your motion back. In the meantime work to avoid atrophy. Then you need to examine your activity goals. If skiing is something you enjoy, you'll want/need an ACL for that. Low demand, straight line, non-cutting and pivoting or stop/start activities often can be accomplished without an intact ACL.

Ultimately, if you opt for reconstruction, patellar tendon, hamstring, quadraceps autografts or allograft probably doesn't make a big difference. Your surgeon will most likely have a preference. More important is to recognize that your rehab is at least 50% of the equation in terms of a successful reconstruction.

Good luck.

Its simple, if its completely ruptured have the surgery and attack the rehab seriously , dont take it lightly even if you feel like your recovery is going fine. If you can just strengthen the hamstring to tighten the joint do that. If it  completely goes skiing again then have it done. Get the Hamstring graft unless you plan on playing offensive tackle. Oh, and its never the same, no matter what any one tells you. Post surgery is devastating as an athlete mentally, and getting over the hesitation that comes from that can take time to over come. All that being said, I had full reconstruction 6 years ago of the ACL & MCL, and dispite sublte knee pain, I still have a succesful athletic career without a brace.

Otherwise you will likely end up with early osteoarthritis. More work now but less problems later.

Tore my ACL when I was 28. I tried to go without the surgery but every time I moved wrong, the knee would swell up for days causing considerable pain.
I decided to have the repair done a year later so I could continue my rec league career but I wish I hadn't. The post surgery pain was nearly unbearable and I was on crutches and off work for eight weeks.

My knee now feels great but I wound up never playing any sports because I was terrified that I would tear it again and I wasn't about to go through that process a second time.

If you have a complete tear you're going to have to get the surgery.  Otherwise you'll never have a fully functional knee.  The rehab is a real pain and those first few months will suck, but it definitely will pay off down the road.

I tore my ACL my Junior year of high school.  The doctor told me the same thing, only diffrence was the rehab time.  I could just let it heal and stay inactive and I wouldnt miss half of my Senior year of wrestling or I could have surgery. If I choose surgery Id be looking at maybe, being ready with a few weeks left of wrestling.  I of course took the quickest route.  Well Im now also in my mid 30's and should have choose the surgery.

Just to add to this, occasionaly my knee still swells up so bad that I cant even walk without being in unbearable pain.  I've been told a few times now that they need to do the surgery, but I keep putting it off, because I don't want to miss race season. I can't play any sport that requires any long periods of rapid change in direction or stopping.

Did it look like this???

If so, I suggest you do some therapeutic excercises, like these...

Apply for your medical redshirt.  We should get the results by 2017.

I tore my labrum in my right shoulder in August of 2012. I opted for physical therapy, and the first 3 months were pretty awful. However, I'm now back to playing sports and lifting weights with little to no pain. That being said, I can't imagine going through a similar situation with a knee. I would get the surgery. We're too young to settle for a limited life.

Backstory:

I'm 23 and tore my ACL playing soccer.  It was a completely clean tear (kind of unusual) where nothing else was damaged at all (e.g. meniscus, MCL).  Tear was from a noncontact, but instead an unlucky turn of the knee.

Advice:

Get the surgery otherwise your knee will never be the same.  ACL not only helps keep you knee aligned, but also provides cushion on impacts.  Arthritis at an earlier age is very common in people who do not get the surgery.  Also, get the surgery done by a doctor who has specialized in orthopedic surgery and sports medicine.  Many professional sports team doctors also have a practice where they perform surgeries on ordinary guys like you and me (NFL docs are normally at the top of the list).  You want the surgery done by someone who does a lot of them... hence the sports docs.

Patella vs Cadaver: there are benefits to both. Patella is the tried and true gold standard, but obviously is more painful as you are taking your own muscle.  Cadaver takes a bit longer to heal (1-2 months) but also keeps your patella in tact.  More and more pro athletes are going the cadaver route and there is no real evidence to state one is better than the other.

EDIT: As I was able to take an extra month to get back to sports, I chose the Cadaver route. I would do this again if I had the choice.  My surgery was done by doctor of an NFL team and he said that it is almost 50/50 now in the NFL when choosing between patella and Cadaver.

Surgery: Do pre-op physical therapy.  This is where I really skimped and it made it sooo much harder to recover.  A week of muscle atrophy takes about a month to recover.  Muscles right above the kneed and hamstrings are what take the hit.  Trust me, you need to work these out before surgery!

Pain:  Surgery sucks.  No way around it.  You will be basically handicapped entirely for a week (at least in my experience).  You will need someone to help you do ordinary tasks.  It hurts like hell and was the worst thing I've ever had to go through.  But you get through it.

Hope this helps.  Good Luck.

or you'll be booted to UAB before the weekend is over ...

and you might not have a car to get to the specialist.

Whatever you do, don't go chasing a bad snap or you'll make it worse.

Knee replacement. Titanium > Bones and Tissue

Vail Summit Orthopaedics

visortho.com

Lots of great information from people who deal with this all the time

But seriously, I have ACLs done on both knees. Did patella graft on one, and hamstring with the other. Looking back I would have done patella on the other knee too. My hamstring has never been the same since the surgery. 

And get surgery. I went two years without surgery on my left knee after tearing my ACL (long story), and really messed it up. Ended up badly tearing my meniscus as well and having to lose a chunk off it. I am fully resigned to arthritis by 40. I just hope they have some awesome replacement knee by then and I can finally be part-transformer :)

But post-surgery has been fine. There are still random aches and pains and the knee never got back to feeling completely normal, but I play sports, can run around, and have no problems with instability or anything else. The rehab is long, and it sucks, but really really push yourself. The key to full recovery and getting your strength back is being diligent about your rehab.

Have surgery, rehab, rush for 2000 yards.

And do the best job rehabbing that you humanly can.  I got one repaired in high school and the other one repaired in college in '02.  I did a much better job rehabbing the second, and I can still tell the difference with ease today.

I tore my ACL and virtually every other ligament in my knee two years ago skiing, so I feel your pain. I had surgery and I am still not 100%. Whatever choice you make, rehab like crazy but don't over do it. I wish you a speedy recovery.

Spray

Did it hurt?

1.  Set out the rest of the season

2. Get a fresh new high top fade.

3.  Declare for the NBA draft.

4.  ??????

5.  Profit 

I tore mine at 41 (6 years ago).I haven't had it repaired but have been able to run, snowboard, do squats, and surf since then. I suck at all of those activities, but I'm able to do them without an ACL.

Contact Adrain Peterson for more info...

I tore my PCL,MCL,ACL and my Patellar Tendon at the same time when I was 22, 6 knee surgeries later and it still isn't right. 

I tore mine at age 31. I had no cartilage damage, went with the hamstring graft and had a great experience. 24 hours after surgery bent my knee flat to 90 degrees. On a bike the next day, jogging lightly in a straight line 6 weeks later.



It did take 18 months for my hamstring to recover but it never hurt, it was just weaker. And you can't start rehabbing your hamstring until after the 6 weeks so since I was done with rehab by then I never really did anything to strengthen it.



Knee itself feels as good as new and doctor said its 3 x stronger than my native ACL. Good luck!

I had a friend who partially tore it senior year of college. He was given the same advice: wait for the swelling to go down, see a specialist, and then get an mri. He tried playing basketball a couple weeks later and injured it again. Opted for surgery but after be made a trip to India. When he was hiking there it was a bitch cause of the elevation changes and going downhill and all. He ended up having to sit a bunch of his planned activities out. Reaffirmed his desire to have the surgery. Really depends on what the doc says and how active you want to be. Rehab was tough but he had a netflix so that helps.

I've torn my ACL twice and went to two different doctors. The first doctor used my hamstring and it didn't take in my knee. The second one used my patellar tendon and had a completely different method of therapy. I was back to competitively playing high school golf and shooting low 40's, a month and a half after surgery. The second doctor is Dr. Shelbourne out of Indy and used to be the team surgeon for the colts and I think does the surgeries for Purdue and other teams as well. I'd highly recommend him

Do the surgery, follow the doctor's instructions.  If they tell you not to walk on it, then don't.  Do the PT, do your exercises at home. 

Shower the morning before surgery, because you may not be able to for a few weeks after.  (that really sucked...)

As soon as you can after surgery, get Vitamin E gel caps.  Pop (as in break open) one a day and smear it all over your incision.  My doc couldn't believe how fast my incision healed and how good it looked.  Oh, and if you don't want a scar (minimize it anyway), keep the incision out of the sun as long as you can. 

You're going to build up scar tissue from inactivity, so when there's a terrible ripping noise in PT after the surgery, don't freak. 

Don't rush the PT after the fact or you'll get tendonitis and back to crutches you go. 

Hopefully your tear won't be as bad as mine was, I was on crutches for like a year.  :(  Anyway, there's a summary of my ACL tear experience.  Good luck!

I had two ACL surgeries; my right knee at UM at age 19 and my left knee in Chicago at age 25. I had the patellar tendon repair on both knees and currently have zero pain and am fully active. That's the way to go if you want to continue being mobile (basketball, skiing, similar cutting sports). Usually you are ready for activity 6 months after surgery, usually you start physical therapy immediately after surgery

Dr. Bruce Miller at the university of Michigan hospital was excellent. Harvard MD and under graduate, he's the head team physician for the hockey team I believe. 

[email protected]

I currently live in Chicago and Dr. Bach operated on my other knee.

https://www.rushortho.com/Bernard_Bach.cfm

Good luck!

and didn't know it. I was transported down the mountain, and after a few weeks on crutches, I got better and had it checked by the same ortho who did Bo Jackson's hip. He found my knee to be stable and to continue my rehab- if it worsened I would get an MRI and possibly have it scoped. Within 5-6 months I was almost normal (just some discomfort on deep knee bends) and within 9 months it was completely normal. I ran marathons, played squash, skiied, cycled, etc. without a problem for nearly 17 years. Cycling in particular (I ride centuries) probably stabilized my knee so that I didn't know I had ruptured my ACL.

Two years ago I slipped on some ice and felt something pull in my knee- it hurt like hell, but I walked it off- it didn't swell, and I went skiing the next day without any problem. BUT, I started having these little "incidents" with my knee, and eventually it worsened to the point where I had an MRI and it was "hey, did you know you have an old, total ACL rupture?" It continued to worsen, and I had the reconstruction surgery. I chose a cadaver graft because a) I am over 50 b) I am not a high-level football or basketball player. Cadaver graft has a much faster and less painful recovery.

It was the best thing I ever did- I had to give up running, but I now spend more time cycling. It was also the impetus to drop 30 lbs (better to avoid a total knee sometime in the future).

It really depends on how your knee is, and it's too soon to tell. If it is at all unstable, get the surgery because with an unstable knee you run the risk of further damage to the menicus and collateral ligaments. Cadaver vs autograft is a decision best made between you and your orthopedist. There are arguments either way. If I were Blake Countess I would absolutely have chosen an autograft.

I didn't read all the posts but' I'm an orthopaedic surgeon who specializes in sports med.  Typically an active 35 yo would get the ACL reconstructed.  Under 40 I still recommend using an autograft.  Cadaver could be an option however there is a higher failure rate under 40.   Unless you are a professional football player, there is essentially no diference in hamstring vs BTB in terms of outcome.  They each have their advantages and disadvantages.  Some surgeons have a preference based on their skills or outcomes.  I personally do whatever the patients wants after they have all the information.  I also send all patients to "prehab" prior to surgery to relieve swelling, gain full range of motion and  strength.  This is essential to a good outcome.  Good luck.  If you are in Ann Arbor, Bruce Miller is excellent.  

I tore my ACL (same knee) twice. Both times I went with the allograft repair. The first time after 2 1/2 years the allograft failed while I was playing casual coed beach volleyball. I was beyond shocked and in disbelief as I did nothing that should have torn it. I jumped up to hit the ball, came down square and felt something "wrong" with my knee. I didn't twist it, land funny or torque my knee in any way. Up until it tore again, it felt great.



The results of the second allograft have been very disappointing. I don't want a third surgery so I am dealing with it.



Not sure if you recall, the ex Purdue coach pulled a scholarship offer from a kid very close to signing day a couple of years ago after they discovered he had the ACL repaired with an allograft. They said studies and their experience indicated allografts had a much higher failure rate.



After living through this I would definitely agree and NEVER recommend any go with the allograft.



Hope this helps and your recovery goes well.

your redshirt.

I just had a torn meniscus repaired by a great sports med guy specializing in knees. Couldn't be happier with Lawrence Lieber of M&M Orthapedics (and played hockey with one of his partner's sons, which is the referral I went by).

Curse the fact you didn't declare for the NFL draft when you could have.

seriously, good luck with the recovery

Fax in your letter of intent to play quarterback at Purdue.

deer spray

Did mine many years ago skiing as well. My doc had me do a few months of rehab before the surgery to strengthen the muscles around the knee and let the swelling subside, then they cut me open and it was back to square one. I opted for hamstring graft which the doc really preferred over both the patella tendon repair and cadaver graft. His reasoning was cadaver was the least amount of rehab but most likely to have problems (your body could reject it, it could loosen over time and tear, etc.), and the patella option could leave you with problems bending the knee or putting pressure on the knee (squatting or being on your knees playing with kids) as you get older. That was a big concern for me as i was about to start a family when it happened. Downside to hamstring is you have to rehab 2 parts of your leg as taking the graft really messes up your hamstring and obviously your knee is wrecked so rehab is longer and harder but I'm 100% now so can't complain. Took 2 years for me to get there, though. Keep that in mind.

You are in for a rough 6 months but you'll likely be 95-100% once all said and done if you are committed to the rehab. Good luck and Godspeed.

Valentine's Day was 8 months post-op for me. Tore my ACL and meniscus last February playing basketball. Initially didnt think much of it and about 6 weeks later after the swelling resided I was back playing basketball until I landed with all my weight on it and it gave out again. MRI revealed the damage and I opted for surgery.

My doctor recommended the patella graft so that's the route we took. Im only 29 and still pretty active so it was the best choice. Biggest advice I can give is to stay diligent on the rehab. I only went to PT twice a week, but each visit they gave me exercises to do at home and I kept to a strict 3-times daily routine of rehab at home. After two months I was nearly back to 100% full range of motion and just had to work on strenthening my leg muscles. I didnt do any 'prehab' (doctor never mentioned it so maybe he didnt think it was necessary) but looking back I wish I would have now. The amount of muscle lost through atrophy is incredible.

So far no issues. Started playing bball again about a month ago. Just taking it slow and half-ass guarding guys in pick up ball but it feels good to be back out there. Few downsides to the patella option are the numbness you get on the outer part of the knee due to the nerves being cut when they slice you open to take the patella tendon. Also, it's hard to put pressure/kneel on that knee. Just feels really weird and it probably something I will have to get used to over time. Doctor said it may go away, it may not.

The first few weeks will be the hardest, after that you will start to notice daily improvements and see your rehab paying off. Good luck!