Podcast: Anterior Cruciate Ligament (ACL) Reconstruction...

[TheCrazy243]

Having ACL surgery on June 17,2011!! My leg is very strong it 3 months after knee injury by basketball ..

[bugsone15]

To everyone with an ACL tear i highly recomend asking your surgeon about the LARS ligament. I had this done a week ago and i will be at full strenght in 3 months compared to 6-9 months for a hamstring. It's fairly new (5 years) and i dont thinks its allowed in all countries. Im australian and its allowed here. its also allowed in parts of europe where it was developed. I was only on painkillers for 2 days and walking without crutches after 4.

[dayogreen]

just had my surgery yesterday not as pain as i thought it would be, it actually hurt more doing it than getting it fixed so nothing to worry about it if your having the operation.

[Gooner01uk]

Yes jellybean1465, u will be able to play competitive sport again. I tore my acl over a year ago playing Rugby. Had to wait nearly a year for acl reconstruction but had it on 23rd June. It is a painful operation but it is worth it. 5 weeks after im just left with slight numbness, but will pass shortly. Im receiving private phisiotherapy and started back swimming (only light) to strenghten it back up.

@leondamo everyone is different, im a fit male 29yrs old. I was on crutches for 2 weeks

[WarrenAch]

Nice job doc,once again.

[leondamo]

what?!?!? i had the ACl operation on the 3rd March by the 4th i was home and walking, by the 5th walking without my crutches, the 6th i can stand on one leg (the operated one) stand on my tip toes!! it's all about attitude and having the best surgeon

[Jellybean1465]

I just tore my acl playing soccer. But the doctor doesnn't want to do it until December because i'm in college and wants to wait for me to have a break. I'm really scared and nervous!!! Will i be able to play soccer again?

[iowabrawler]

Yeah you will. Just stick to your PT and you sould be back playing soccer in due time. Just remember the PT is very important!!!

[ansumanb]

i had undergone this surgery in february..

i am able to walk now .. i am not doing the excercises regularly as it is required.

can neone tell me how long it will take me get back to sports if i keep the same routine

[jadda9181]

Hey i had my ACL torn back in Feb 06 and had my operation in June 07 which was 11 months ago. I was told that i cant do and heavy baring things or and twisting moves for 2 years. About 6 moths after your operation you feel like you'll be able to play again becase by then the blood would have only just taken to the graft. Let ke kow how you got on.

[waterz18]

reet m8 i have just had the same op as you and you need to excercises required or you will have the same problem in the future and if you do not you will fail to get back to your best in sports

[jenna3150]

you should be able to jog and stuff like that after about two and a half to three months. I had ACL reconstruction and cartilage repair last year. right around four months you should be totally comfortable with cutting and sprinting. it's probably different for everybody though..

[dannyw083]

just got out of hospital on mon due to acl. lots of pain high up in hamstring and in shine. is that normal? knee pretty sweet though

[jadda9181]

yeah thats normal.. the pain is ammense but keep at it and you'll be fine. =]

[ansumanb]

i do find it difficult while walking up the stairs..its already three months.. not sure if this pain will go after 6 months

[jadda9181]

yeah it does feel like that, i had my crutch for 5 months after my operation before i felt stable enough to walk without. It is really difficuly, but you have to try being more confident on the leg to pull through

[ansumanb]

ne idea how long it will take for the thigh muscle to get back to its shape.iTs pretty thin now..

[jadda9181]

if you do your exercises it should come back quite quickly but it does take a while, my bad leg is still an inch n a half smaller than my other leg.

[shubr66]

Had my two acl's done in 1989 and 1991. the first one has loosened off a bit and a surgeon has offered to tighten it up. My sports then were kickboxing and football. Now in my 40's i am glad i had them done.Interestign that several others did both legs too.

[casas08]

I tore my right acl when I was 13 playing soccer. My doctor said he I was the youngest he had ever seen do that. Now, 4 years and 3 surgeries later (because of meniscus tears+ACL reconstruction) I have now torn my left ACL. Although you are able to resume to your activities, you will never be the same. My right knee def. affected the way I play soccer. Now with both, Im going to see a huge difference.

[kayhadyo]

i tore my acl about five months ago and had the surgery done about four months ago...i would say it definately depends on the surgeon..i had a surgeon who did at least four acl surgeries a week and his experience really helped. physical therapy is long but i am already back to playing soccer and have been for about a month now..i just have a small amount of pain but its not bad at all...a very quick recovery is always possible:)

[c2do2004]

thats my Doctor!!! Ive torn my ACL on both knees and he did both of them!! My right at age 16 and my left at age 19....These is the best method b/c it ur own tissue. Rehab really depends on how hard you want to push urself....i was off crutches and knee brace after 2 1/2 weeks....I have recovered well n still playing soccer at the college level!! Its crazy how i found this video on YouTube...lol

[precinctonesix]

Going on 11 months since my reco, did it playing soccer, not going as well as i'd hoped and still get a lot of pain but what can I do, just gotta keep at it and hope to get back playing soon.

Everytime I see someone fall on their knee the way I did, or anything to do with knees, I cringe, something that'll stay with me for life.

[93cad]

Tore my ACL in june 07. Waited untill jan 08 to have surgery. It hurt like hell! Rehabs a bitch but i was only on crutches for about 2 weeks. IT hurts when i stretch in the morning but it gets better every week. I can walk and even jog now. Still it fucking sucks because i got taken out of basketball at my prime! Now i have to wait at least 9 months to a year to play again. I had a donor tendon as well. Way faster recovery time. Good luck to all acl recoveries!

[nahalcutie21]

i tore my acl on my left knee last year and i did again 2 weeks ago and im getting this same surgery on the video..but im worried if i cant play ball again has any1 ever reinjured there acl?

[MonGol337]

Yes, many people retear their acl.

[arlo27]

i had an acl reconstruction about 5 years ago in the uk, my work used to be very hard on my knee, so i left to become a nurse!! and ive nearly finishe dthe course!!

[cornbreadjunkie]

I just got mine (re)done yesterday. I had it done once with a patellar graft, then it decided to break, or come out, or something. So, yesterday I had it done with a donor graft. The doctors kept saying the whole time during surgery- "That's a really big one." They were talking about the dead guy meat in my knee.

[historicelipticator]

im one month out from a donor graft, and wouldnt have it any other way. hope yours went well. the patellar graft seems to take way more time to heal. i was up with no crutches the night i had mine. pain pills might have helped a bit. im good now though. good luck to you. O|||||||O

[cornbreadjunkie]

Yeah. Already it's waaaay better than the last time.

Two reasons: no general anesthesia, and a donor graft. Since it's a long weekend in the US, and I don't have an appointment until Tuesday, they still want me to use crutches until then. I can walk without problem, but rules are rules!

Thething I would recommend is that someone not push too much, too early. At most, it saves a month, and it could cause long term probs, back problems, not fully extendable leg, or reinjury!

[Ozmeister17]

I tore my ACL two weeks ago, when I asked the specialist when I'll play football again he said I might not. I been anti-social since and am struggling to be positive. Has anyone recovered or Failed to recover? what chance do I have?

[coachtaskmaster]

I tore mine 3 years ago while wrestling (I coach and compete). Had an autograft (center 1/3 patellar tendon taken out) done, so rehab was hell. I became a little depressed as well. It took me 8 months just to be able to run at 70% speed again. I did tons of leg work and waited a full 13 months before hitting the mat again. I wouldn't have believed it back then, but it's like a bionic knee today. Probably stronger than the "good" one.

[justinRAV]

I ruptured my my left acl 2 years ago did 6 months therapy and started playing soccer again. last month i did my right acl. well now i know its not that hard and iam ready for another procedure. so dont worry dude. you will do fine.

[vw1971]

same thing happened to me dude. i tore my left ACL playing soccer at teh age of just 16, after 8 months of rehab first game back - i tore my right one...pretty devastating but I'm now 29 and played 8 full seasons since with no trouble. my advice is stay strong and fit.

[EllenA1987]

I am a female, 59. At 58 I sliped on a root sticking down a slope. My surgeon said I don't need an ACL at my age and that it wouln'd take to my older bones. Now ten pounds later, I no longer ski, rollerblade run etc. To this day my knew still goes "out". I have aged 10 years. Mad as hell!

[powney10]

i had my op in april 2007 meniscal tear!!! still feelin pain and my knee slipping from time to time, so went to see another specialist he confirmed i have a tornn acl and mcl?? english NHS is shit!! 2 year and still hav'nt had it repaired!!! gutted!!

[Thambapanniya]

didnt they know that when they did surgery on the meniscal tear?

yeh i know mine was only a scratch on the ACL... if i knew how bad it can get i would have stayed at home and lock myself in without moving leg..!! but bastards couldnt tell me i was like 15 back then now 21

[hockeyplayer14]

well i had my surgery 6 days ago.... first 2 days were very painful but when the 3rd day rolled around it has been pretty good... can bend about 90 degrees already with nto much pain/// not really even takin much pain killers except at night.... i was quite surprised that it doesnt hurt liek a bitch right now so i am gonna keep it iced and keep workin and i hope i am better as fast as i can!!!!

[Thambapanniya]

do u wear any braces?

how was it constructed? what type of tendon?

was it NHS?

[hockeyplayer14]

ya i had a big immobilizer for a week... week after i got a brace that is limited to 90 degrees of bending.... i got an allograft from a cadaver.... dunno what NHS is???

[wildchildGil]

i got mine from hamstring. i got surgery in both knees.

[Thambapanniya]

Yeh im getting the same.... my legs are quite week... so I am not sure how stable my hamstrings would be...

[SunDevilGirl11]

Aw, well, that's ok. As long as you're doing your therapy correctly every day, your hamstrings should be stronger than ever by the end. :)

[SunDevilGirl11]

Yep, it took fifteen months of rehab for me to completely recover from my surgery. I tore ACL, MCL, miniscus, and had crushing bone and cartilage damage. If anyone has any questions about the process, let me know! And good luck to anyone with upcoming surgery. Oh, and this video rocks.

[Thambapanniya]

what about Arthritis? I tore mine like 4-5 years ago finally decided to get the surgery done in april... Im scared though because thats what I study at uni but it worries me... for some reason i have a bad feeling about the surgeon I dont trust NHS for some reason

[SunDevilGirl11]

Hm, that's not good. You should always feel very comfortable with your surgeon. Why do you not trust him/her? Does he/she seem distant? What exactly is your question about arthritis? Do you already have it? Or are you worried that you may develop arthritis as a result of the surgery?

[Thambapanniya]

I think I am now... doing with a private hospital NHS payiong for it (H)on 27 May... so hope it would be ok...

my injury been there for 5 years and without the ACL the likelihood of developing is high because of wearing of cartilage (cuz femur/Tibia grinds )

might regret leaving the surgery this long...

[wildchildGil]

i got my left knees acl recontruction, and after 1 year, i started to do my street acrobatics again. it heald perfectly well. u can see it in my acrobatics video. unfortunately, i broke my others knee acl too last summer. i got my surgery last week, and im looking forward to continue with my thing.

[lilpunisher2003]

i tore my ACL and it sucks! it takes months and months to be back to normal!

[berm5566]

its not that bad. i tore my acl and lcl and ome cartridge. my surgery was about 2 1/2 hours. i told the anathesia i want to feel no pain. while i was "sleepin" she gave me 2 needles to numb my leg. other than that the surgery was good

[meatball707]

Get the graft from a cadaver if possible. The healing process will be faster and the pain will be less.

[simonloell]

I had this done 4 years ago: Yes it is painfull, and i takes about 6-7 weeks before continueing my job (Office PC job). But after recover practic, it is doing great. I play soccer, cycle, run an other stuff. But remember to keep still first few weeks, nd afterwards work hard to get muscles back in normal size. This muscle training must continue lifelong

[njdoc07]

Having this done allo graft acl recon. done in 3 weeks how long will i be back on my feet??? already had meniscus repaired 3 weeeks ago

[ndib9300]

i had mine done by the new york rangers assistant team physisian he was amazing i had it june 22 2007 and its now october 26 and im getting back to playing full contact already i was in 8th grade if you live in the westchecster area i highly recomend DR.ANTHONY MADDALO

[EaglesMan3]

aww man...im getting this done in 2 years i tore my acl at my 2nd football skrimish and im going 2 hate the reabilation

[gandee624]

I had this exact surgery in 12 16 1998 i was in 7th grade...the recovery is not good, the physical theropy and such is rough...only thing i can say MAKE SURE YOU KEEP OUR KNEE STRAIGHT..i didn't and put pillows under my knee to reive pain, and they had to stretch it back out, VERY painful...but sports wise, i still played softball and was still a catcher.

[darpachief]

How do you guys feel now ????? ....you back playing sports ???? ive beeen told this is what i have to get done now. Ow and does your knee feel any different to the other after?????

[kennyshao]

i hurt my at 9 13 07...but i got to wait for my MCL or LCL??? either one to heal up before i do my surgery

[ZombiesATErudy]

i tore my ACL at football practice, but i also tore my meniscus, and MCL.

im waiting for my MCL to heal before i get surgery on ACL, and meniscus.

Hopefully it will go good!

i also hate crutches.

[icanttakelife]

i had mine done just a couple hours ago. Im bot using crutches either cuz i hate them

[Ena808]

I had one done three weeks ago..i started walking 4 days later..

isn't that just weird??

[ClosesttotheEdge]

Not really, I walked same day. However, with the pain block I thought it was cake but the next day it HURT. But I kept walking and bever used crutches or a brace. My doctor had no problem with agressive therapy as he repaired many of the Washington Redskins' knees.

[DrFrylock]

this was the doctor that operated on my knee