ACL tear and surgery

Hey Guys:  

It looks like I tore my ACL (most likely) this past weekend.  I am pretty devastated since its the beginning of the season.  I already had a trip booked to Le Massif for the Canadian March Break and it looks like that's out the window.  I am waiting for an MRI to confirm but wanted to prepare ask you guys what your thoughts on the surgery are.  If its a partial tear should I get the surgery anyway.  I am 42 years old but am still racing in a beer league so I would like to be to 100% at some point.  What does recovery look like.  If I get in say February will I be good to go skiing next year.  I also have a family trip to Europe at the end of May.  Will be able to walk normally?  So many questions are going through my mind.  

Claude

I can tell you about my experience. What I've found is talk to 20 diff people who have had ACL tears you'll get 20 diff experiences.

Long story short

6 years ago I completely trashed my knee. Torn everything. Had the surgery w/ a petellar tendon graft repair. Went thru rehab, and 8 months after my surgery tore it again. To this day it's still completely detached. My knee is now fucked. Only fix is to put a artificial knee in whenever I can't take the pain anymore. That day is getting closer and closer as it's starting to affect activities I enjoy doing. I still ski with a brace, but if conditions aren't perfect it hurts like a bastard to ski.

Hindsight being 20/20 I would NOT have had the surgery. I would have rehabbed the piss out of it, and braced it up for skiing, ridding, etc etc. Bottom line is I would recommend doing everything possible to not have surgery. If you choose to have it done you need to go at rehab likes it's your NFL training camp. You'll be praying to die for the first 3 days after your surgery but from there everyday it gets better and better. I was out of work for 2 weeks, and rehab was like 6 mo's or something like that.

Keep us posted on what you decide to do.

Most importantly good luck and heal quickly!  

Only get the surgery if you can commit 110% to rehab

You’ll be mobile by May but hiking on even terrain would not be a good idea.  You may still be in a brace at that point.

Find the best doc you can get

I tore my ACL on January 17 and had a trip to Utah with Friends on the 17th of Feb.  I could not ski because of the instability.   I went to the PT and he ordered me a brace for exercising.  We were cutting it close and it was shipped to the place where we were staying.  The morning we got there I ripped open the package, put it on (wrong) and went off skiing.  I pretty much skied every line our friends crazy friend brought us to.  

Get the brace and finish the year.  I had the surgery done in July and today I don't even thing about it.

tjf1967 wrote

I tore my ACL on January 17 and had a trip to Utah with Friends on the 17th of Feb.  I could not ski because of the instability.   I went to the PT and he ordered me a brace for exercising.  We were cutting it close and it was shipped to the place where we were staying.  The morning we got there I ripped open the package, put it on (wrong) and went off skiing.  I pretty much skied every line our friends crazy friend brought us to.  

Get the brace and finish the year.  I had the surgery done in July and today I don't even thing about it.

Wow that's wild.  I can't even walk.  Yesterday I tried to get on the bike with the PT and I cannot turn over the cranks because the stiffness and swelling.  I have to rock it back and forth.

Claude

I remember you telling me about that when I blew my knee out ^^^^

still makes me SMH because after I tore mine I couldn't even click into my binding without having my knee slide out

BigK75 wrote

tjf1967 wrote

I tore my ACL on January 17 and had a trip to Utah with Friends on the 17th of Feb.  I could not ski because of the instability.   I went to the PT and he ordered me a brace for exercising.  We were cutting it close and it was shipped to the place where we were staying.  The morning we got there I ripped open the package, put it on (wrong) and went off skiing.  I pretty much skied every line our friends crazy friend brought us to.  

Get the brace and finish the year.  I had the surgery done in July and today I don't even thing about it.

Wow that's wild.  I can't even walk.  Yesterday I tried to get on the bike with the PT and I cannot turn over the cranks because the stiffness and swelling.  I have to rock it back and forth.

Claude

He's not normal

Depending what u did obvi impacts what u will be able to do.  But if its just one ligament once the swelling goes down so will the pain.  My wife ripped hers beginning of season and after pt and with a brace she was able to ski the second half of season


I ripped mine late season. Acl, mcl, menicus and some deep bone bruising along the plate.

Had surgery as soon as swelling was down.  Late april. Rehab like it was my job. Road biking in july. Skiing in nov.  I did take it easy that season and I never  even think about it now

I think age has alot to do with it as well. Buddy of mine I ski with tore one knee when we were in our 30's, then tore his other knee when we were in our 50's. He had the same doc, same surgery, same everything, but the one he tore while in his 50's gives him problems. He doesn't trust it to ski without his brace and yet his other knee he never even thinks about it.

It's a weird injury because everyone's story is different.

BigK75 wrote

Hey Guys:  

It looks like I tore my ACL (most likely) this past weekend.  I am pretty devastated since its the beginning of the season.  I already had a trip booked to Le Massif for the Canadian March Break and it looks like that's out the window.  I am waiting for an MRI to confirm but wanted to prepare ask you guys what your thoughts on the surgery are.  If its a partial tear should I get the surgery anyway.  I am 42 years old but am still racing in a beer league so I would like to be to 100% at some point.  What does recovery look like.  If I get in say February will I be good to go skiing next year.  I also have a family trip to Europe at the end of May.  Will be able to walk normally?  So many questions are going through my mind.  

Claude

Sorry to hear your season is being cut short.  If the ACL is gone, May is not happening if you have surgery.  You'll be fine for the 2018-19 season.  Assuming you do the pre-hab and re-hab exercises consistently.

Regardless of whether or not you decide to do surgery, get set up for formal physical therapy ASAP.  I was over 50 when I popped off an ACL (not skiing) while on vacation out of the country.  I was very conservative to avoid a fall due to instability that would cause more collateral damage.  Used crutches until I got back home.  Although my balance was okay after a week or so.  You do not want to mess up the inside of your knee any more than you already have.  If you have a lot of swelling or pain moving in a certain direction, your body is trying to tell you something.

I opted to skip ACL reconstruction surgery after starting rehab and researching the options in 2012.  Had limited collateral damage to the meniscus and a slight MCL strain.  I've been a successful coper for five years.  However, I'm not an aggressive skier and didn't have any other activities that require cutting and pivoting.  I upped the level of ski conditioning and started taking high level lessons.  I was skiing better and much harder terrain at 60 than I ever expected when I started skiing more regularly at 50.

When reading online, look for info that is less than five years old.  The treatment of ACL injuries has evolved quite a bit in the last decade or so.  Every knee injury is unique.  Lots of variables.  Find an experienced orthopedic group with sports medicine experience.  Even better if the surgeon skis.

A good place to start reading:
http://kneeguru.co.uk

 I have torn my ACl ,left knee twice in my life First time 30 years old Second time age 46.  First time total tear ,if you did that ,your knee should have been the size of your waist the next day. MRI will tell you partial or total
    Get a Breeg OA or a Bledsoe knee brace for this ski season and get it fixed  after the season . SInce Jerry Rice is the only NFL player to really make a true comeback within a year. If you want to ski in 2018  wait till Spring.
       AFter my first ACL surgery I rehabbed 4 days A week for 16 weeks , knee was great for 16 years ,boomed tore it again and now after knee scopes  and rehabs and cortisone and  synvisc . I settled on Regenerex out of Wayne NJ, got plasma rich platletts   and stem cells and that Bregg knee brace. That got me out on the snow.
   
     

Lots of good stories and advice here already but here is my two cents.

Long story short, in Dec. 2004, I experienced a full ACL tear and partial MCL in a skiing accident. Started physio as soon as possible and was skiing carefully in March 2005, with an off-the-shelf brace. With MD's advice I ordered a custom Donjoy brace and did not get surgery right away. By the next winter I only used the brace when skiing or snowshoeing, and though it was kind of a pain to put on, you don't really notice it.

Five years later, the knee seemed to be losing stability, so I consulted with the Doc and ended up getting ACL replacement surgery (hammy graft). Best decision ever. As others have noted, be religious with rehab but don't overdo it. Be particularly careful seven or so months after surgery, that is when you start to feel pretty normal again and are most likely to do something stupid and re-injure yourself.  If you are inclined to visit TGR forums, check out "Gimp Central" as there an annual ACL injury discussion thread.

Amusing reading regarding my surgery:

My wife's take on surgery day:
http://jonnyjay.blogspot.ca/2010/04/sbr-and-blue-toes-run-of-year-2010.html

My take on the day after:
http://jonnyjay.blogspot.ca/2010/04/when-i-woke-up-there-were-all-these.html

Gunny J wrote

I have torn my ACl ,left knee twice in my life First time 30 years old Second time age 46.  First time total tear ,if you did that ,your knee should have been the size of your waist the next day. MRI will tell you partial or total
    Get a Breeg OA or a Bledsoe knee brace for this ski season and get it fixed  after the season . SInce Jerry Rice is the only NFL player to really make a true comeback within a year. If you want to ski in 2018  wait till Spring.
       AFter my first ACL surgery I rehabbed 4 days A week for 16 weeks , knee was great for 16 years ,boomed tore it again and now after knee scopes  and rehabs and cortisone and  synvisc . I settled on Regenerex out of Wayne NJ, got plasma rich platletts   and stem cells and that Bregg knee brace. That got me out on the snow.

Disagree that the swelling is always major for an ACL rupture.  Really depends on what type of collateral damage there is to other ligaments, the meniscus, and/or bone.  The level of pain varies too.  Some people talk about lots of pain immediately afterwards while other have relatively little pain.  In my case, I was weight bearing with no acute pain immediately after injury.  I walked up some stairs and for 15 minutes back to the van my group was using for transportation that day.  The only part that hurt was the MCL sprain, which healed in about six weeks with no Western medical intervention.  I could easily avoid any pain after the first week by sticking with walking carefully with no twisting motion.

Some people hear a pop when an ACL goes, some don't.  Every ACL injury is complicated because there are a lot of elements related to how a knee functions.

I concur with marznc

I had no pop, no pain, and minimal swelling after I blew my knee out.

It's the craziest damn thing ---- my buddy on the other hand could barley walk due to the pain.

All my issues were post op

Never should've had the surgery. Someone on here told me that too ---- wish I had listened to him

Whats the big deal?  U dont need an acl to twist the throttle....  

Or ski

BTW, nothing I have has a throttle you twist

Hey Guys:

These were some awesome comments and I learned a lot.  I booked my MRI for next Wednesday so I will know for sure by the end of the week.  I actually rode my road bike from the advice of my physio in the basement today.  I road a solid 4.25km in 15min the max time he said I could do.  I am pretty proud of those km because I can barely walk.  They are definitely getting uploaded to Strava :) I am praying this is a partial tear and I won't have to go through surgery.  I was just about to book a trip to LP for some road biking in July when this happened.  I am hoping to still go.  

Claude

For more reading, Dr. Robert Marx is a recognized expert when it comes to ACL injuries and treatment.  He's in NYC at the Hospital for Special Surgery.

The ACL Solution - 2006 book

Study identifies skiers who can be successfully treated without surgery after an ACL tear - 2013
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/02/130206103718.htm

Assorted articles on HSS website:
https://www.hss.edu/condition-list_acl-injuries.asp

Get the brace. And surgery get a cadaver one less surgery you have to recover from. My meniscus tear cause more pain than the acl being ripped off. I saw the Dr the morning of the surgery and never saw him again.. Well I see him at parties.
I went running the day after I ripped it I was in denial. The damage is done for the most part. Get out there and do your thing until surgery. Once you get the operation that's when you need to be careful... Right camp?
Those plug in ice machines that you wrap around your knee should be a permanent fixture in your TV room for a while.

Amen