ACL Reconstruction - Recovery?

[kurgan]

Well, I just got the call from the surgeon's office and I've been bumped up a month to this Tuesday I'm getting a full ACL reconstruction - the one where they transplant a piece of the hamstring along with a clean up of some damaged cartilage.

I'm trying to get a realistic handle on how long the recovery might take - I've heard anywhere from 6 months to 2 years.

Anyone want to give me some advice on how to speed the recovery? Or give me their story?

 

[Hands of Stone]

Bowling Shoes, ya never know.

Good luck with the surgery Bigman.

CJ

 

[john]

Well being one that has just gone through it the past year and a half I will tell you that the highest level athlete can return to play after 6 months..........but is no where near the same player until probably at least a year after the date of surgery, if not 1 1/2 years!

Your surgeon and most likely physio will tell you not to even think about playing in a complete training session for at least a year but also that every person is different. So you should write off at least that amount of time. From there it all depends on your dedication to physio and doing the little things religiously in order to get to the running stage of rehad.........but there will many many little hurdles that you will one day cross and then the next go back the other way but in the end, keep doing it as it is the only to fully get back to where you were before playing.

In the end, you will learn alot about yourself, and how to take better care of yourself.............but for the next while............it will suck!

Hope that helps

John

 

[4STGMP]

Had my ACL done in December and I'm back running/cutting/golfing/etc. now

I will be starting light training with the squad come September and the hope is to be back playing for February.

A year is a realistic timeframe.

My words of advice are get your hammy as strong as possible before the surgery - it is the worst part of the rehab!!!!

Sean

 

[knvb]

Well being one that has just gone through it the past year and a half I will tell you that the highest level athlete can return to play after 6 months..........but is no where near the same player until probably at least a year after the date of surgery, if not 1 1/2 years!

Your surgeon and most likely physio will tell you not to even think about playing in a complete training session for at least a year but also that every person is different. So you should write off at least that amount of time. From there it all depends on your dedication to physio and doing the little things religiously in order to get to the running stage of rehad.........but there will many many little hurdles that you will one day cross and then the next go back the other way but in the end, keep doing it as it is the only to fully get back to where you were before playing.

In the end, you will learn alot about yourself, and how to take better care of yourself.............but for the next while............it will suck!

Hope that helps

John

I agree Johny, but aren't you forgetting something?

The fun parts... Look forward to 3:00am muscle twitches that jerk the knee and the following pain that could make a grown man cry. (and you will.)Look forward to your knee feeling like it's full of hot course sand for 5 months. Look forward to your missus holding you up just so you can take the piss and a piss. Forget showers or baths for a least 2 weeks too.

Ice is your new best mate and might I suggest you go buy 5 or 6 bags of the small cubes to have on had in zip lock bags at an arm reach.

Oh and Beer.

 

[T-Idiot]

Kurgan
First off good luck on the operation

Had my Surgery end of may 2005 played my first game Feb 2006 with a brace
but I was doing LOTS OF physio Biking training from Sept 2005

one piece of advise ... after the surgery i had something called a pain pump that
hung around waist in a fani pack belt .. a cord from the pump went into
my knee to distribute pain med's for 48 hrs roughly ... the hospital gave me a step by step sheet to follow to remove the pump

long story short that cord into your knee from the pump is about 10 feet long to
give some slack they taped this to my inner thigh .... I don't know about you but
i got some hair on my leg's .... the medical tape doesn't just come off nicely
I cried every half centimeter ... basically shave your entire leg not just around the knee
where they tell you

my hamstring has been the biggest issue ... tender for a long time

other then that I tried to walk right away ...
I bike daily today and my brace is collecting dust

 

[freddy]

Kurgan - I have had both of mine done in the US (2001 and 2004). The surgeon was top notch and leading edge (Dr. Steven Bramwell on Kirkland, WA). He recommended an allograft, aka a dead guy's achilles tendon. He said that if he could use mine, that would be the best tissue to use, but since we can't go without ours, the dead guy's is much better. Also, this way, you don't have to heal up another part of your body. They freeze the tissue, blanch it and basically neutralize it. But, when it goes into your body, it wakes up and is live. In both cases, I was WAY ahead of other patients who used their hammy or patellar tendon. I had basically no pain whatsoever (drugs for the first few days, then just icing as pain med). But, he warned me that pain and healing are not related in this procedure. You will think you are good to go, but all the little blood vessels have not healed and grown into the new tissue - if you go back early, you end up back on the table (kind of like a vasectomy - another story). By 4 weeks, I was starting rehab, by 4 months pretty intense cardio on the bike and doing some hiking. By 6 months, light running and lots of bike/hike. By 7.5 months, I was on the field carefully practicing with a brace (as a warning to others), but staying clear from anything physical. I played my first game at 9 months after each surgery. The first tackle was a nervous one, but hard in after that.

One thing that my insurance provided, but I don't think is in Canada is this 6 pack electric cooler machine. It is a bladder that wraps around your knee, connected to detachable hoses, that go into the 6pack fold up cooler that you fill with ice and water, then plug in. This thing is GOLD. I have used it on numerous other injuries and many friends have borrowed it. It is worth the $150 for sure, and will cut down on swelling and pain big time.

Good luck, and do check into the allograft. If your guy doesn't know about them, he should.

 

[freddy]

Oh yeah, the other machine they provided me was a CPM machine (constant passive movement). this is a contraption I woke up in out of my surgery. your leg is tied into this and slowly contracts and extends, keeping your leg in a slow constant motion, preventing seizing up of your knee, and getting good blood flow.

Lastly, I also had an electrode machine hooked up to the muscles around the knee giving me a light zap every few minutes to stimulate the muscles.

I did my physio in Canada as I live in Pt Bob, and no one in the physio had seen any of these machines. I felt like charging them for my time!

 

[girth]

Had mine done along with shaving a piece of the hamstring and all. First off...physio...physio...physio! Hard work will pay off! I played 6 months after and had fear of tearing it again for years after. Generation 2 kneebrace sucks and I wore it for only 1 game after returning. Your leg will shrink and look as small as Sid's cack.... almost invisible. After all is said and done you will probably pull hamstrings very easy from where they shave it from.

Good luck and work at it very hard.

 

[knvb]

It is a bladder that wraps around your knee, connected to detachable hoses, that go into the 6pack fold up cooler that you fill with ice and water, then plug in.

Ciro-cuff (sp?) Still not as good as a zip lock full of ice and water though, but much cleaner than bags and melting ice when you're on your own.

Kurgan, I have one and you're welcome to it. Consider it a welcome to the club gift. PM me if you want it.

I can’t believe I forgot about the pain due to not moving your leg. Wow. My knee hurts again just reading all of this stuff.

 

[Dial 9-1-1]

Kurgan...
Has this advice helped you or made you want to jump off a bridge?

Holy crap does the next year of your life sound painful.

I wish you the best of luck in your surgery and recovery.

 

[freddy]

Ciro-cuff (sp?) Still not as good as a zip lock full of ice and water though, but much cleaner than bags and melting ice when you're on your own.

I beg to differ on the bag of ice vs. IceMan This thing is the cats ass:
Donjoy Iceman Cold Therapy Product, Unit, System | CHEAPEST - www.DME-Direct.com
You need the Universal Wrap On for your knee with this unit.

 

[Ballbaby]

I had mine in 1995 by Brian Day. I had the surgery in May and was back playing by September/October. It was the hamstring graft and I had no cartilage damage but it was "soft". Physio is a major component of your rehab. The key is to try and get your range of motion back to normal as quick as possible. Although I was back by September, I can honestly say that I really felt like I was completely rehabbed after 18 months. This isn't as alarming as it sounds but I am talking about very subtle things that only I can notice.

Dr. Day stated that I had to get 90 degree flexion in my right leg 2 weeks after the surgery. I was to lie down on my front and try and bend my leg at the knee until I could attain at least 90 degrees. The first attempts at this were excruciatingly painful but quickly disappeared. Dr. Day told me by no means would I require a brace and seemed insulted at thought of anyone using a brace after his surgeries.

Who is your surgeon Kurgan? I truly believe that has great merit in securing your fate. There are different methods of "braiding" your grafted tendon, the thickness and consequently the tautness. Athletes need to have their mobility maintained and a 4 strand method as opposed to a 2 strand method may need to be compared. It might be worth asking unless you are attended to by a reputable surgeon with a great track record.

You will be better than new.

 

[Polska]

i tore my ACL and was never the same again. Not trying to scare, but the physical rehab is the easiest part. Mentally you gonna have to be tough.

best of luck

 

[knvb]

I beg to differ on the bag of ice vs. IceMan This thing is the cats ass:
Donjoy Iceman Cold Therapy Product, Unit, System | CHEAPEST - www.DME-Direct.com
You need the Universal Wrap On for your knee with this unit.

That's the one... to me it just seemed to go warm too fast. My knee felt 'on fire' 24/7for about 3 months.

 

[girth]

That's the one... to me it just seemed to go warm too fast. My knee felt 'on fire' 24/7for about 3 months.

Didn't they just put another left leg on you Knvb?

 

[Ballbaby]

i tore my ACL and was never the same again. Not trying to scare, but the physical rehab is the easiest part. Mentally you gonna have to be tough.

best of luck

Well, I'm sorry to hear that but the fact remains, it is important to get the right guy to do the job. Too many will seek the quickest route to surgery instead of waiting or paying for the best surgeons. I'm not sure if that was your case Polska but that is the first thing that comes to mind.

 

[Polska]

Well, I'm sorry to hear that but the fact remains, it is important to get the right guy to do the job. Too many will seek the quickest route to surgery instead of waiting or paying for the best surgeons. I'm not sure if that was your case Polska but that is the first thing that comes to mind.

sorry shoulda been more specific. i recovered from the injury physically but for example going in for a slide tackle all i could/can thing about is my knee.
Because it has fukked me mentally i only go in about 70% as i once was a player who held nothing back, i now have this always sitting in the back of my mind. i tried to take the physcology route but that fuked me even more as i end up marrying (my physcologist) and a year later divorcing her. Fuk she took my money twice

 

[Ballbaby]

sorry shoulda been more specific. i recovered from the injury physically but for example going in for a slide tackle all i could/can thing about is my knee.
Because it has fukked me mentally i only go in about 70% as i once was a player who held nothing back, i now have this always sitting in the back of my mind. i tried to take the physcology route but that fuked me even more as i end up marrying (my physcologist) and a year later divorcing her. Fuk she took my money twice

This is quite a tale. You married your psychologist after seeking her out for ACL post-surgery therapy? Then you divorced her. That year of marriage, were you still afraid of going all in and not holding back? That could ruin a relationship.

I am very interested in viewing this peculiar knee.

 

[Dude]

Wow. That's crazy.

Was she hot?

Pics?