Anyone have an ACL injury?

[Lynn39]

Hello Everyone,

I just found out I have an ACL tear, and a stretched PCL. My family Dr. sent me for a MRI.

I fell walking my dog:( At least I didn't do it on the bike, I would never hear the end of it from my husband! Hopefully I can avoid surgery, I haven't been to the Orthopedic Dr. yet. Just hobbling around at this point..

Has anyone had an ACL injury? How long before you could bike again? Does it give you problems now?.

Thanks...

[Kathi]

2 yrs ago I tore my acl/mcl in a skiing accident. When I saw my ortho the following day he told me the best thing I could do was to ride my bike on the trainer. The following day, 2 days after my injury I was on the trainer. I had to wear a brace to protect the mcl. I raised the saddle to enable my leg to pedal in a circle and I had to put a flat pedal on the bike because I couldn't clip in and out.

Within 6 weeks I was feeling good enough to ride outside and also ready for surgery to repair the acl. I had my surgery the last week of Feb. was back on the trainer a week after surgery and outside on my bike, w/o clipless pedals, 4weeks after surgery.

I opted for surgery because I'm a skier and without surgery had a greater risk of damaging other ligaments if I skied without repairing the acl. I was told that if I kept my activities to hiking, biking, etc. that I might not need surgery.

The summer after my surgery I did 3 bicycle tours and started skiing in early Nov. The protocols on acl surgery have changed and its not the horrible recovery time like it was a few years ago. My dr. did a cadavor because he thought that using my hamstring would cause me pain when I bicycled.

It did take a full year before I felt completely back to normal. It's now 1 1/2 years later and it gives me no problems and I can't tell I ever had surgery.

[sundial]

I tore my ACL a number of years ago. I've had reconstructive surgeries to stabilize the joint and it has helped. The surgery to repair a torn ACL is much improved over the surgical techniques of even a decade ago. Knowing that, I would opt for ACL repair simply because I wouldn't want degenerative arthritis to set in from a loose goose joint.

With every knee surgery, my PT put me on a stationary bike. :) I don't know what the treatment protocol is for a MCL though.

[Kathi]

MCL protocol is pretty much the same as acl. I had PT for six weeks before surgery to let the mcl heal and to strengthen it and to improve my range of motion. My ortho said that they've found that the stronger the other ligaments are and having good rom helps the patient recover more quickly from surgery.

I was given a packet with the protocol for recovery. It really helped me with expectations and goals of where I should be after a given time. I was ahead of the timelines and I attribute that to already being in good shape and using the trainer during my recovery. Because I was riding the trainer 1 hr per day for 4-5 days a week I was allowed to ride outdoors much sooner than the protocol suggested.

I used crutches the first day and by the 3rd day was wallking without them. I kept leaving them in the bathroom so I figured I didn't need them. I can't take pain meds so I used ibuprofin and lots of icing and elevation for the 1st couple of days.

Faithfulness to your PT is a key element to a successful recovery.

[Trek420]

Knowing that, I would opt for ACL repair simply because I wouldn't want degenerative arthritis to set in from a loose goose joint.

Too late :rolleyes: I tore my ACL in about '83, and probably would have arth torn joint or no. I saw an ortopedic surgion who said surgery would make the arth worse around the joint. He suggested any sports that keep the surrounding muscles strong, also stretching, range of motion.

So here I am :p

[uk elephant]

I also tore my acl skiing years ago, back in 1994. Went through a round of PT to get mobility back, but never got around to having surgery. And I was back on the ice figure skating just a couple of months after the accident. I have no problems cycling or hiking or running. Just get a bit achy in the knee if I do a lot of downhill skiing (which I rarely do anyway, I prefer xc) or a long steep downhill climb, but a few hours of rest and I'm good to go again.

[Lynn39]

Thanks for the info everyone...

I feel much better now that I know cycling is still in my future :D I also have a real good reason to get a trainer, which I was thinking about before I did this;)

I'm have some pain but it's not terrible, it just feels really weird and unstable. I'm sure I will need PT.

Wish me luck that I won't need surgery...

[nic840]

I tore my ACL coaching soccer...yeah figures after playing competatively for 20 years I would have to tear it coaching.

Anyways I rehabed pre-surgery to the point where I could run on it again with little pain but it would always give out on me with any lateral movement. Had surgery, re-weave of hamstring for replacement, and was skiing 4 months later. This was 10 years ago and it is as strong as ever.

A girlfriend of mine tore hers earlier this year playing soccer, she had ridden a century the day before. Her post-surgery rehab was all about the bike. She started on an excercycle, went to trainer and then to her bike. The hardest part she had was the clipping in/out part. She was really worried about putting her leg down in an emergency situation or having to get off the bike quickly. Performance wasn't an issue it was the stability if she had to do something quickly that she was worried about.

Just be careful and get stronger and hopefully you can avoid surgery. Good Luck!

[OakLeaf]

I had a knee sprain in '76 that I'm now almost certain was a partial ACL tear. It's loose on the pivot-shift test, anyway, and from where the pain was at the time, it was one of the cruciates for sure. Back then, orthos had NO idea, at least the ones I saw, and there definitely was no such thing as reconstructive surgery. I returned to running four months later, and playing soccer eight months post-injury, without a brace and without problems. It contributes to my patellofemoral issues, but I actually have those bilaterally. It's just worse on the side I sprained.

I talked to an ortho the last time it flared up, about six years ago. He told me that at my age (40+ at the time) and activity level, surgery probably wasn't a good option, just because of the extended rehab, and that I was just better off choosing sports that wouldn't irritate the knee, and bracing it when I put excessive stress on it.

On the bike, I have to make sure my crankarms are short enough and my seat is high enough that I'm not flexing my knees excessively at the top of the pedal stroke, and I have to make sure my cleats are properly aligned. Once the ergonomics are correct, I don't wear a brace, it doesn't bother me cycling at all. I wear patellofemoral straps for aerobics (lateral movement) but I'm learning to correct my body mechanics so that I don't need them for running.

Good luck with your rehab. Sending healing vibes your way.

[Kathi]

I also have friends who because of a certain age the orthos didn't recommend surgery. I was 57 at the time of my injury. If I had been the average woman my age my ortho would not have done the surgery. But I'm not average and I ski, not willing to give it up, so not having surgery was not an option for me.

[tygab]

I have had ACL recon on the same knee twice. first was in 99, 2nd in 01. The first was due to a tae kwon do incident and the 2nd just flukey. Anyway the point of all this is I am probably more active than was in the several years leading up to surg 1, and it was completely worth it both times. I also still ski, this was key motivator for me to do the surgeries in the first place. My doc is not a brace believer and I never had one, and I've never felt the need for it.

but surgery is definitely a challenge and not something to be taken lightly. The second time around I knew exactly what to expect and I had a pretty great recovery since I knew all the PT routine and also that it was good for me to do it....

biking is absolutely great for stabilizing muscles, the quads. Yes, I do worry about it from time to time, but, it is just one thing of many that can go wrong when being active and engaged... or just being alive...

pm me if you want to know anything specific.

[crazycanuck]

lynn, i recently tore my Pcl & mcl so i understand.

I do hope you heal quickly. Let me know how your recovery goes.

c

[3weight]

I tore my ACL about a 18 months ago while skiing. The best advice I can give you is ask around and find a surgeon that specializes in knee surgeries. You want to go to a doctor that does this type of surgery nearly every week (whether you need the surgery or not). Same thing with the PT.
I had a cadaver ligament put into my knee. Overall, I'm very pleased with the results. I didn't use crutches, I only wore a brace for 5 days after the surgery , and I was able to row and cycle within 6 weeks. I feel like my knee is back to where it was before, but it did take a good year to feel normal again.
Keep us posted and good luck!
Teresa :)

[xeney]

My husband, my father, and two of my brothers have all had the surgery. As tygab said, it is not surgery to be taken lightly ... before my husband had his, I knew exactly what he was in for because I was still living at home when my dad had the surgery, but my husband's doctors really were not upfront about the amount of pain he'd have, or about how uncomfortable physical therapy would be. I think he would have been better off if he'd understood upfront what he was getting into. (He only arranged to take two days off work, for instance. He needed a month.)

That said, cycling is totally in your future. In fact my husband is a cycling nut now because of his ACL injury. He can't ski, run, or rock climb anymore, not so much because of the original injury but because of a later rock-climbing fall that involved a broken bone at the ACL repair site, and new damage to the replaced ACL -- this is an injury you really can't keep repairing over and over; at some point they can't keep grafting new ligaments to the same piece of bone.

But he can still ride, with very little knee trouble except for some difficulties with certain types of clipless pedals. (The much-lauded Speedplays don't work at all for him, for instance.)

So my advice is to give yourself plenty of time to recover from surgery and make sure your house is well set-up to let you do it. (This is a bad time to get a new lab puppy! That made for some painful collisions since the dog was just knee-height.) Do your physical therapy but if the pain continues or gets worse, follow through. (My husband needed minor arthroscopic surgery to clean up some scar tissue, and he put it off for ages because he was afraid it would be as bad as the original surgery, but it was a relative breeze and really increased his mobility dramatically.) Once it's healed, don't fall on it. And be nice to the person who takes care of you during your recovery ... when you take Vicodin for that long it makes you kind of mean and crabby, so be sure to tell that person before the surgery and after your recovery that you appreciate them.

(We nearly split up after every single surgery, and my mom and dad nearly got divorced after his surgery.)

[Lynn39]

I wanted to give you guys an update.

I went to the Ortho today. I didn't completely tear through the ACL. He really doesn't think I will need surgery. Yah!

He wants me to go to PT and see how I do. He asked what sports I did..cycling and golf.. which are fine. He said cycling is great and the best thing I can do to protect my knee is keep my legs strong. He did tell me not to take up skiing;)

I lurk around this forum alot, I'm always amazed at the friendship and camaraderie that fellow TE'ers offer. Thanks you all for the advice and encouragement:)

Lynn