Anyone have an ACL injury?

[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.