anyone have had a torn acl?

[DrBadger]

I tore my ACL 5 years ago skiing. For me, there was no pain from the actual tear, but I had a lot of swelling within the knee and was on crutches for 3 weeks while the swelling went down and I was able to walk on it again. Even then I had to be really careful how I stepped or it would start to give out. That is one the strangest and most wrong feelings, when your knee shifts and moves in directions that it is just NOT supposed to move.

I ended up having surgery because I just could not trust the knee and at 25 I didn't want to be limited in the things I could participate in because of the knee. I had the allograft (cadaver tendon), but I didn't have a choice because my pateller tendon was too small to use part of it for my ACL. one of the main advantages of the allograft is the much faster recovery time, and one of the main problems with the pateller tendon is many people have a very hard time kneeling after the surgery (even years later), so given what you and hubby do, if he does have surgery that is something to consider.

As for deciding to have surgery or not... I know people that have done both, and people that waited years to have it fixed. I think that the biggest deciding factor if it isn't interfearing with everyday life is why types of activities he wants to participate in....generally you can do straight line activities (running, biking) things that require pivoting can be more problematic (golf, soccer, skiing, basketball, hiking), so it depends on what you husband likes to do and if he can do these activites they way his knee is now.

Good luck!

[Brandi]

These posts are very helpful in understanding what is going on with him and how we might handle it. i feel really bad for some of you who are suffering with so many other problems but am inspired by the fact that you keep going. cause if we stop we will surely die. Never stop moving you know?

[kaybee]

I tore mine skiing nine years ago, at the ripe old age of 41. I chose to have it reconstructed using my hamstring tendon (on the advice of my ortho surgeon). It was very swollen before the surgery but didn't hurt. I had the survery in April and was running again by July. Surgery and rehab were a piece of cake -- I had a little pain the day after, but none to speak of after that. Rehab was no big deal for me because I was accustomed to working out regularly. I will say that even though the knee is strong and stable, that leg is still weaker than the other, due to the loss of that hamstring tendon. But it doesn't usually bother me and I don't think about it much. Good luck to your DH, whatever he chooses to do!

KB