Torn ACL

I think this will become clearer as you do more research, but you basically can not run if your ACL is completely torn.

If it is completely torn and you want to run again, then you need to replace your ACL - that's usually done by taking part of your hamstring or quads (which almost never recovers 100% again) and "create" an ACL. Not having surgery is not an option unless you don't plan to do any rigorous activity ever again.

I know this because I've had that done twice on the same knee and I still play sports all the time, though I have to be extra vigilant about keeping my hamstrings strong.

On the other hand, if it's a partial tear, there's a good chance you will be able to recover and play but will lose at least some of your athletic ability. If this is the case, having the surgery is better, but not having the surgery is an option depending on your athletic needs and how bad the tear is.

Also, do NOT underestimate your doctor's willingness to make you go through physical rehab only to tell you that it's not working out down the road (he's happy to pocket the money). This happened to me the first time. My ACL was 95% torn, and instead of being clear with me about that, the doc made me do 6 months rehab. Then I tried to play and while I could pick up speed, I could not stop my momentum when I wanted to. Strange feeling. Then I went to another specialist who told me I'm a moron for doing so much physical rehab and not going through surgery. So essentially I paid for 6 months of rehab before, then the surgery, then 3 months of rehab again. I could have shaved 3 months worth of rehab had I opted for surgery in the first place.

Generally, what's recommended is that you let it calm down, you do some physical rehab to fight the upcoming atrophy of muscles, you have the surgery, and then you go back to physical rehab soon after. That's the optimal solution.

If cost is a major concern, then don't spend another dime on rehab and save up for the surgery. Now that you've done some rehab you can work on that for a while on your own. You can learn a lot of the techniques from doing research. I stress that it's not a particularly good idea to take rehab completely into your own hands - but it is probaly a far better idea than spending on rehab to not have surgery.

You need to right now know exactly how bad the tear is and what activity level you expect to maintain in the future.

EDIT: Obviously I'm no doctor and you should seek professional advice. This is all just my opinion and the things I learned from having multiple knee injuries.

 

Wasn't Blair born without ACL's? big difference.

You are unlikely to play sports effectively without getting it repaired, but as foar as for everyday activities, you will feel fine within a few weeks. Sucks that it happened, but sounds like you aren't taking it too hard. Good luck.

 

I've torn my ACL in my left knee playing ball. Before surgery, and after all the swelling, there were times where I thought that maybe I didn't need surgery. That all changed one day when I was simply walking up a very steep hill on campus; my knee buckled, and i fell flat on my face.

It didn't hurt or anything, my knee that is... But I instantly knew that the surgery was a MUST. Rehab afterwards was rough, and to this day I have my good days and my bad ones. But I'd say get the surgery. Making your hammies and your quads overcompensate so much could start a chain reaction resulting in back problems and the like down the road.

Get it fixed. Rehab. And bounce back. Money can be replaced, but once your body fails you. Well... I think you know.

 

Just like the others, I'm not a doctor nor a physical therapist. This is only my experience. Your results may vary.

Torn twice. First time, about 12 years ago. Actually played through for a month before I realized something wasn't right. The second time, who knows? If I'm honest with myself, I tore it again a few years ago and kept playing through it, but only just had replacement surgery a few weeks ago.

As implied, I'll be the voice from the other side and say that it IS possible to play with a torn ACL, since I've had enough experience doing so. I've also worked with a guy who was fairly active (a lot of soccer, tennis, racketball) with a torn ACL as well. But you know what they say about anecdotal evidence.

If surgery is not an option, definitely start focusing on knee stabilizing exercises and strengthen that area, remembering that you don't want an imbalance in strength between either leg. Get a good knee brace when doing anything active. But most importantly, change the way you play the game. Cutting, pivoting, any sudden changes of direction and speed, these things need to be toned down a lot, to the point of total avoidance. Watch your footwork! It's all about awareness and anticipation at this point. In some instances, you can get away with this. But I would imagine a sport like flag-football can get tricky without being able to rely on those movements. Personally, I was able to play basketball by changing up how I ran through, understanding my limitations.

That being said, get the surgery ASAP, if you're hell bent on playing normally. It is worth avoiding a lifetime of knee problems that can come with playing without an ACL, most notably damage to the meniscus.

Again coming from the other side, while Mathloom is correct in saying that they usually take a graft from the hamstring or the patella tendon, I opted for the cadaver both times. Why? Because I'm not a professional athlete, and wanted to save myself any additional trauma to my leg. The cadaver makes the recovery process longer, but my entire body is in tact, so I have less on the back of my mind when I do return.

It seems the only thing anyone can really agree on is that everyone experiences ACL tears differently.

 

I wish you could have seen my reactions here at my desk at work while reading this. There was a lot of cringing, twisting in my swivel chair and tension in my legs.

 

tore my acl 3 years ago. doctor said surgery was necessary if i wanted to play any high impact sports that required a lot of pivoting and changing of direction. so, no baseball, football, soccer or basketball. actually, he said i could play but the risk was extremely high of damaging it again. i was already in my mid 30s so i opted out. i can still run, hike, bike and squat without issues.

 

Seems surgery is the better route... so have you exhausted all the possibilities including loans from family members?

 

Anybody know where to get a cheap MRI. I've been having problems with my left knee. Hurt it playing bball a couple of months ago and then stayed off of it. Went ice skating the other weekend and irritated it again, so I'm having trouble walking up stairs. Feels unstable. I tried to have it checked out about a year back when I was having the same sort of pain and I couldn't afford the MRI, even with insurance.

 

Canada.

 

Your hips, brah, focus on your hips. Isolating your quads and hams won't do a lot for you, might actually just make it worse, since they are secondary movers to your hips, so making them too strong makes them primary movers and shuts down your hip/core. Most hip exercises will hit quads and hams anyway.

 

I would recommend going to Singapore for the surgery. You will save about 60% on costs and the healthcare technology there is out of this world. Tons of medical tourism patients going there every day.

 

What kind of ACL repair are guys like Peterson, RG III, and Jamaal Charles getting that allow them to come back 100%? My friend had his ACL repaired with a piece of his hamstring and knee never really fully recovered. Are pro athletes using cadaver ligaments or is it just the skill of the doctor doing the surgery?

 

Just get the surgery done in another country. **** i've heard canada is pretty cheap, and there's always mexico or central america.

 

No one uses cadavers anymore. What your friend had done with the hamstring tendon is common. Using a piece of the patella tendon is common as well.

Did you friend ever completely rehab his quads and hamstrings? That's generally the reason why people don't recover fully if they don't rehab the muscles correctly.

 

Probably not, but i'm not positive.

 

I know 3 other people that have torn their ACLs playing Flag....I mean seriously wtf? Its flag football.

Hope you get better.

 

Sorry to hear this. Hope you recover from this to be able to play ball again. Can't imagine a life not being able to play when you want.

 

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=1916993

 

Thanks for this very helpful post.