I done tore my ACL. How'd it go for you?!


Question: Well, long story short, my ski went this-a-way, my leg went that-a-way, and I effed up my knee pretty good. Got me a torn MCL and ACL, and need to have those components of my knee repaired or reconstructed, obviously.

So right now I'm awaiting surgery. After that, I'm told I've got a loooong road of physical therapy ahead. And it won't be fun. At all. Meanwhile, I can't run, I can't hike, I can't even frickin' drive. Crutches suck. Constant icing is a chore. Even the Vicodin seems to lose its cheery glow with chronic usage. I'm stuck sitting on my a$$, bored out of my skull. Did I mention I hate crutches? I hate crutches.

Sooooo...fellow ACL tearers: How was it for you? How was the road to recovery? How well did you recover? Did the months fly by or crawl? Still giving you trouble or are you as good as new? The orthopaedist is giving loads of encouragement, etc., but that's what they pay him to do! Share your experience, and keep it real!


Answers: Well, long story short, my ski went this-a-way, my leg went that-a-way, and I effed up my knee pretty good. Got me a torn MCL and ACL, and need to have those components of my knee repaired or reconstructed, obviously.

So right now I'm awaiting surgery. After that, I'm told I've got a loooong road of physical therapy ahead. And it won't be fun. At all. Meanwhile, I can't run, I can't hike, I can't even frickin' drive. Crutches suck. Constant icing is a chore. Even the Vicodin seems to lose its cheery glow with chronic usage. I'm stuck sitting on my a$$, bored out of my skull. Did I mention I hate crutches? I hate crutches.

Sooooo...fellow ACL tearers: How was it for you? How was the road to recovery? How well did you recover? Did the months fly by or crawl? Still giving you trouble or are you as good as new? The orthopaedist is giving loads of encouragement, etc., but that's what they pay him to do! Share your experience, and keep it real!

Hi there,

I saw my blog was linked and thought I'd say hello. ACL tears royally suck. I hear you on the crutches. Try using some foam (egg crate stuff) over top and then use some duct tape to attach. I made handy little covers for mine out of some soft fabric too to make them more bearable. I am about 3 months post-op now and it's coming along a little faster now. I still have bad days; I still have stiff and sore days but if you are committed to physical therapy, you'll be just fine. You need to be prepared to do exercises 3 times a day every day and PT about twice a week for several months. You must always maintain good strong muscles to protect the acl. The most difficult part of the entire thing is the mental aspect. It's a trying surgery and recovery and it will wear you down mentally. You have to surround yourself with people to help and encourage you and keep on pushing yourself. Personally, I think that by the end of this thing, I'll be in the best shape of my life. Nothing like having to do PT to push you to your fitness goals. . . Best of luck to you!

When you do have the surgery, don't miss the first week survival essentials on my blog. Trust me on this one. ;-)

I am 8 days post-op for an ACL reconstruction and medial meniscus repair. Because of the meniscus repair, I am on crutches and non-weight bearing for 6 weeks. I can't give much advice about recovery, but I can tell you about the surgery. Beware of day 2 - that seems to be the day most people feel the most pain. Just keep up on the meds and you should be OK. Beware of the side effects of lots of pain meds. Constipation is a pretty common side effect and easily preventable. Get some Senekot - take it daily once you start in on the pain meds.

I also linked a blog I have read about a woman who had ACL surgery around last Christmas. She details some of her ups and downs with physical therapy if you are interested.

WOW... that sounds like it really hurts... i feel for u...

I injured my MCL playing beach volleyball in June and kept insisting that something still wasnt right, although two MRIs said other wise.. i went through 6 months of PT and had 3 cortisone injections.. all of which only helped with the swelling and abled me to return to full ROM and near normal strength... anyway i continued to do competitive cheerleading(after being cleared from the doc) and although i knew that my knee was still effed up was determined to make it till the end of the season(not gonna happen now)...
well long story short last monday morning i was literally just walking when my knee decided that it was going to collaspe...
when it did i felt a sickening gridning/ripping come from inside my knee and my knee was immedatily unstable and very tender and swollen.... i went to the ER and they put me in and immobolizer and on crutches until that wednesday when i already had a followup with my ortho... he orded an MRI and i go back tomarrow for the results...
my knee is STILL unstable and quite swollen... and when i took my MRI to work last night (to visit) some of the nurses looked at it and the one is almost certain that my ACL is at least partially tore and that my MCL is now blown...but like i said i wont know until tomarrow....


i do know this that the PT will be long and hard but in the end when u can return to ur sports it will all be worth it...

best of luck... let me know how it goes... feel free to email me anytime





The consumer health information on answer-health.com is for informational purposes only and is not a substitute for medical advice or treatment for any medical conditions.
The answer content post by the user, if contains the copyright content please contact us, we will immediately remove it.
Copyright © 2007-2011 answer-health.com -   Terms of Use -   Contact us

Health Categories