Anyone ever tore their ACL?

My sister tore here's not too long ago, she had surgery. From the time she got hurt to the the time she was able to walk on her own? A month and a half.

 

i tore mine last year. i opted not to have surgery. i was walking normally after a couple of weeks. unfortunately, because i did not have the acl replaced, I cannot do any activities that require sudden pivoting of the knee. so no basketball for the rest of my life which is depressing but i can still run, hike, and squat.

 

Why didn't you opt to replace it? If you enjoy basketball, you shouldn't have something like this hold you down.

 

Sorry to hear, I tore mine in 05 during a tournament. Worst feeling I've ever felt. Tore ACL, strained MCL and also tore the meniscus. For a player who relies on sheer quickeness to wreck havoc (5'7") it really hit me hard.

I didn't play for about 8 months, was really depressed for a while. I had friends calling for upcoming leagues that didn't know I was hurt. Like a constant reminder at least once a week. Once I did the mental aspect of trusting the knee was an issue.
One thing you need to take very serious is rehab. It's literally 90% of the whole process. You'll probably get this crazy machine that bends your knee while you sleep, it's to regain your range of motion.
Also a very expensive ($500 for mine) custom fitted robocop looking knee brace.

I would say after about 18 months I was at or close to 100%. But I had gained close to 20 pounds. Everyone is different so you may not take as long but just stay positive and don't try to get out there too early, it'll just set you back.

 

Partial tear in 1990. Never repaired it.

 

because i'm almost 35 and didn't think it was worth the money for surgery and physical therapy to save a few more years of basketball.

 

Yeah, that makes sense. Hell, most professional athletes probably would retire after an ACL tear at 35.

Still sucks nevertheless.

 

i have twice. one on each leg. basketball both times. they tell you that your chances of a re-tear on a reconstructed knee are greatly reduced, so i'm banking on that.

anyway, it sucked both times, the first time around was way worse, but was made easier by how much i enjoyed my physical therapists. they made me not dread going to rehab, and sometimes even looked forward to it. my surgeon was a very well-respected one, and is a firm proponent of the hamstring-graft rather than the cadaver or patella, if that helps. i'm sure they are all fine-tuned at this point though.

the good news is, you will eventually be back at 100%, or rather, you won't remember what your 100% was anyway.

 

i tore mine, and honestly besides hearing the pop it was actually painless. the pain after the surgery sucked though for a few days. the only long-term "side effects" were for me purely psychological. i can honestly say that i don't ball full-throttle anymore due to fear of something like that happening again.

 

This happened to me as well, I tore the hell out of mine. I did get surgery, but unfortunately, have not healed 100% yet, I would say more like 80%. It may be that I need a 2nd surgery to get it cleaned (I also didn't have access to that crazy machine you mentioned). But either way, I have not been able to play basketball on it, its just too much contact, and I have lost all faith in driving in traffic now.

However, I play flag football in multiple leagues throughout the year, and do all sorts of other activities w/o the ACL bothering me. The rehab is a b****, but you can do almost all activities after about 18 months or so (much less if you are younger).

 

Here is what you have to do, find a reputable doctor(DO YOUR RESEARCH), then after surgery, it will hurt like hell adn you won't be able to do anything. Schedule physical therapy. Do this religiously for the next 6 months. Pro athelese push it and have state of the art technology and dotors around them day around and they push it for 6months to get back in court, for us regularl folks it is best to wait a full year. That means rehab for that full year, but the first 6 months are crucial if you don't want to swell or not have the same range of motion as before.

It is not easy, in fact it is quite a struggle to rehab. You will appreciate what Grant hill has gone through after going through this which doesn't even compare to his stuff. But if you are committed to playing, competing, and getting back to your old self you have to stick through the pain, listen to the doctor, listen to the therapist and be consistent. It is upto you otherwise you will be on this board years later telling someone how yours swells up and you wish you did this and that. I've heard it a million times

 

Why does he perfer the hamstring-graft over the cadaver?

 

Wow man, I don't have any knowledge in these things... but on weekends I play with a large group which has a few old timers (40-50's) and surprisingly they're still very serviceable. One dude is even in his early 60's but looks/plays like in he's 40. Now most of them can't play more than 2 games, but when they play, they're still pretty competitive.

The point is, I guess it differs with every individual, but you never know how many years you have left.

Is it too late though, for surgery on these things? Or do you have to get surgery on the asap?

 

Unfortunately, this is my story also. I don't have medical insurance or money to get it fixed. If I did, I would have the surgery in a second. I ****ing miss playing basketball.

 

what does the knee usually look like after this injury? Swelling, brusing, etc.

 

My story is pretty similar.

I still play lots of basketball, but my knee has never really fully recovered, mostly because I don't think I've ever really focused on legitimate rehab after the first 3 or so months. For me it became an expense thing cause I just didn't have the money at the time.

Still, you do eventually get over it. My best advice is just to take your rehab as seriously as you can and be very, very patient.

 

thanks for making me feel like ****.....j/k. :grin:

i know people still play into their 50s. i just didn't want to put in the dedication to PT. i'm also well aware of the psychological factor and i know i would never play 100% because i wouldn't be able to get over the fear of it happening again.

 

there is some swelling but you couldn't really tell anything was wrong with it by looking. it feels like your leg could snap anytime if you tried to walk tho.

 

Thankfully, I haven't broken or torn anything. Except rolling my ankle a lot. Get well soon, can't imagine the pain or the fact that some people can't play basketball anymore.