Knee injury rehab

Hey Buck

Tore my ACL and my meniscus in late February...and I am scheduled to have reconstructive surgery on May 9th at St. David's.

For now I have been just trying to strengthen the quad and the leg in general, because after surgery the muschles will atrify.

There's kind of a checklist to give you an indication of whether you tore it or not...

First did you feel/hear a pop?

Second, does it feel unstable...like it could just give way at any second?

If so, you definitely should go to a doctor...in the mean time just ice it down and keep it elevated as much as you can...also, even though I know it probably hurts, try to work on your range of motion of the knee after a couple days...

Doc told me after surgery the typical time frame before you can go back to your regular routine is about 7-9 months...and probably a year or year and a half before you can go without a brace. But I think that just depends on how comfortable the brace makes you feel.

You can always opt not to have surgery, but if you are young and plan on being active for a long time, the surgery is almost a must.

Hope that helps...I feel your pain.

 

Uh...the long delay...let's just say that insurance companies suck. It was a mess because my PCP is in Houston, and I had to get that changed, and the insurance company kept telling me different things and by the time I got everything squared away, I figured it wouldn't be smart to have the surgery in the midst of finishing up the semester.

I probably could have had the surgery two months ago. The one thing you need is full range of motion and the swelling to go down before surgery. If you have all your insurance figured out, I'd say you could do it in a couple of weeks after the incident, I think.

 

tip #3 painkillers are your friends...

 

really? you can just not have the surgery and it will heal sort of. didn't know that. also how do you go so long without surgery. isn't your leg like torn up and doesn't work w/o the acl and doesn't it hurt like hell or is that all just initial.

anyway my best friend tore his acl two summer ago (it was just 3 of us on his driveway and he jumped to take a shot (and trust me we don't jump high) and he landed and that was that) and he still isn't really back to 100% at this point. i'm pretty sure he doesn't even wear the brace when we play ball but he still wears some sort of spandex thingy around his knew for support. i know he had a big time brace on for a few months after surgery and i don't really know how long he had to rehab the knee. man the injury sucked for him.

another question, what is the actual popping sound. cuz i was playing bball and landed on someone's foot and twisted my ankle and i heard a pop but i was ok after a few days and it was like a normal ankle sprain. so what made the pop and could it be the reason i still notice a tiny pain when i really roll the ankle to the side slowly even today (unlike my other ankle which has no pain no matter how much i roll it slowly to the side).

 

Usually with ACL tears, you have to wait about a week to have surgery anyway because of the swelling. So it's not like you're wasting valuable time.

Work on that quad, though...

 

I tore my ACL many years ago. I have some important advice for you: bust your ass in rehab.

My thigh never regained the same size...not noticeable to most but to me. You muscle will atrophy quickly after the surgery...almost suprisingly so. Do want ever the doctor and rehab folks ask you to do.

Good luck.

os

 

You really don't need your ACL when doing straight on activities, like running. But where it comes into play is in sports like football and basketball where you have to cut, stop and start, and twist your knee in different directions. The doc was telling me about an olympic skier who tore his ACL, and if he had had surgery on it he wouldn't have been able to compete...so instead he just rehabbed it to where his other muscles compensated, and with the help of a brace he was able to compete in Salt Lake.

But that's in extreme cases...there was no chance in hell I was going to not have the surgery--I am NOT going to wear a brace for the rest of my life...and they say there's always a chance of it giving out on you at any moment, even with a brace.

As for me, I was able to walk on my own about a week after injuring it, pretty much pain free. But it's not going to heal on its own...with a complete tear, the ACL is virtually destroyed...it's like I don't have one anymore, and so there's no way for it to heal back again.

Buck they gave you prescription medicines??? They told me just to take some Tylenol

 

I broke my ankle a week or so ago and they don't think there is any ligament damage, though only just now ahs the swelling really come down. My muscle, from not walking on the leg, has quickly gone to crap - needless to say, the bike will be my friend in a few weeks.

I also have a friend who busted a couple of ligaments in his knee playing football near Christmas; was tackled wrong and the knee went out of place. I think it was the MCL, but don't hold me to it. If he hadn'tve fallen on the knee again just recently and damaged it again, he'd be about 2/3 recovered now and working on regaining his jumping and running (or lack there of) skills about now.

Anyway, do keep the injury elevated and iced down...and stay off of it as much as possible. It may kill your good leg - and crutching is the worst - but balance will become your friend very quickly. Good luck...and enjoy being able to bug others to help you do anything, because you probably won't get it again

 

I took Hydrocodone following my shoulder surgery... I stopped taking it after 3 days because I was hallucinating and had the most F'ed up dreams ever. Just keep poppin in tylenol!

 

Oh, as a note....when you go to the hospital - mainly the ER - make it seem like you are in some pain and when they ask you to describe your pain on a scale of 1-10 (1 being no pain, 10 being the worst you've felt in your life), go a tad bit high.

If they are any hospital/staff worth their beans, they will definately ask you to rate the pain. Medicine - supposed to be in the ER, though could be via prescription - will come likely based on this pain rating you give it.

Just a tip I picked up from a nurse.

 

Sorry to hear Buck. Good luck on the rehab.

What does it mean if your ankles/knees/legs pop all the time?

I'm only 22 and it sounds like I am walking on bubble-wrap sometimes. Usually the day after I have hooped for a couple of hours

 

I'm not bragging by any means but I've had 4 knee surgeries. I was never ever injury prone until my soph year in high school when a guy clipped me in football. After that, I just kept reinjuring something in my knee.

Anyways, that sucks to hear about your dilemma. I can tell u that a pop, pain, stiffness and swelling soon after are dead giveaways for damaging somthing in your knee...not necessarily a ligament, but most likely it is. Regardless of what your doc says, u will probably have an MRI for an orthopedist to determine the extent of your injury. It is recommended that you do get surgery so u can get on with your life after the injury. Also, if it is a complete tear in anything and surgery is inevitable, work out as much as you can. A good thing would be to get on the exercise bike and set it to the hardest level u can tolerate and pump those muscles on that bike. That has been my biggest contributor to helping build up leg muscles w/o all the weight lifting.

If what u have is a ligament tear, u should be able to walk with crutches the day after or soon after, depending which ligament and stuff. If it is cartilage, u may be non weight bearing for a little bit to let the cartilage grow back. Ligament and tendon tears are around 6 months minimum, but it may take a full year or year and a half to completely feel comfortable with what has been repaired. Cartilage repair will take about 3 months for full recovery.

Hope everything works out for ya.

Also, I'm gonna put in a plug for Dr. Lowe of the Rockets. Great doctor and a real nice guy. One of the best out there.

 

I damaged my meniscus skiing. Years later, after plenty of popping, swelling, and the onset of athritis (due to free-radical damage from the persistent sweilling), I had surgery.

I decided to have the surgery so I could run again, but they removed so much cartilidge that I was told 'no more running'. That also means no racquetball, basketball, etc.

I also did not stick with rehab properly, which led to lower back problems. Glucosamine keeps the athritis in check.

Good luck Buck, you are wise to seek counsel from others on this one.

 

Yeah, just do a lot of curls and extensions to build up the muscle. These things will not only help with the possible atrophy, but take stress off of your knees as well.

My situation is a bit different because I just have the lack of cartiledge and arthritis to deal with. Sometimes I find myself wishing that I would tear something - just so they will go in and try to fix things. I know, that is never a good thing...it is just so frustrating being this young and having this pain every day and knowing that I have a good 60+ years to go...with doctors saying "sorry, nothing we can do - just exercise and take a lot of aleve (I refuse to do the latter)."

Anyway, good luck...I hope your doctors don't suck.

 

The popping sound indicates ACL tear. All the advice above recommending an MRI is correct - it is the only real way to find out what happened. If it is only a partial tear, you can rehab, but if it is fully torn, you will have to have surgery.

I have never torn my ACL, but I tore my MCL (much less serious)snowboarding. I seems unlilkely that you have injured the MCL, becuase it usually involves a physical blow to the side of the knee (mine was when I hit a tree). It is fairly common in football, apparently.

I have a friend that fully rehabbed from an partial ACL tear with no surgery, and my MCL tear didn't require surgey either. A lot of the time, surgery depends on the overall condition of the knee - ie whether there is associated damage to the meniscus.

Good luck - under all circumstances, stay off your feet.