Can I Still be Active Without An ACL?

[Flexon Phil]

My wife was just in a serious ski accident and her knee is a mess. We will know Monday what is what. This has been a very informative thread, thank you.

[Skibumtress]

Skibumtress, I'd second everything here. Get it done sooner than later. I'm about to have my second one and wouldn't consider not doing it. Also you're right about women needing an ACL more than men. Women have wider hips which generally results in an increased femoro-tibial angle (knock knees). This, in conjunction with more leverage exerted by wider hips puts more torque on the ACL, or lack thereof. I believe there are very few athletes out there who live without an ACL and suffer no related injuries, ie: meniscus and other wear related problems. Good luck!

Thanks Foxy, yes I plan to have it done sooner than later.... after all I want to be ready for opening day next season.
Stiches come out tomorrow and I see the second Doc on the 29th. If he confirms that ACL surgery, the latest I'll have it done is May.

[Skibumtress]

Progress Report since surgery:
Had the surgery almost two weeks ago (March 7th), still have the stiches in but they'll come out tomorrow (20th). I think I'm making good progress. Thursday was the first day I was able to make it from the living room to the kitchen (about 10 steps) without limping. I'm trying hard not to "gimp" (remember from my back surgery that my body had gotten used to walking a certain way even though I was able to walk normally). Since Thursday it's been getting better and better each day. However, the weird part since this progress is that certain areas of the knee "catch me" and different areas are in pain sometimes. Still have pain which makes me exhausted at the end of the day but just ice it, elevate and take it easy and it's fine by the time I go to bed.
Of course doing the knee exercises but still don't have full extension without pain and can't kneel.... AT ALL! I'm ignorant about the "degree talk" but I can bend the knee about 1/2 before the pain starts and then it just progresses from there. Sometimes, I'm able to bend it a bit more with less pain but that's only when I take a pain med.

[nancie2k]

i guess you will be going to physical therapy soon and then you will find out how you're doing
my doc said i was doing better than most because i was in shape before my accident.

[SkiEvil]

I think Hines Ward plays in the NFL without an ACL, FWIW.

[Skibumtress]

i guess you will be going to physical therapy soon and then you will find out how you're doing
my doc said i was doing better than most because i was in shape before my accident.

Yep, start PT on Thursday.
At the appointment on Monday Doc was pleasantly surprised. Said my knee should be much more swollen than it is. He expected it to be swollen like a balloon. It's not. Still swollen but not as much as he anticipated. Said I'm almost two weeks ahead of schedule.
Still will not fit me for the Donjoy. Said he wants to wait six weeks to make sure all the swelling is down.

[Vinman]

Really try to work on the extension. Right now that is more important than flexion. You can't walk without a limp if you can't fully extend your knee.

Flexion will come back fairly easily as the swelling goes down.

Things will get easier as you go, remember there is no reason to push too hard at this point in your rehab.

[nancie2k]

Really try to work on the extension. Right now that is more important than flexion. You can't walk without a limp if you can't fully extend your knee.

Flexion will come back fairly easily as the swelling goes down.

Things will get easier as you go, remember there is no reason to push too hard at this point in your rehab.

my pt also said that about the extension. too bad that hurts, too

roll up a towel and put it uder your heel while sitting up with leg straight out in front of you, flex your toes up towards you and you should feel the stretch in the back of your leg. stay that way for 5-10 min several times a day

[Skibumtress]

my pt also said that about the extension. too bad that hurts, too

roll up a towel and put it uder your heel while sitting up with leg straight out in front of you, flex your toes up towards you and you should feel the stretch in the back of your leg. stay that way for 5-10 min several times a day

Interesting, I've been doing something like that on my own (PT doesn't start until tomorrow so I haven't gotten the "at home" PT stuff yet), not with the towel but when I'm sitting at my desk at work, I extend my leg, make little circles with my ankle and flex my foot up. I do the same thing when I'm elevating it when I'm resting and icing when I get home from work. I only hold it there for 30 seconds or so tho. I started doing this because it helps to relieve that annoying "tooth-ache" sort of pain, especially at the back of the knee.

I do have a question though and Vinman, perhaps you can help out here. At the end of the day when I get home from work, I'm in pain and if the pain is real bad, I pop a painkiller. Of course the painkiller dulls the pain so when I do my knee exercies in the evening, of course I find that I have more flex than without the painkiller. I know this may sound ignorant but I'm I asking for trouble when I do this? Pushing it too far, too soon?

[Endlessseason]

Still will not fit me for the Donjoy. Said he wants to wait six weeks to make sure all the swelling is down.

That is something that absolutely made no sense to me. When the doc explained to me that I would have the surgery, atrophy, and then build up my muscles again before they fit the brace, I asked him (politely) what kind of logic that was.

I told him it seemed to me that it would make more sense to take the Donjoy measurements BEFORE surgery while my leg was already in the shape I'd be trying to get back to after surgery. The other benefit I could see is that I could start wearing it weeks earlier if I didn't have to wait several weeks to both build back the muscles AND have to wait for the brace to be made.

He thought about it for a moment and then he said he had to agree. I had the brace made from my pre-surgery measurements and it was ready the minute my leg was ready for it. Why they don't do that automatically for everyone is weird.

(Maybe this is something that can help someone about to have ACL surgery).

[Skibumtress]

That is something that absolutely made no sense to me. When the doc explained to me that I would have the surgery, atrophy, and then build up my muscles again before they fit the brace, I asked him (politely) what kind of logic that was.

I told him it seemed to me that it would make more sense to take the Donjoy measurements BEFORE surgery while my leg was already in the shape I'd be trying to get back to after surgery. The other benefit I could see is that I could start wearing it weeks earlier if I didn't have to wait several weeks to both build back the muscles AND have to wait for the brace to be made.

He thought about it for a moment and then he said he had to agree. I had the brace made from my pre-surgery measurements and it was ready the minute my leg was ready for it. Why they don't do that automatically for everyone is weird.

(Maybe this is something that can help someone about to have ACL surgery).

Before surgery, I still had some swelling 'cause of the joint out of place and the two fractures. This was his reason about the brace and also the reason why I couldn't do PT before surgery because of where and how the fractures were. I didn't have the ACL reconstruction this first surgery 'cause it was found out during surgery that it was completely ruptured (originally diagnosed as an "intermediate-high grade tear"). Found this out when he went in with the camera and probed it. It was exactly where it should be but just floating there, apparently attached only by a thread.... MRI didn't pick this up. So this first surgery I had the meniscus repaired, the post-traumatic arthritis cleaned out (only some of it 'cause the rest is right down to the bone, right on the knee cap), the joint put back into place and the useless ACL removed.
Start PT tomorrow for rehab from this surgery and to build up for the ACL reconstruction (hopefully in May), however, it looks like I will be getting the brace after PT and before the ACL reconstruction (I think ).

[altagirl]

That is something that absolutely made no sense to me. When the doc explained to me that I would have the surgery, atrophy, and then build up my muscles again before they fit the brace, I asked him (politely) what kind of logic that was.

I told him it seemed to me that it would make more sense to take the Donjoy measurements BEFORE surgery while my leg was already in the shape I'd be trying to get back to after surgery. The other benefit I could see is that I could start wearing it weeks earlier if I didn't have to wait several weeks to both build back the muscles AND have to wait for the brace to be made.

He thought about it for a moment and then he said he had to agree. I had the brace made from my pre-surgery measurements and it was ready the minute my leg was ready for it. Why they don't do that automatically for everyone is weird.

(Maybe this is something that can help someone about to have ACL surgery).

My assumption is that many docs don't WANT you to have the brace ready any earlier. They probably figure that once you have a functional brace, it might give you the guts to do something you're not supposed to be doing yet. Though they could certainly order it beforehand and give it to you when you're ready though.

The only thing I can see is that you may still have some swelling before the surgery, in which case it would make the brace too big for you later. That or some people never get it quite back to the same size - or they work it so much it ends up bigger than the other leg, etc.

[Endlessseason]

Yeah, I guess that makes sense to wait in situations like those.

[nancie2k]

Interesting, I've been doing something like that on my own (PT doesn't start until tomorrow so I haven't gotten the "at home" PT stuff yet), not with the towel but when I'm sitting at my desk at work, I extend my leg, make little circles with my ankle and flex my foot up. I do the same thing when I'm elevating it when I'm resting and icing when I get home from work. I only hold it there for 30 seconds or so tho. I started doing this because it helps to relieve that annoying "tooth-ache" sort of pain, especially at the back of the knee.

I do have a question though and Vinman, perhaps you can help out here. At the end of the day when I get home from work, I'm in pain and if the pain is real bad, I pop a painkiller. Of course the painkiller dulls the pain so when I do my knee exercies in the evening, of course I find that I have more flex than without the painkiller. I know this may sound ignorant but I'm I asking for trouble when I do this? Pushing it too far, too soon?

when my physical therapist comes in, she wants to know when i last had a pain med. if i am close to where i will be needing it again, she will come back after it has had a chance to work. we work everything and then i elevate and ice it again.
you have to stretch out all those muscles and it is painful, this way you will do the exercising with minimal discomfort.(pain)
when i do the same stuff later, the muscles are all stiff again, and have to gently stretch again.

keep it a long, slow, gentle stretch, no bouncing. she said to sit there with the gentle stretch so it can heal with a longer stretch if you get what i am trying to say for me i have to do it 10-15 min 5to 7 times daily and i can put ice on my knee while doing it.

[Skibumtress]

Had my first PT session today. Not too bad, however at the beginning I did want to push it. No, Vinman, the PT guy wouldn't let me. Still don't have full extension or flexion (yea, no kidding, it's only three weeks).... don't know the degrees. Gotta ask him next week. Said what I have going for me is that I'm limber and legs are strong. Left leg is my weak side (right knee is the one with the boo-boo) and just couldn't believe how easy leg curls were on the left leg, the same weight felt double the weight on the right (I could feel my body thinking "this isn't right"). Started a little stability exercises but mainly it will be strength and stretching at first. Asked him if I could come in early to do the bike... answer "NO!" Said maybe in a couple of weeks. AG, he won't let me to straight leg extensions either.... only with the knee bent and only 1/2 way off the floor and with upper leg muscles flexed. Like AG, I really enjoyed the e-stim with the ice... I likey! Almost fell asleep. Next PT is Tuesday and Doc appointment with with the new doc on the 29th to talk about the ACL reconstruction. It really is strange how much you can feel the weakness tho.