I tore mine in 1974. I didn`t find out it was a complete tear until 2 years ago. I played softball for several years and went sking for 20 years (wearing a brace) and had few problems but it has given me problems a few times and stayed slightly swollen a lot of the time. Been elk hunting 4 times and hiked many miles in the mountains when I was younger and did great.
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In September 2002 I completely tore my ACL, stretched MCL and slight meniscus tear in a football injury. It swole up big time and my Orthodecided to wait about 3-4 weeks to allow the swelling to go down before MRI (he suspected a tear at first due to knee being loose). Mid October I had my MRI and confirmed the above. At that time, I was getting around fairly well with no issues. I asked to postpone surgery or if I needed it until after spring. Senior year and we were big favorites to win State in 1A baseball that year and I was our 2nd baseman. Both Drs said I could play but I wouldn’t be 100% even with a brace and the brace would be very cumbersome. My mom didn’t want me having surgery a couple months before I moved 500 miles off to college. So we agreed we could postpone surgery a couple weeks into deer season so I could go after a big deer I had been seeing. Ended up having surgery mid November 2002 and to this day, my operated knee feels much stronger than my “good” knee.
Even though up until my surgery, I was playing basketball and running and jumping and doing work around the farm with very little issues. I still had some instability at times. Knowing that, i wouldn’t want to climb a mountain in that circumstance. It sucks for the first year or so because you are scared you will re-tear it and it will still hurt and have that operated feeling (which never goes away) but it will eventually be back to normal and if you have crappy knees like I have from being a catcher most of my baseball career, your “good” knee won’t be your good knee anymore.Last edited by BBReezen; 08-15-2018, 08:17 AM.Comment
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Had mine replaced long ago (2000). I had the patellar tendon graft vs a cadaver.
Just the nuts and bolts:
*I had a complete tear and needed a lot of meniscus cleaning. The first tear was over 6 yrs prior and I kept going on it. Over and over. Every time I would displace the joint, more cartilage tearing resulted. I didn't want surgery, but technology caught up with me.
*Surgery is easy. Knee was solid the next week.
*You decide what mobility/use you want with PT.
*PT 3 mornings/week for 8 weeks. Then on my own program. Dr had me peddling bike on the 3rd day post op.
*Dr was right. "His" knee is stronger than my uninjured knee. I snowboard, run, swim, and hike in the Rockies. It took a full year to have confidence in the knee.
My sister-in-law had the same tear 3 yrs ago while skiing, went to my Dr, my PT. She didn't stick it out and quit the exercises before week 8. Her knee is S*&T. She can't run, ski, or other.Comment
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I forgot to mention, I had the patellar graph as well. Only thing that suck about mine is I don’t know if they got too deep in one spot or something but I have a nerve that if i hit it a certain way I get a severe shock of pain in my knee and I’m down for about 30 minutes from the pain. Took along time to be able to sit on my knees and still if I get a small pebble just right it will hit that spot and here we go again.Originally posted by tigerscowboy View PostComment
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I had a football injury and tore my ACL, MCL, and LCL back in 2003. Due to the LCL tear my rehab process was much different than your typical ACL repair/rehab.
However, with the advancements in technology and procedures I'd highly recommend having the ACL repaired and move forward with your life!Comment
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I haven't experienced what you described. Still play a lot of ball. Year round and coach too. I can play catcher in the proper form, but prefer leg out on extended efforts. If it's a short burst like squats or snowboarding, I never think about it.Originally posted by BBReezen View Post
Re brace: I wore it once. Dr said I didn't need it unless I needed the security. It's been on the top shelf of my closet since. I'm no Pro and I give credit to the procedure and Dr that I can do what the Dads 20 yrs younger cannot.Comment
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Tore mine on June 12th this year. Had ACL reconstruction on July 11th. Mine was done with an allograft (cadaver tendon) to build my new ACL. Today, I'm 5 weeks post-op. I've been hitting rehab pretty hard and doing everything my physical therapist recommends that I do outside of my PT sessions. It's getting stronger every day. My surgeon said with the method he used, my ACL would be at about 120% strength from what I was born with once its completely heal which will take about 1 year from surgery. He said I should be pretty good to go for lighter athletic stuff (no basketball or football) after 6 months. By 8-9 months should be able to do about anything as long as I wear my brace and at 1 year after surgery. Should be better than new. The first 10 days or so after surgery sucked. Once the swelling from surgery went down some and the trauma from the surgery began to heal, I started feeling better every day.Comment
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Had ACL and meniscus replacements last year. Meniscus sucked WAY worse than the ACL. I walked a 5k 6 weeks after ACL replacement with no real issues. I don't think my "bad" knee will ever be 100% but it is pretty close now. I really don't think about it when out doing active stuff. My Dr. did tell me that since I had the meniscus replacement to avoid any high impact activities but walking, hiking, etc all good. Running and jumping and twisting, probably good to avoid. Not like I did much of that anymore anyway.Comment
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Words are straight-up.Originally posted by Pullersboy View Post
If I had to do it again, I'd use a cadaver tendon. New ACL was super-solid after a few weeks. All of my healing issues were due to the patellar tendon graft.
Anyway... Year later and all was still solid and mobile. I'm a aggressive snowboarder just keeping up with the kids in the parks. My repaired knee will not go out. I do have concerns with my unrepaired knee. PT gets all of the credit and makes all of the difference in quality of life.
YOU GOT THIS. HIT IT AND FORGET IT.Comment
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My ACL was in two pieces. I had a cadaver ACL put in about 8 years ago and have not had any issues since. Physical therapy is the key after the surgery.Comment
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I tore my left ACL 23+ years ago playing indoor soccer. Same week as Terry Cummings of the Spurs. Same docs too. Doc told me I could just rehab it and would walk and even run fine but could never play sports again. That wasn’t an option. I’m 50 now and still play soccer some(goalkeeper). Mine was the patella tendon to replace ACL. Sure technology has come a long way since then. I didn’t have any miniscus damage. I’m on my knees a lot with work and still do good. I’m so glad I had the surgery and wouldn’t hesitate to do it again. Like everyone else says work hard at the rehab after which doesn’t sound like a problem for ya.Comment
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Tore mine back in school 13 years ago. Did a graft from my hamstring. Made a full recovery and was back playing sports in 3 months.
I made the mistake of playing on it for a year and a half after the initial tear. Once I finally opted for surgery, after the 5th time my knee gave out on me, I had pretty much no acl or mcl left.
Only acts up during significant weather changes and even then it's just stiff for a day.Comment
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I had complete ACL/PCL reconstruction in 2001. They took hamstring to repair PCL and the middle third of my patellar tendon to replace the ACL. It was not a fun recovery. I did bowhunt though was fairly limited and I had the surgery done end of August. It took nearly 6 months to get over the 70% hump. Going this route.
Full year until I trusted the knee.Comment
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Thanks again for all the feedback. I'm gonna go ahead and schedule an appointment with my Orthopedic and press him some more about the surgery and what procedures he recommends.Comment
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Whatever you do, good luck amigo. You got too many more years of hunting to not have a good knee
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