r/ACL

Most of your PTs do not understand what mountain biking is. They're assuming you're road biking in the woods. Make sure they truly understand the stresses mountain biking puts on the knee. My PT "cleared" me at 10 weeks and I was like "are you sure?" I explained the reality of mountain biking and she was like "oh no, fuck that, five to six months min."

Cycling is great guys. Big hits, cornering with technique (there should be plenty of torque in your knee if you're doing it right), putting your foot down in a wash out are not....99% of your repairs are not ready for this stress at 8 weeks or even 12. Get a grip guys.

I'm going to make a log here of my progress, to help me stay on track and monitor how I'm doing.

Today is day 2 post op.

Day 0: surgery went very well, had a great team who put me at ease. I was feeling very positive afterwards and enjoying the drugs! Had some nausea on waking and some pain but they gave me meds for that. Started icing for 20 mins every hour. Taking Tylenol and morphine every four hours. I am also taking anticoagulants due to history of previous clots. Doing gentle foot pumping too and tried a little extension with ankle on rolled up towel.

Day 1: Woke up feeling surprisingly well, although then went back to sleep and had leg jerks in my sleep while dreaming, woke up yelling from the pain! Tried just half a morphine but later the pain got much worse.

Was feeling low emotionally and eager to crack on with exercises but in the end didn't feel the pain was enough under control for that. Reminded myself it's only day 1. Continued with foot pumps and gentle circles. Took full dosage of morphine and Tylenol and felt better before bed.

Day 2: So far much better than yesterday! Slept better, was able to remind myself to relax my muscles into the bed and let them be supported as I was falling asleep. Leg went to do the jerks/muscle firing while dreaming (my dreams are very active, lots of ballet and jumping!) but my instinct to relax kicked in. It's amazing what the mind can do!

Am alternating full morphine dose with half a dose and pain is well under control. Continuing with icing more or less every hour. Did five minutes of walking on the crutches and I'm surprised the leg is bearing weight well without pain. Just did 10 mins extension with ankle on towel and went very well. Feeling positive!

Only spanner in the works is the meds have stopped up my bowels. Taking laxatives and loads of fruit and veg!

How long did your wear your brace at night? Ever since I had an incident with a cockroach jumping on me in the middle of the night and me instinctively trying to run of away, forgetting I was just fresh out of surgery, I can’t sleep without my brace anymore. It literally saved my leg.

I am 4 weeks post bucket handle repair and ACLr and doc says I can slowly leave away the brace.

Also, how long until you were allowed to go in the swimming pool again?

Hi everyone,

for the past few days, there have been many posts with worries, complications, having hard time progressing, so I thought I would also share a good story re prehab and early recovery, along with some tips which could help people who were just injured to be slightly less scared, as (0 brag, this is more so to show that it does not have to be terrible, I remember scrolling here before the surgery and getting quite worried) my story has been pretty much okay for now and I can honestly say that I do not regret my surgery at all.

I got injured in March and basically damaged absolutely everything in terms of ligaments in the knee, and partially tore the gastrocnemius, with significant haematoma both in the front and back side of the knee, of course with full ACL tear. At first, the doctor tried conservative approach, but mainly in order to fix all the damage before going in for the surgery which marked the start of my 2.5 (almost 3) months long prehab. Let me use this space to say that please, if you can afford it or it is even slightly possible, get a PT specialised in knee injuries and athletes and do one session per week with them, it is the best money spent. Note down all the exercises and do them, with my protocol I did them 3x per day for two months then slowly decreased to only once per day, while still doing all my regular exercises with modifications, so the knee does not suffer (personal tip - modified pilates was incredible at further strengthening of the quad and hamstrings), do not skip the days, even if you cannot complete the whole thing, do as much as you are able to squeeze in and if you take a bit longer to reach a goal (for me it was full extension), it is okay, just do not give up.

Re the surgery, I would say to make sure to get a surgeon with whom you get on and can trust (ideally someone who operates on athletes or at least has a lot of experience), I was very lucky with this and got everything explained, demonstrated on the MRI scans, down to every little bit of what will happen during the surgery. For graft choice, I did the research and also in the end, my surgeon recommended the same thing which I wanted (quad graft, he could also do any of the other but had the best outcomes with his patients fitting my activity profile (high) with that one). Surgery went extremely well (thanks to prehab, the leg was strong, as well as the graft) and as soon as I woke up in the recovery room I started with ankle pumps and quad activation, when they moved me to the room, I did leg raises no problem and was able to keep the leg up by myself when getting off the bed too. Side info, I was allowed full weight bearing on the leg with fixed brace and crutches straightaway after the surgery.

Here are some important things which helped me in the initial 14 days after surgery:

• Ice and compression machine - had the game ready one rented and they also used it in the hospital, absolutely crucial, day 1 no compression, days 2-10 low compression and 11-14 medium compression, thanks to it was able to come off painkillers on day 3 and even before, I took less than specified in the release form cos I did not feel that I needed it, also allowed for absolutely minimal swelling, I cannot put into words how much I recommend renting one

• Sticking to the PT protocol given by the hospital - 100 leg raises per day, 1000 quad activations per day and ankle pumping whenever possible, and from day 5 also side leg raises and pushing into a small pilates bowl with the heel

• Body pillow - best thing for sleeping, am not a back sleeper and thanks to this I was able to sleep on the side which helped a great deal

• Bruise cream - used heparinoid cream all over the area where the bruise formed and it helped to manage it and get rid of most of the bruising quickly

• Good diet aimed at supporting strengthening and recovery of tendons and muscles - very rich protein and fibre diet, also supported by taking hydrolysed collagen daily (I use the Hunter and Gather one)

• Time off - if at all possible take the first 14 days off, your body will thank you and you need a lot of rest for appropriate recovery, just focusing on the leg and in my case, I had trouble sleeping, so really needed to squeeze in some naps during the day

• Get someone to help you - I was incredibly lucky, having my family there to help, as it is rough with fixed brace and not being allowed to bend the leg, putting on socks or taking off shorts is nearly an impossible task and you will need a lot of help with basics like this

I also used EMS machine three times per week on the quad, but I do not think that was that significant, might have been slightly helpful with allowing me to start clenching the muscle from the knee. Now I am 21 days post op, am post 2 PT visits and both of them went very well, with the PT even taking pictures of the leg cos he was so impressed (to me that was shocking as I was worried that I am behind, cos while I can get to -4 extension, my flexion on my own is around 97 only), however, I have minimal atrophy in the quad and the calf, am walking on my own with no crutches since day 14 (not beautifully but walking which, mentally, is great on its own) and since day 18 I can also do stationary bike for a few mins after PT. Every single day, I can see improvement, it is just about sticking with it and not getting discouraged when it does not look or feel great immediately. So far, both my surgeon and PT have predicted me for full return to sport and my previous activity level based on the tests done and how the leg behaves.

I know it is a super long post, but I tried to address everything which I found significant. Overall, I would say that staying positive, setting a goal (I really want to hike this one trail in Norway next year) and prioritising your leg and recovery are very important aspects. Do not compare yourself to others, as honestly, every single case is clinically different, every single graft is different (can see this on people doing the PT with me) and of course, there are always setbacks (even for me on day 3 I could barely lift the leg as it just felt completely off, but I still tried whatever other exercises possible and it came back the next day). It is a super long journey, but I am sure that we can all do it, just in our own time, but most importantly, staying safe and listening to the PT and the doctor (also always ask them if you are unsure, in my experience, they have always tried to help out and them being familiar with your case is what can make difference even against stuff recommended here) is the key for successful recovery.

Wishing everyone the best of luck in the world, I hope that all goes well for you and that you can overcome any setbacks in the recovery or prep. Lastly, super thankful for this community, as I found many useful recommendations, lot of support and overall a great bunch of people doing their best to help.

P.S.: always happy to answer any questions about prehab, early recovery, etc., as long as it helps anyone to feel at least a little bit discouraged and nervous, as so many people did it for me here as well. Also kudos to you if you got all the way here ahaha

I feel like I’m going crazy here. I got my ACL surgery about two weeks ago. Pain was only bad for the first two days, stop pain meds after day 4. Physical therapy has been great and my brace is unlocked. I get the occasional aching feeling in my knee and stinging in my incision, but overall it’s been pretty smooth sailing, except for one thing. I cannot for the life of me sleep. It’s not an issue of pain keeping me up, or sleeping on my back in the brace. I have never in my life been lying awake for 11 hours straight, unable to get even a bit of rest. Even with melatonin, weed gummies, chamomile, etc. Has anyone else experience insomnia, weeks after the operation?

I just found out that I (28 F) tore my MCL and ACL playing soccer. I am an incredibly active person, and it's summer where I live, so this news absolutely sucks. Since I'll be getting surgery soon, I'm thinking about ways to still get endorphins flowing and also get outside so I don't absolutely lose my mind. Any tips?

Tl;DR - how do you not go crazy post ACL surgery?

Hi everyone! I was wondering what everyone did about stairs post op? My house has 4 stairs to get into it and then I have to go up a flight of stairs to my bedroom and for some reason I’m like REALLY stressed about that part! 😣 My boyfriend’s parents offered to let me stay with them in their ranch home (their guest bedroom is in the bottom floor). However, I know it will cause some conflict with my family. So not really sure what to do! Have been super anxious! Surgery t-minus 6 days!

EDIT: PA and doc think I am going to be NWB for 6 weeks due to both ACL and meniscus tear. Not sure if this changes anything!

Hi, aclr and particular meniscus. I hit 3 months PO 2 weeks ago. This is the point where my surgeon suggest at return to jogging. However PT is asking for 10 consecutive single leg squats for clearance to run. I can currently max at 7 before feeling discomfort and pain. In day to day my leg feels great and ready. In your experience is this a reasonable requirement for a return to run?

I had a PCL injury 7 months ago, i’m still in a brace as i’m waiting for surgery. The day after my injury, my I had tibia subluxation ( tibia slid back because there was no PCL holding it)

I’ve only had the courage to take of my brace now ( with permission from doctor) however i am so scared to fully straighten my leg incase my tibia slides back again.

When does bending your knee(sitting to touch your heels on your butt) feel normal and no pain? Currently 6 months post everything’s coming well, just don’t feel when heels touch butt

So im having ACL repair surgery soon with the autograft coming from my quadriceps tendon. I'm seeing a lot of posts on here about how everybody is having to do prehab before surgery, and how they think it helped with their success, but my doctor didn't prescribe me to have any rehab before the surgery. Is this normal? With this be okay? I'm also having 2 anthroscopys apparently, with "meniscul repair" and "Chondroplasty". Thank you

8 days PO from PTB ACL reconstruction and Complex meniscus tear repair on right knee. I want to go back to sitting at my desk and was wondering if I could. I have a printer below my desk that I can rest my leg on in the brace and was curious as to how this would effect my weight bearing. I was told TTWB (20%). When my leg is on the printer, my heel is on the printer and there's not any weight on it besides the weight of my leg I guess as I'm sitting. Is this okay?

At what point (if any) should I be concerned by my lack of extension? I am 6.5 weeks out and my extension got measured at 8 degrees. I remember early on saying how important it was to hit 0 degrees early because if you don’t then you may never? was anyone in a similar boat and got there eventually or am i screwed? also exercises to help with it aside from prone hangs are welcome

Anyone able to get workouts in while being on bed rest? Any links or recommendations will be appreciated greatly 🤞

Progress: 105 degree bending Activating my quad Full extension Update: so originally my surgeon said I can’t weight bear for 6 weeks. However, because of how strong my leg is he moved it down to 50 at 4! I’m super happy because I’ve been working really hard and I’m excited to take the next step. I’m also finally driving again and going back to the gym today!

Hi all,

I just wanted to post since I’ve been reading so many of your stories. Really helps the negative feelings…

In 2014 I tore my right ACL and meniscus playing lacrosse

Again in 2016 I tore my left ACL playing lacrosse

I had donor grafts for both, and my surgeon boasted the grafts were so large and stable he expected I would never have any issues. In June of this year I tore my right ACL and meniscus again playing competitive pickleball. I knew it before I hit the ground. The pop..the instability…all over again. MRI confirmed it, and I was prepared to go through it all again. Upset, but prepared

Until…the surgeon informed me the donor graft used in my 2014 surgery was so large it left a hole that would need to be filled with a bone graft. Meniscus repair and bone graft on July 3rd of this year, I’ll do 4 months of PT and go back in for an ACL in November (once the bone graft has healed). 2 surgeries in 1 and double the total recovery time.

12 months out of sports! I’m going crazy. I’ll push through just like all of you, but I have to wonder where the limit is. I’m 27.

It’s been 6 weeks post surgery and 10 weeks post tear and swelling is still very noticeable. How long until it goes fully down?

Surgery next week, concerned about sleeping since I am a side sleeper. Is that at all possible or have to sleep on back for first couple of weeeks?