Anyone else busted their ACL

pabloB

pabloB

pabloB

Associate
Joined
19 Oct 2005
Posts
1,123
Location
Chelmsford Essex
Hi there,

Last September I took a quite a harsh tackle during a football match, I fell backwards and landed on my neck - basically my right leg went with me my me left stayed planted on the ground - my L knee swelled up like a ballon and eventually I had to see a specialist where it was discovered i had damaged my Anterior Cruciate ligament. Worse was to follow following an MRI and an Arthroscopy it was discovered I had a full blown rupture.

I'm scheduled to have an op on the 31st of this month whereby they'll graft some of my Patella tendon and a small part of bone and the ligament will be recontructed.

Has anyone suffered a similar injury - I'm aiming to be back on the football pitch in August as I understand the physio work after is especially hard, considering muscle wastage. I was also embarking on a weights programme - basically trying to improve myself and obviously this is now shot to bits.

Just wondering what the post op situation is going to be like and the follow up physio.

Cheers

Paul
 
Really sorry to hear that mate.

Post op you will need lots of determination and there will be plenty of times when you don't want to do anything. You just have to stick it out.

It's good that you've got a target for getting back on the pitch. In reality you will probably have to leave it a bit longer. The pro footballers do about an 8-month turn around but they come in to the gym for training everyday with a dedicated physio.

The health staff should be give you a rough timetable for your rehab. A lot of it will depend on how the operation goes.
 
Cheers for the posts chaps!I'm not down about it as it's just one of those things i'm 30 now so i'm expecting a few injuries these days. I'm very sporty by nature which helps and the physios have told me my leg is in good shape at the moment! Basically I'm under orders to train hard at the mo to get a higher level of stability in the knee so the hit isn't so big after the op which makes sense! Unfortunetly it's just an area that is going to be rather unstable for a while (as the new ligament osrts itself out!!)

The surgeon has said 6 months but i've added a month to that. Luckily my meniscus (Cartilage) is in a1 shape which is a god send - as I don't think I would have bothered with the op if that was written off to!

Looks like that DS Lite I got for xmas will be used a fair bit over the next few months! lol.

Still look forward to hearing from anyone that has suffered a similar injury!

Cheers Paul
 
Make sure you stick to the physio its very important, I did mine in 99 in a bike crash, still aches to this day, but leg is pretty strong though and I had no operation just physio, expect to get lots of cramp.
 
I managed to do a similar thing playing footy many years ago.... I was more lucky in a way, I fractured above the knee and clean broke below the knee when my right leg stayed firmly embedded to the ground in a turn.... took 8 weeks to get the cast off playing footy again 2 months after, I had to go to the Swimming baths a lot to get my right leg back into condition. I played a lot better after that though...

Hope all goes well mate, and have a speedy recovery, just dont push to quickly and you will be fine.
 
Hey Paul

I'm currently about 1/3 to 1/2 way through the recovery after my ACL reconstruction surgery - I was told it will be about 8 months to recover.
I did it playing indoor football - very much like the Michael Owen injury at the world cup - on my own, twisted sharply and it went pop...actually didn't hurt immediately but another twist later and it hurt like hell. I tried to run it off thinking it was just a twist or muscle pull - have had loads of injuries through footie and taekwondo and usually by keeping moving I am able to run them off - not this one.
The swelling never got really bad but next morning I passed out with the pain!! Couldn't straighten my leg at all.
After an MRI it was confirmed I had torn my ACL and damaged/freyed a small bit of the cartilage. That was in June, Got the surgery at the end of september - spent the summer just riding bikes in the gym and other light exercises.
Post surgery my knee was HUGE!! Very stiff and sore for a few days but didn't need the serious pain killers too much after a day. Definitely use ice every day and stay with the ibuprofen through-out (making sure to eat with it - ibuprofen can give you ulcers otherwise!!)
Work were great - let me have 3 weeks off. You'll need at least 2 - I wasn't expecting this as the surgeon just said - yeah, you'll be back home the next day and on your feet straight away - what he failed to mention was "on your feet" meant slowly hobbling around and tiring out quickly!!! Even though the crutches can be dropped after about a week and a half, you'll still have lots of difficulty getting around - especially anything that involves bending the knee.
All closed chain exercises for 6-8 weeks afterwards to simply regain the range of movement and waiting for the ligament graft to grow on to the bone, after that it's muscle work.
I am to start gentle jogging this week and then it's stepping it up quicker after that.
I can definitely feel that my quads are still nowhere to be seen compared to my left leg and my hamstring is still a bit useless - every now and then my leg flops backwards (hyper-extension backwards of the knee normally controlled and stopped by hamstring and quads) which hurt like hell in the early days and freaked me out but now happens less and isn't anywhere near as sore.
I can be a bit lazy with the exercises - over xmas I was super lazy and boy did I feel it at my first physio session after the 2 week break!! Best to keep up with these. At work I'm up and down stairs lots so that helps - probably why I am progressing well while not exactly doing all the exercises set out - I'm getting into it more now as the real muscle building has to start now and it'll hurt even more every physio session if I don't. They are pushing me hard now - get a right sweat on in 30 minutes doing mostly work on one leg!!
I tried swimming before xmas as the surgeon said I could but my knee got sore so i stopped for a few weeks. The key I'm told is, if the muscles are sore thats good, keep going, you're trying to build them up. If the knee gets sore, stop what you're doing.

Good luck with the surgery and recovery bud

Personally I'm not sure about playing football again. I'm 28 and don't play it seriously anyway. The whole feeling of not being able to trust my knee at all is very disconcerting - I guess it's the mental side as well as the physical side of getting injured!

Liam
 
I snapped my acl years ago playing football [26] im now an old 36 ,i also damaged my lateral and medial ligaments loads of times [4 cartlidge ops] and i was lucky in that i didnt need the op [something like 5% of people can carry a normal life without one acl ]then at a later date 30+i had another injury and then i damaged it too much that i couldnt get the op ,i feel it now quite a lot ,i still do a lot of weights [hamstring the big one for acl] but at times its still weak,i was told if they were to operate that arthritus was a big complaint after the op ,and im now in place to have a total knee op in the future :eek:,your now getting to an age where its getting a bit risky to keep playing ,but its so hard to give up good luck in your op .
 
Blimey some tough injuries there guys! I'm very lucky to have Private Medical Insurance through work so things have moved pretty quick.

You guys that have had op's what was the procedure used?? Another popular thing seems to be to use part of the hamstring.

It's strange that swimming has been mentioned at this stage my surgeon has said that's one of the worst things to do, i'm pleased as swimming bores the hell out of me!

odoliam thanks for your account of your recoveries - i'm pleased you seem to be doing ok I've been told I'll need 2 - 3 weeks off work too - luckily I'm connected into my office from home so don't think it's quite as disastrous for them!! My injury is similar to the famous Gazza one and also Van Nisselroy suffered just before his move to Manure.

DOC your injury sounds very severe -luckily all my other ligaments and cartillage are ok. I'll keep playing for as long as im able - i'm not ready for the golf course yet!!

Cheers Guys
 
yup, same here. Private medical insurance through work
I think the bill up to now is about 10k with the rest of the physio left to go so I'm bloody glad of it!

Keyhole surgery...one large 2" incision slightly below the knee cap and to the inside of the leg then 3 small access/observation holes above this. I noticed one or two other small cuts/puncture holes above my knee on my thigh - apparently these come from the clamps they use sometimes!!
The theory as it was described to me - you have 4 ligaments running up your hamstrings and really only need two of them so they harvest one, double it up twice and then screw into place.
The worst bit is the ~2" incision just below your knee which they use for re-attachment is also the one they use to poke all the way up your hamstring to cut the top of the ligament - makes for a very sore hamstring afterwards!! and lots of bruising behind the knee - mostly I guess as the blood drains there as I had my leg level a lot of the time.
Also, expect to lose sensation on the skin around some parts of the knee - can last for some months. Really just a bit numb to touch.

A friend of mine did his ACL years ago as well as his cartilage - they just cut the lot out and left him with no ACL or cartilage - my surgeon said that was the norm back then (10 years ago) but is now looked upon as butchery!!
Amazing how quickly this type of surgery is developing - thank goodness for valuable footballers falling over and spending loads of money to investigate the best way to repair it!

Edit:
On the swimming - my surgeon and physio differ on this big time!! Surgeon say free-style is OK, def not breast stroke. Physio deferred to the surgeon's wisdom and bigger pay packet, but reckons it is way to early as it is essentially quite a tough open-chain exercise
 
odoliam said:
yup, same here. Private medical insurance through work
I think the bill up to now is about 10k with the rest of the physio left to go so I'm bloody glad of it!

Keyhole surgery...one large 2" incision slightly below the knee cap and to the inside of the leg then 3 small access/observation holes above this. I noticed one or two other small cuts/puncture holes above my knee on my thigh - apparently these come from the clamps they use sometimes!!
The theory as it was described to me - you have 4 ligaments running up your hamstrings and really only need two of them so they harvest one, double it up twice and then screw into place.
The worst bit is the ~2" incision just below your knee which they use for re-attachment is also the one they use to poke all the way up your hamstring to cut the top of the ligament - makes for a very sore hamstring afterwards!! and lots of bruising behind the knee - mostly I guess as the blood drains there as I had my leg level a lot of the time.
Also, expect to lose sensation on the skin around some parts of the knee - can last for some months. Really just a bit numb to touch.

A friend of mine did his ACL years ago as well as his cartilage - they just cut the lot out and left him with no ACL or cartilage - my surgeon said that was the norm back then (10 years ago) but is now looked upon as butchery!!
Amazing how quickly this type of surgery is developing - thank goodness for valuable footballers falling over and spending loads of money to investigate the best way to repair it!

Edit:
On the swimming - my surgeon and physio differ on this big time!! Surgeon say free-style is OK, def not breast stroke. Physio deferred to the surgeon's wisdom and bigger pay packet, but reckons it is way to early as it is essentially quite a tough open-chain exercise
Click to expand...


Shocking how much it costs isn't it!! My MRI was about £500. 1st Arthroscopy about £1k
I'm quite pleased he's leaving my hamsring alone I'd rather the Patella and keep it all localised, they just graft the centre of tendon and it repairs it self. Apparently 2 holes are drilled into each leg bone and the new ligament in screwed into place. I'm thinking that my incision will be a little larger than 2" but who know these days - still it'll go nicely with my 6" scar on my arm lol!! Wish I'd done the Posterior CL apparently much less aggrevation!!

Have been warned about the numbness but as the nerves grow back so should the feeling.

Roll on the 31st lol!!!

One quick question - did your knee click a lot? Mine seems too
 
my knees always clicked - side effect of taekwondo and stretching lots I think!
My physio did ask if it was clicking...making me think they expect it after the surgery
I laughed and said it always has!!
 
ouch that sounds bad! I currently have Patellar Tendonotis (chronic) in BOTH knees at the mo! Can't play volleyball on them now :( looks like I'll have to get them operated on this year by the sounds of it too...
 
Docaroo said:
ouch that sounds bad! I currently have Patellar Tendonotis (chronic) in BOTH knees at the mo! Can't play volleyball on them now :( looks like I'll have to get them operated on this year by the sounds of it too...
Click to expand...


Otherwise known as jumpers knee - change sports mate and get some anti inflammatories!! Surgery can't really assist you At least givem them some rest
 
pabloB said:
Otherwise known as jumpers knee - change sports mate and get some anti inflammatories!! Surgery can't really assist you At least givem them some rest
Click to expand...

haha not so simple :( I haven't played volleyball for 9 months now because of it... or badminton.... i only do football once a week now (and they were rested for 3 months over summer - so that doesn't help!!)

Anti inflammatories don't work know because it's got so bad, it's chronic now.... just pain all the time.

I don't want the surgery because it isn't proven to actually improve the condition... no real options :(

I'm up for MRI scan soon and maybe they will try high-intesity ultrasound depending on what exactly is going on...

Totaly agony though... stairs are a nightmare! With it being both as well I'd be out of all sports/etc for like 8-10 months maybe a year and that would just kill me....
 
Docaroo said:
haha not so simple :( I haven't played volleyball for 9 months now because of it... or badminton.... i only do football once a week now (and they were rested for 3 months over summer - so that doesn't help!!)

Anti inflammatories don't work know because it's got so bad, it's chronic now.... just pain all the time.

I don't want the surgery because it isn't proven to actually improve the condition... no real options :(

I'm up for MRI scan soon and maybe they will try high-intesity ultrasound depending on what exactly is going on...

Totaly agony though... stairs are a nightmare! With it being both as well I'd be out of all sports/etc for like 8-10 months maybe a year and that would just kill me....
Click to expand...


Thats bad news mate sorry to hear it's that bad!! Guess see what the professionals have to say
 
thats mad how it is fixed now, when I did mine in 99 they never even offered surgery to me and this was through insurance so was covered for private medical all I got was physio, wish I could have had surgery as I might not have had to put up with this constant ache in my knee.
 
Banny said:
thats mad how it is fixed now, when I did mine in 99 they never even offered surgery to me and this was through insurance so was covered for private medical all I got was physio, wish I could have had surgery as I might not have had to put up with this constant ache in my knee.
Click to expand...

actually the surgery may never have been offered because well.... it's not actually proven to really work!! that's why I'm worried about it... I'm quite a good volleyball player and play(ed) competitvely but being only 6foot exactly I needed a big jump for spiking and blocking (which I had! I could soaarrr like an eagle lol) ... but not anymore with my knees being so bad... if i had the surgery then they told me, btw you will not be playing volleyball again mate no luck - i'd be just totally gutted...

but anyway next hospital is on 5th february so hopefully i'll start getting MRI scan to see the extent of the damage!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom