Old knee injury

[Biggies7]

Hello everyone! Im sorta new to the forums. Just wanted to ask a question to see if anyone had an answer. When I was in high school I ran hurdles and tore my ACL (just recently found this out) nothing was done about it 22 yrs ago. My question is will I ever be able to regain my total range of motion in this leg? I currently cannot sit with legs bent and on my butt (ie) childs pose. If I bend my leg (hamstring curl) too far my knee pops out (not painful anymore).

I realize no one may have an answer but thought I would get some suggestions.

Thanks

 

[Kathy G]

Hi Karen,
I'm not sure you can ever regain total range of motion without surgery. I tore my ACL last year (completely severed it from my tibia) and had reconstruction surgery about a month after the injury. It took 5 months of physical therapy and tons of work to get back to running, lifting weights, and doing Cathe workouts again. I still have trouble with side to side motion but the flexion is getting better (I can sit on my feet if I have sneakers on but not barefoot).

I don't think I could have done it without surgery. I had severe "slip-age" whenever I even walked fast. I had it "slip" and not go back for a whole day once and it was quite painful. I knew surgery was emminent for me if I wanted even a "normal" life.

Does your injury prevent you from doing other physical things like running, lifting, step workouts, etc?

Kathy G

 

[Traildoggie]

This may be more than you want to hear about ACL replacement but I had a great outcome and am very glad I did it.
I tore my ACL skiing and went for years without realizing except for occasional times where the femur smacked into the top of the tibia. That really hurt. x( x( I went 5years missing an ACL before I had diagnosis with an MRI & exam. I had successful reconstruction surgery a couple years ago when I was about 55.

The orthopedist said there's wide variation in difficulty people have without an ACL. some people get along fine, others can't function well at all. Depends also on how active you want to be. I could run,hike, ski OK without an ACL, but anytime my foot didn't go where my brain expected it to, I could have tibia bashing incident. I could not jump and land on that leg at all. No way. I got an ACL brace to wear before my surgery cause I didn't want more knee damage. They are big and cumbersome but do control knee motion.

It was day surgery, I went home in a couple hours. I was able to ride a stationary exercise bike (very carefully) on sunday after friday surgery. I did some mild hiking (with brace) in a month. I did daily rehab for 3 months, at home and at physical therapy. I had full range of motion in a couple months.

I am so glad I did it. I don't have to worry about my knee and can run, jump, and do whatever without worrying. If you have other questions please feel free to ask.

 

[Biggies7]

Thanks to both of you for your response, very helpful and something to think about.

I am pretty much able to run, bike and do my Cathe tapes (a bit of trouble with IMAX 2 when she has us jumping on one leg or side to sid moves.) I can't jump and land on my left leg cause it will give on me. I just find that after intense exercise or long walks my leg aches.

I thought about surgery but dont want to be down for the recovery. I work and wonder if I would be able to get to physical therapy like I need to.

Overall I can pretty much do what I want however, I am very careful and dont participate in any activities that could possibly hurt me.

Thanks again :7

 

[Traildoggie]

I was working out of my house at the time I had the surgery so only took a couple days off. DH took a week off work to take care of me but I did better than expected & it wasn't necessary. I was going up and down stairs ( carefully) in a couple days. I went to PT twice a week then once a week. Total of about 14 sessions. Hours very flexible, many people come before or after work. Mostly learn the rehab exercises correctly and for advice on when to advance to the next level & monitor progress. Most therapy I did at home an hour+ a day. stationary bike. floor agility exercises, stuff with a band. nothing complicated. You wear a leg immobilizer "cast" for a few weeks to protect the graft but it's huge & hard to dress around. that alone might keep you home in sweats!

But not everyone has as easy a course. We're not all put together the same, surgeons aren't all equally skilled, things can go wrong etc etc. I ran into one lady who said it took her 6 months to get to the point I was at in one month. so the range is very wide. Good luck, hope you can reach a good decision for yourself.

 

[Gayle]

Hi Karen,

I tore my ACL skiing in late winter 2005, but didn't have it diagnosed until summer 2006. Initially, my knee would pop out of alignment whenever I did any kind of pivoting motion or if I put a specific kind of sideways pressure on it. It eventually got worse, to the point that things like speed skaters became tenuous. Running and hiking became painful, and skiing and dancing were out of the question.

I had ACL reconstruction surgery in November 2006 and it was the best thing I could have done. While the recovery has been tough and a little humbling at times, my knee feels as strong as it's ever been.

HTH

ETA: I was out of work for 2 1/2 weeks, and did PT 2-3 times a week for about 6-8 weeks, then once week for a few weeks after that. Given my location, it was easy for me to take advantage of it.

One thing that helped tremendously in my recovery was my exercise bike. I bought a recumbent prior to the surgery knowing that it be the only form of cardio that I'd be able to do for at 10-12 weeks post op. It helped a lot with reducing swelling and working fluid out of the knee, as well as getting strength back.