ACL Surgery

[ireekofawesomeness]

im getting acl surgery on my right knee in about a month, and i was just wondering if you guys can give me any input whatsoever on it...what to ask the doc, what are the do's and dont's, what im looking at as far as recovery time, etc...ive already s;poken with my specialist about some of this but i wanted opinions from other people who work out bc obviously im looking at the surgery as a way to be able to get back so squatting and shit again, not just to do everyday tasks like a normal person...any input is very much appreciated

 

[super_rice]

I've never had a large enough knee injury to warrant surgery, but I do know that a lot of doctors may use surgery as an option all too much.

Have you spoken to another doctor, and made sure it was absolutely necessary that you get surgery? I would choose arguous rehab and physio over surgery any day.

 

[Lumberg]

make sure your surgeon has several (preferably several dozen) surgeries of this kind under his belt.

For example my main ortho is an upper limb guy. He's brilliant and I would trust him to cut me just about anywhere (he's cut me three times now). However, if I came to him with a knee injury I bet you he would refer me to one of his colleagues that is more of a "lower limb" guy.

 

[ireekofawesomeness]

rehab alone isnt an option...im 23 and have a complete tear of my acl...if i dont get it fixed it cannot 'heal' by itself like a bad sprain or something o that nature...so the surgery is an inevitability

 

[big4life]

Check with jenscat5 she's a mod here who had to have her acl cut on. Here's a link to her profile.

http://www.elitefitness.com/forum/member.php?u=47616

 

[Extra_Strong]

im getting acl surgery on my right knee in about a month, and i was just wondering if you guys can give me any input whatsoever on it...what to ask the doc, what are the do's and dont's, what im looking at as far as recovery time, etc...ive already s;poken with my specialist about some of this but i wanted opinions from other people who work out bc obviously im looking at the surgery as a way to be able to get back so squatting and shit again, not just to do everyday tasks like a normal person...any input is very much appreciated

what are you planning to use to replace the old ACL ?

 

[Maks]

Two friends of mine had acl replacement, with parts of their patellar ligament. One does ironman triathlons, the other one plays basketball. No problems from them. I dont know any guys who do squat heavy, though.

 

[columbia58]

im getting acl surgery on my right knee in about a month, and i was just wondering if you guys can give me any input whatsoever on it...what to ask the doc, what are the do's and dont's, what im looking at as far as recovery time, etc...ive already s;poken with my specialist about some of this but i wanted opinions from other people who work out bc obviously im looking at the surgery as a way to be able to get back so squatting and shit again, not just to do everyday tasks like a normal person...any input is very much appreciated

Had a complete ACL tear 1990, had a patella tendon graft, there are other methods, one thing I was told prior to surgery....you may lose complete control of your quad, I was told to start quad flex's right after surgery, I mean right after I woke up, I did and never lost my quad.....keep that in mind....good luck

 

[Extra_Strong]

well the graph from the peteller tendon takes the longest to heal. acually after the surgery what you are waiting for it for the spot the graph was taken from to heal.

i would go another route for the graph.

 

[ireekofawesomeness]

i think they want to do the patellar tendon grft with me...what are my other options?

 

[Lumberg]

i think they want to do the patellar tendon grft with me...what are my other options?

a) getting an ACL from a cadaver
b) some kind of synthetic material

a) is orders of magnitude rarer than a graft, and b:a as a:graft.

 

[gettnlarge01]

I "ve had 2 knee surgeries on my left knee one of those being an acl. Within 3 weeks I was working legs with light weights. It was bout 3 months before I got back up to my normal workout weight. Swelling in my knee was common after workouts for about 6 months. I just used ice and heat and some streching exercises to help with selling and help to heal it up

 

[young_gunz]

iight well i had complete acl surgery not to mention mcl and muniscuis surgery, and from what i can tell you the graft is the way to go
reasons, well i does take a while to heal and the pain is pretty bad but only for like 2 weeks, rehab was hard!! you should start a day or 2 after surgery. I was off my chruches in 2-3 weeks progression was very good, but the big thing is that you should be exercsing the leg right now until a few days before sugery, it helps with the recovery
now another reason is that the graft is probably the storngest thats why there wanting to do it that way, i played football and it was fine but hell i played with it tore(braced) and it really wasnt that bad
i wasnt cleared for 3 months if not longer but if you rehad hard,it gets boring!!, then everything will be back to normal in like 6 to 8 months,just stay with it and focus on your training!!!

 

[Maks]

Btw, if that isnt too late now, try to get a peridural catheter (even on top of a general anaesthesia) to help the first days after the surgery. It is the best way to get the leg moving pain free postoperatively.

Darn did forget that in the first post.

 

[ireekofawesomeness]

im gonna ask for the catheter maks thanks...they moved it to next wed august rd it was supposed top be 7-26

 

[ireekofawesomeness]

so im going thursday, met with my surgeon today...im going with a cadaver graft of a tibialis anterior tendon which is actually supposed to be 1.8x stronger than your real ACL and better, and i requested and got the catheter also...thanks for everyones help

 

[Extra_Strong]

good idea i think you will be glad. the graph is just becomming out dated.

 

[Lumberg]

my knowledge must be outdated as well, then

 

[ireekofawesomeness]

well so far so good...i actually have zero pain at all in my knee and i can already walk in just my brace without crutches and todays sunday...my doc will be shocked to hear this most likely bc he told me it would be a while...the only time im even taking percosets is for my lower back bc i have 2 bulging discs and sitting with one lg raised agitates them...but im real optomistic and think im gonna heal great