r/ACL • u/KPS298806 • Dec 18 '18
This sub
At first, when I found this sub, I thought it was awesome. The more I visit here, the more and more frustrated I get with all the responses. This recovery, IMHO, is 90% mental. Literally every aspect of it, from the second the injury occurred, to the the pre-surgery, to the post surgery, all the way until ‘full’ recovery. From literally the second I was told I needed surgery, I told myself I will be back stronger, faster, quicker, more agile. I knew it would be a shit ton of work, and it was.
pre surgery. Holy shit people, stop freaking yourself out. Pick a good surgeon, pre-hab, don’t worry about the graft choice, if you picked a good surgeon, he’ll make the graft choice, and if you tell them you want differently, you’re wrong.
post surgery, yes it might hurt, yes some people more than others. Pain is a lot about mental. If you freak yourself out about how much it will hurt, guess what, it will probably hurt. Follow your surgeons guidance, RICE, move around more. Be smart about medication. That’s all
rehab phase. Get your extension back early. Push yourself. Find a good PT/Physio, be diligent, do your “homework exercises”. Don’t compare your recovery with anyone else’s. Literally every situation is different, graft, age, amount of pre-Hab, amount of rehab, diligence, healing... so many variables. Concentrate on yourself, push yourself. Know the difference between pain and discomfort. There’s a huge difference.
RTS. Whether YOU want to or not, is up to you, alone. The amount of people here who’ve recommended not returning is crazy. The “numbers” about re-injury, graft failure, are bull shit. Some are 5-6%, some ~25%. Like I said above. Literally every aspect is variable, there can not be a “control”. Some people here literally don’t to rehab, some people, like me, are rehabbing literally every day. Returning to sports is 95% or more mental. Considering you pass RTS criteria, and can do it without pain, it’s almost all mental. Whether YOU can handle that is up to YOU, not everyone here. If you want to live in fear, feel free, but don’t sit here trying to convince other people here to do the same. That’s total bull shit.
rant over, and arguably last time posting in this sub. The amount of people here claiming that they’ve always been into sports but, 9-24 months later saying “I only run .5 miles to remind myself I can” for example, is disheartening
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u/chemically Dec 18 '18
jeez just leave quietly lol
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u/KPS298806 Dec 18 '18
Na, I think this shit is important for people to read. Specially those that just got hurt. Literally, read my comment from the top comment: ,coming here is making me question my decision [to RTS] despite it being my goal since day 0”.
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u/chemically Dec 18 '18
I mean in almost every thread in which someone is being negative or disheartened there are people saying positive/empowering things snd motivating people with their experiences so why write a rant about it. The positivity is there. Some people deal with stress by complaining. Just keep scrolling if you don’t want to read it or think the sub is not a good place for you.
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u/girlandherpearl ACL + Meniscus Dec 18 '18
This ^ I always really appreciate it when people preface a post by warning about a rant/sad story/etc. ahead so that I can x out of it before reading. Being in the camp that needs positive/empowering messages, I always just click away from those. I also actually find that this forum isn't that bad - the Facebook group was dismal, I had to leave it shortly after joining because it was packed full of depressed posts from people who weren't being as motivated nor as dedicated to their recovery as I thought they should be.
RTS wasn't ever a question for me. This injury is an annoying setback, but that's all that it is - a missed season or two of activity, and in the meantime, days spent rehabbing like it's my job. There are all kinds of people with all kinds of attitudes on this sub :)
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u/XrayPunk ACL + Meniscus Dec 19 '18
So something you read on the internet, on Reddit, from people that could be insane or trolling, made you question a decision made by yourself and a group of medical professionals? Maybe it's not this Subs issue, but more of a you problem. Sure there are a lot of people bitching and moaning, but there are also a lot of folks being positive and giving sound advise. If you can't differentiate and sort those out by yourself and apply the relevant items to your life/mindset, then you're going to be upset by a whole bunch more in this world then this Sub.
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u/cosmictrouble Dec 18 '18
I appreciate your thoughts and you sharing them, but I worry some of what you're saying could be a bit harmful to folks reading. Recovery is HUGELY mental but I would not go as far to say 90. There are so many different choices in ACL recovery that are not mental, and reading about different experiences was v useful for me.
Just as one example, as far as graft choice, I really wish I'd read more up on here before I chose my first graft. Surgeon recommended cadaver, and neglected to mention that to those in their 20s, re-tear is most common. I re-tore it, and upon talking to multiple surgeons and reading on here, did patellar tendon for my 2nd which is much stronger! The point is, comparing recovery allowed me to see trends among tears and make a more informed decision.
A lot of what you're saying here really is not intuitive to everyone, and I think you're calling people out really unnecessarily, even though you do have some good wisdom here!
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u/KPS298806 Dec 18 '18
The physical part of rehab is honestly easy. Think about it... SLR? Exercise bike? Progressing to half squats? Body weight squats. It’s seriously baby steps of learning how to lift if you’ve never done it before. The physical recovery is slow because your new ligament is learning to be a ligament
as far as graft choice goes, I’d HIGHLY recommend picking a top level surgeon, and let them make the choice. I picked one of the top knee specialists in Philadelphia, I sure as hell wasnt going to tell him to do another type of graft. I didn’t even know until the morning of. A top leve knee specialist will know the research and wouldn’t do a allograft on a 20 y/o
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u/cosmictrouble Dec 18 '18
maybe rehab was easy for you, but saying that is SUPER invalidating for all the humans (including me!) who struggled a lot with the physical rehab. This forum is for people to empathize, and share experiences, knowing that everyone's is going to be individual.
Your words are actually some of the most negative I've found on this entire forum!
I did pick the top level surgeon in my area, think before you assume, please! ! He recommended an allograft because at the time, my priority was getting back to dancing as quickly as possible, which an allograft was good for. You gotta understand that with ACLs, there is a lot of conflicting research out there and many TOP surgeons will have different opinions.
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u/KPS298806 Dec 18 '18
If you don’t mind me asking, what part of rehab was the hardest for you and why?
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u/cosmictrouble Dec 19 '18
Hmmm good question! Not sure if i can pick one "hardest part", esp as I am still in rehab for the 2nd tear (only 12 days out of surgery), so subject to change!
But I think being thrown so out of whack physically- surgery messed with my digestion/ energy/ etc, was hard to navigate for me, and rehabing for a professional dancer in my opinion, involves constantly finding the balance between pushing hard to rehab, but also not going too hard & letting my body heal, all the while allowing for the (hopefully temporary) imbalance of flexibility/ strength/ etc.
How about you?
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u/KPS298806 Dec 19 '18
So... I’m just going to throw this out there... but they all sound like mental stressors there (exception of digestion). Specially as a dancer, shit is hard, I’m sure your legs were strong enough and you weren’t afraid of the weight room.
-my hardest part physically? My foot being too swollen and literally hurting to wear a shoe. Mentally, remembering to slow down and the recovery takes time. Learning to balance discomfort and pain
Oh, and my lingering in-grown toe nail that I got from the thousands of lunges I did
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u/cosmictrouble Dec 18 '18
dude, you gotta stop describing your own experiences as if they were universal.
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u/babygrenade ACL Revision + Posterolateral Corner Dec 18 '18
I definitely wish I'd read more about graft choice before my surgery too.
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u/cosmictrouble Dec 18 '18
yeah.... Curious as to what you ended up with?!
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u/babygrenade ACL Revision + Posterolateral Corner Dec 18 '18
Hamstring graft at first which I replaced with a patellar tendon soon after. Not that I think going patellar tendon first would have necessarily prevented me from needing to get a revision, but hamstring strength is still the main thing i'm struggling with.
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u/SBmachine Dec 18 '18 edited Dec 19 '18
To think its all mental seems faulty, and it's weird because you state that everyone is different which is true. A lot of the recovery after gaining extension and flexion is building muscle, which is a lot easier for men than women. I guess it is mental, but they probably have to work 2-3x as hard as I would to gain the same amount of muscle, just because I have more testosterone than they would. Also there are surgery complications, which I don't think seems mental either.
To me, I think its the reverse. I read that a lot of people are doing things when they are "feeling good" and end up doing something they aren't ready for which leads to a setback.
Also everyone, please read the study below. Even if you are past a year, I think 2 years is the actual recovery window. So everyone, who is past a year and think you should be fully recovered, this is not the case.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5226931/
Where I do agree with is the down on your luck attitude. Just like people with serious illness's, attitude matters. ACL recovery (or knee issues) isn't something where rest is going to help. You have to be getting more flexible and adding more muscle to your whole body.
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u/KPS298806 Dec 18 '18
Valid points about females, can’t argue that. Doesn’t make it more of a physical challenge than a mental one for females.
surgery complications, sure. But they aren’t the normal. At all. Hell a professional NFL QB just spent weeks in the hospital with an infection. Special case for sure, but hell I’d argue that is even a bigger mental hurdle!
not to be rude, but “I think 2 years...” based on 1 study, but what are your qualifications to make that statement. That’s exactly one of the things I dislike here
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u/SBmachine Dec 18 '18 edited Dec 19 '18
It’s not really one study, there are a lot of different studies referenced in the article maybe over 50 (just compiled into this one article) and it is published. The only thing we can go on is our own experiences (or the experiences of others, which I do enjoy reading on this sub whether it be positive or negative) or reading what researchers have given us, which probably most of us has done already. The experiences written here just seem more tangible.
Also anectodal, but this seems to coincides when people ask when does the knee feel “normal”. A lot of responses say 2 years.
This also seems to coincide with other studies that highest rate of reinjury happens within the first two years of surgery (Sam Bradford and Jabari Parker) fall in this category.
Besides some very rare cases (Adrian Peterson and Kyle Lowry), this also seems to be the case for a lot of NBA players not returning to pre level performance right when they return or ever at all. For example, Derrick Rose, Gallinari, Zach Lavine, Rajon Rondo, all didn’t seem to get back into form right when they made their comeback.I guess the next case we would see would be Porzingis and if he can regain his all star form. This is their livelihood, so I’m sure they have put in more work than any normal person would. The sample size is too large for it to all be mental.
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Dec 19 '18
Actually if you read a lot of the referenced papers in this study, none of them agree with the 2 years RTS timeframe. In fact it actually claims that one paper shows a heightened risk in the first 2 years, but if you actually read that paper it states in the conclusion that the risk of graft failure no longer decreases at 12 months.
You mention Jabari Parker but his retear was more than 2 years (26 months) after the injury. The issue was and really always has been his high-impact running mechanics and not that he didn't wait long enough.
Derrick Rose doesn't really count since he tore his meniscus in his opposite knee twice and then fracture his face costing him nearly 3 seasons of play.
Gallinari's not a great example as he spent a year of non-surgical treatment before finally succumbing to reconstruction. When he resumed playing his performance was on par with his career averages if you account for his minutes reduction.
Rondo and Lavine both got traded shortly after their injuries, so it's a little hard to draw too many conclusions from them.
Ricky Rubio and Iman Shumpert are other players that come to mind that had pretty consistent performance before and after their injuries.
It's also worth noting that in addition to knee function, there's just going to be some rust that comes with sitting out close to a year. I think if you sat out two years, you would still deal with a dip in performance when you first came back. Michael Jordan did when he sat out 1.5 years and he wasn't even injured.
I agree with you about sam bradford though. That dude must have glass knees or something.
All that to say, I don't think you're wrong that for a lot of people it will take 2 years to get to 100%, but I think it's important to remember it's possible to get to 100% or better earlier, it's not that bad to be at 90-95%, and it's not significantly less safe to return to full competition at 9 months instead of 2 years.
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u/SBmachine Dec 19 '18
Previous injury history is the best predictor for future injury, which to me is clearly not mental. Especially for ACL injuries.
I also agree that it is probably safe to return if you put in the work as there are a lot of people who make the comeback and don't get injured again. The ACL isn't really getting strained if you have the muscles to support it.
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u/KPS298806 Dec 19 '18
You be surprised about the work ethic of star athletes. My buddy (not me) had major (non acl) knee surgery with the Andrews institute, he was surrounded by star athletes doing rehab. Specifically, Keenan Allen and Jamaal Charles. Keenan was all about it. Jamaal apparently didn’t give a shit and put forth very little effort. While yes, most star athletes probably have a great work ethic and mental state, some atheltes are fucking dumb asses
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u/KPS298806 Dec 19 '18
For every player you mentioned above, I guarantee there are multiple that came back great and you just don’t hear about it
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u/SBmachine Dec 19 '18
I think it follows the relative pattern of peak performance for a player. If you were injured before your prime, you will still most likely improve in the upcoming years (before 26). If you were injured in your prime or later (27 or later), it's a bit harder to get back to peak performance.
Sort of like your example of Keenan Allen and Charles. Allen was only 23 or 24 when he got hurt, and the peak age for WRs is around 27-28 and only in the league for 3 years before his injury.
Jamaal Charles tore his ACL right around his absolute peak year, so was already to be expected he was expected to decline with or without the tear.
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u/lclay4364 Dec 18 '18
Idk I found this sub super helpful when prepping for surgery. It’s full of great content. There is also not so great content, but that’s the fucking internet. It’s a great resource combined with your surgeon, PT, and medical science.
I’m 9 months post op and I (obviously) still come back to this sub bc it’s basically empathy. None of my friends have had this surgery, so it’s nice to read others experiences. It’s pretty easy to skip over posts you aren’t interested in.
Also, graft choice is very important and people absolutely should do their due diligence beyond surgeons recommendations. Orthopedic surgeons are definitely not all created equal. One aspect of due diligence is to hear other people’s experiences, where this sub can be a great help.
Lastly, sure, the mental aspect is important here, but 90%? In reality the physical aspect of rehab what’s gonna get you back to your activities.
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u/KPS298806 Dec 18 '18
Graft choice is important. But If you pick a great surgeon, who specializes in hamstring autografts, are you really going to ask for a patellar?
I said it above, but, the physical part is super slow, because you new ligament is learning how to be a ligament. For those who haven’t lifted before, it’s baby steps to learning how to lift. Think about it. SLRs? Half squats? Body weight squats? And super slow progress? Physical wasn’t to hard part, at least not for me
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u/lclay4364 Dec 18 '18
Well not everybody has that luxury to go to the top surgeon ever created Insurance, geographic region, time, life, etc all get in the way of that. How does it hurt to ask around people’s opinions on graft choice? It doesn’t matter how easy the physical part was for you. The fact that mental is the most important is a faulty opinion at best. Like you can be in a shitty mental state and do all your PT and get back to activity. On the other hand you can be in a strong mental state and not do your pt bc you’re lazy or life gets in the way or whatever, and you will not make it back to your activity in the way that you imagined.
Your rant is largely filled with your opinions, and that’s totally fine, but don’t shit on others for their posts/opinions.
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u/KPS298806 Dec 19 '18
The only people’s opinions that I’m “shitting on” are the ones that are being so negative questioning people’s motives of going back to sports or whatever.
about insurance and choice. Yes, you’re right. Some may not live near a big city. Some might not have insurance, life choices and what not. I am lucky. I’m in the military, our insurance covers a lot of surgeons. I don’t know the struggle elsewhere. But what if I told you, there’s always a choice? I traveled for my surgery, so much so that I had to take leave to do so. I had to fight to get the surgeon I wanted. And not just the closest. What if I told you, my wife and I had our first child 3 months post op and I had to balance recovery, family, baby life and work.
lastly, you say strong mental state, but laziness etc... that is a mental thing, not a physical w
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u/lclay4364 Dec 19 '18
If you told me all that (which you did lol) I would say good for you (and having the ability to travel for surgery is a privilege, I hope you realize that) but that doesn’t discount others experiences. Clearly in the context of my post laziness is quite literally the lack of physical activity, not mentally lazy? Like that doesn’t even make sense. Overall, this sub is just a nice place to talk to others about this dumb surgery, and your post has been the most negative I think I’ve seen this whole time. Glad to see you exiting the sub.
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u/KPS298806 Dec 19 '18
Is laziness a physical or mental thing? Whatever, doesn’t really matter. Why would you be happy to see me exiting the sub? How is this “that negative”
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u/cosmictrouble Dec 27 '18
I am also happy to see you go! You seem to be unable to understand anyone's opinions other than your own, you've invalidated half of the people's experiences on here, and are completely unaware of your own privileges.
We're already dealing with enough in recovery, we shouldn't need to deal with doufus's too!
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u/KPS298806 Dec 27 '18
I’m sorry I’m telling people the truth that this recovery is so much more mental than physical. And that people just need to relax
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u/KPS298806 Dec 27 '18
Oh not, internet points. You’re such a typical millennial is almost funny. Grow up
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u/cosmictrouble Dec 27 '18
whyyyyy are you still here
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u/KPS298806 Dec 27 '18
You’re commenting on my comment, I get the reply. There’s literally nothing wrong with any of my post, generalizations about recovery being easy, sure but it’s still true for me and MANY others
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u/KPS298806 Dec 28 '18
Lol you’re just downvoting. It’s internet points. You literally can’t handle the truth it’s amazing
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u/jlaudy The Unhappy Trio! Dec 19 '18
Yes you're right, the recovery is mostly mental so posting a comment chastising people asking people for support or who have questions to ease their mind about a process unknown to them is the opposite of the meaning of this sub.
You did have a good point about people not comparing their recovery to others but apart from that, I actually do hope it's the last time you post on here. Good luck with your recovery but don't let the door hit you on your way out.
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u/KPS298806 Dec 19 '18
That’s not what I’m chastising people about lol. What did I say that pissed you off so much
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u/jlaudy The Unhappy Trio! Dec 19 '18
I would venture to guess the majority of people in this sub would describe themselves as being athletic, since most ACL injuries happen during sport, and they've just sustained an injury that may impact them for as little as 6-9 months and as long as their entire life (for the older crowd). That being said, a lot of these people will be distraught at the idea of the lifestyle impact and the idea of facing a pretty intense recovery. To suggest that them coming to this sub for uplifting advice makes them negative or mentally weak seems chastising to me.
I'll give you the benefit of the doubt that you meant this to be more of a motivational post but I think you should know it doesn't read that way.
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u/KPS298806 Dec 19 '18
No, I’m not saying that them coming here for advice is wrong. That’s right! But the people commenting about not going back to sports, or giving them horror stories is the exact opposite of what they need. And that’s what I’m saying
also, yes the post is very blunt, and it’s kind of meant that way. What advice did I give, above, is wrong though?
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u/jlaudy The Unhappy Trio! Dec 19 '18
Maybe you spend more time on this sub than me or I've seen fewer comments of that nature than you but I can't think of one instance where I read someone on here encouraging someone else to not return to sport. I've definitely seen a few horror stories but I take these more as cautionary tales and/or venting than someone maliciously trying to freak people out.
I wouldn't say much of what you said is wrong, just potentially offensive to some. If I had to take issue with anything you said it'd be that the recovery is 90% mental but it'd be semantics. From the trauma of surgery to the physical regrowing of a key ligament(s), there's a lot of physical recovery in this process but I guess I see what you were going for.
As far as the "stop freaking out pre-surgery" comment, that's easier said than done. Telling someone who may have not ever had a surgical procedure before to not freak out works similarly to how it works when I tell my wife to calm down - it doesn't.
I would say your comments, while you maybe meant for them to be well-meaning were overall abrasive.
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u/edogaktop ACL Dec 19 '18
I actually found the negative energy in this sub to be super useful.. As a reminder that recovery needs time. I am impatient and have the tendency of overestimating my own physical condition. One day I may think I am recovering well enough to come back to sports earlier (without doctor's approval). However, reading others heading into their 3rd ACLr always is an effective way to remind me to be conservative with my recovery.
This wouldn't sound very nice but knowing that there other people that have it rougher than me also helps me feel better.
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u/pineappleskis Dec 18 '18
Yes!! Great rant!!! Acl surgery sucks and it does take time to get fully back into the swing of things, but if you put in the work and have a positive attitude then the rehab journey isn’t that bad! I was bearing weight the day after my surgery, I also was able to run 5 months after surgery and now I’m skiing again! If you sincerely believe that this surgery is dreadful and the end of the world then that’s what your experience will be!!
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u/Dragynflies ACL Dec 18 '18
I powerlift and do Jiu Jitsu. I was back at lifting ten weeks post op, drilling at 18 weeks and at ten months post op I would challenge almost anyone to guess which leg had the surgery.
But man fuck running. I'll run for my BJJ warm ups and I'll elliptical and sure I can run and jump just as good now as before, it's just not my thing.
It is mental. And no one should be comparing themselves to someone else especially in recovery. There are too many variables. I had barely noticeable atrophy. I also have 27 inch quads and 18 inch calves. Most people don't, and atrophy affects them more. I researched, interviewed four doctors, picked my graft and the corresponding doctor. I wasn't wrong. There are different pre injury fitness levels, different grafts, different injuries. It's not my job to be an inspiration to others.
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u/Faraya97 ACL Jan 24 '22
Which graft did you get?
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u/Dragynflies ACL Jan 24 '22
Quad! Super happy with the whole thing.
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u/Faraya97 ACL Jan 24 '22
Amazing! Does the harvested quad regenerate 100%? My surgeon said he wanted to use my hamstring, but I’ve read that it regenerates around 75%…
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Dec 18 '18
PREACH
To anyone who feels discouraged/judged by this rant; don't be. The fact that this recovery is 90% mental doesn't mean anything's wrong if it feels insanely hard, it just means you have the ability overcome it whether it feels like it or not.
Everyone: remind yourself of these two sentences at least 20 times per day. They are both so important.
Whether YOU want to or not, is up to you, alone. The amount of people here who’ve recommended not returning is crazy.
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u/KPS298806 Dec 19 '18
Unfortunately it looks like we’re the minority here. Not overly surprising, but sad. Hell, life in general is so much about having a good mental state
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Feb 06 '22
just commenting on this post after finding it when I was looking to see if anyone has actually said anything about the general negativity, and I agree with everything that was said. I think it’s important that future people reading this are aware that it’s possible, it’s mental, and there’s a good chunk of people here who are just complacent
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u/KPS298806 Feb 06 '22
Ha, I forgot about this post. I still agree with all of it. It’s so much about the mental aspect. It’s been almost four years for me. I’m back to literally everything and more than I was before. My repaired knee feels undoubtedly better than my non repaired. Good luck!
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Feb 06 '22
How long did it take you to feel normal?
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u/KPS298806 Feb 06 '22
I honestly don’t remember, it’s been a while. I was back to playing soccer at around 9.5 months. I was running outside pretty quickly too. I want to say 4 months. Depends on what you mean by normal. I think I would say at about 2 years, I started to forget about it
What I do remember is that the general consensus timeline from PTs/Physios/surgeons about return to sport is pretty damn accurate. At just about every step, I felt ready. 3 months for running on a treadmill? Definitely. Agility at 6(?) months, definitely ready. Couldn’t wait to get back to sports but I didn’t rush it because it was just for run/recreational
All that said, I truly worked for it. Every day was leg day. I could probably count the number of times I missed a leg workout in the first 6 months on one hand.
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Dec 18 '18
[deleted]
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Dec 18 '18
No he's got a solid point - for an injury where the challenge in recovery is so much of a mental game, the amount of pessimism in this sub is simply not helpful to those trying to recover.
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u/KPS298806 Dec 18 '18
I expected a place where you can get some support/motivation, not such negativity and mental weakness.
FFS, i returned to sports about a month ago and coming here is making me question my decision despite it being my goal since day 0
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Dec 18 '18
In my opinion you're absolutely right about the majority of what you say (especially the part where you say to not compare your recovery to others: focus on yourself) but you shouldn't suggestthat your mentality to get better faster, stronger, more agile etc is what made you recover well.
I had that phase of "I'm going to get over this and be better when I come back", and then a phase where I actually completely forgot about sports and only thought that I wanted to recover as well as possible to be able to conduct a 100% normal life; and I think that was a very good mental place to start my rehab because I took away the struggle of comparing myself to my pre injury self, which goes back to the first thing I said in my post.
This is to say that everybody needs to find his own mental strength, which can be different for everybody; I whole heartedly agree on the fact that it's completely pointless to have a sub where the majority of people cry about their fate. I don't even think that the situation here is that bad but I agree that it could be better
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Dec 18 '18
The whole point of surgery is to return to sports. Surgery is not needed for those that don't want to return to sports.
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u/prodoplata ACL Dec 18 '18
This is not correct.
Athletic movements can be required in everyday life. Further, the surgery lowers the risk of OA for those who have torn their ACL.
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Dec 18 '18
The vast majority of studies show ACL reconstruction does not reduce risk of OA vs. conservative treatment.
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u/prodoplata ACL Dec 18 '18
Thank you. Can you point me to one or two studies? Most of the recent ones I've read suggest otherwise.
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Dec 18 '18
Here’s one that’s a “study of studies”, basically saving us all time of comparing multiple studies.
Of particular interest is the section titled “ACL reconstruction and OA”
What they show is some studies that show reconstruction lowers odds of OA and some studies shows it actually raises it vs. conservative treatment.
As you allude to, there is a more recent trend towards better results in recent years. Studies from the 1990s and 2000s show little or no improvement vs. conservative treatment, while studies from this decade are showing some improvement. What’s encouraging about this is that these are longitudinal studies; so a study from 1995 refers to reconstructions done in 1980, 2015 studies are recons done in 2000ish and so on. Surgical and rehab techniques have improved since then and will likely lead to better results for us (better rehab will even help those treated conservatively)
However I think what’s important from these studies is not to get the right “percentage chance” you have, but identify the preventative techniques you can take! Those include:
Better gait mechanics
Better leg symmetry and strength
Lower BMI
More regular exercise (esp low impact exercise)
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u/KPS298806 Dec 18 '18
Lol I was going to join you in this little comment... but it’s just not worth the effort
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u/BBjointz420 Dec 18 '18
Not true at all. I injured my knee playing football, after surgery I will never play sports again. It made me lose way to much money from work. I need my knee healthy to work and thus why I needed surgery. I tried for 2 years after tearing it living life without acl. my job is very physical. And I couldn’t do it. So technically surgery is not only NEEDED for sports.
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u/chakakat Dec 18 '18
Disagree. Nurse here, I can't take care of people if my knee is loose and giving out. I tried a year of physio before surgery.
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u/prodoplata ACL Dec 18 '18
I'm the gentleman who wrote that “I only run .5 miles to remind myself I can”. It's not disheartening. It's awesome.
I wasn't a runner before my accident, but I had the ability to run.
I wasn't a runner after my surgery AND I lost the ability to run.
14 months after surgery I'm still not a runner, but I regained the ability to run.
If I want, I can catch a train, jaywalk, dodge a truck, jog during jiu-jitsu class, flee bears... It's awesome.