Quote:
Originally Posted by greyshep
Hey guys, thought I would poll the board a bit on a topic that seems to be relatively common among those I talk to.
I was lucky enough tear my ACL (verified by MRI) playing basketball at the end of July 2019. Almost a year later I am still waiting for a surgery consultation to determine next steps and hopefully schedule a surgery date. (all dates now pushed even further out due to COVID  )
So having never gone down this path previously, I have a few questions.
-For those who elected to go through the surgical route, are you glad you did? Was it a success?
-For those who had specific ACL surgery, what method did you have done (pettelar tendon, Hamstring graft or Donor graft)
-For those who elected against surgical repair and chose to live with it, what have you done to get it feeling a bit more normal? I exhausted my physio benefits and got it to a point where I can walk normally, still play hockey with a custom brace, etc. But it feels like the progress has plateaued and maybe regressed a bit.
Any other advice for someone currently waiting to make this choice? |
I had a pretty negative experience. I blew out my knee playing ball hockey - but it wasn't properly diagnosed. By the time I had my surgery, followed by others, I developed stiff knee, and never got full range of motion back - despite a monumental effort and expense on my part. My knee surgeon agreed that I did everything I could and he rarely saw someone work as hard to rehab.
I eventually returned to sports with a knee brace, but was in constant pain - to the point that I was walking with a limp all the time.
I eventually went to a different expert who helped me be able to walk normally and live relatively pain free - but her strong advice was that I could never play sports again (anything with pivoting which rules out hockey, basketball, tennis, and almost everything else). She described my injury as a catastrophic knee injury.
These surgeries are usually successful but my type of outcome can happen. It is your call, but if you are able to play sports and walk normally, I would not necessarily rush into surgery.
Sports was a huge part of my life. I played ball hockey 2-3 times a week, basketball weekly, and tennis through the entire summer. I've not found a replacement for those things and miss it dearly.
Sorry I don't have a more positive story to tell.