Ruptured ACL

[Deneb]

Anyone here ever injured their ACL?

At my Judo/JuJitsu class on Feb 6th, I ruptured my ACL. I finished class, and went to work, but after like a week or so of swelling and pain, I went to the doctor. He ordered an MRI. I read the MRI (google is my friend) and found I have a ruptured ACL. I have confirmed this with my orthopedic surgeon's office (I read the MRI's myself because the dr cancelled a bunch of his appointments and I happened to be one. I needed to know if I had damage, because state championships were this month and if I was jacked up I needed to know, weather or not I could fight).

I see the Dr. on Wednesday, I presume to schedule surgery. I understand that regardless of how bad the rupture or tear of an ACL is, the ACL will need replaced (my research online confirms this).

What I'm on here asking is, well I'm quite worried about how sucky the procedure is. I have a decent tolerance to pain, but I certainly don't like it. I'm a painter/ drywaller by trade, and I do baseboards and such at work also. That said I"m trying to get a feel for how long I'll be out of work, how shitty the surgery is, how bad therapy sucks and if my knee will be "normal" again.

I think I have myself worked up more than I need to be. I have had my shoulder operated on and did therapy for that. My PT told me that the pain of the knee is not as bad as the shoulder. All I know is my shoulder sucked so bad, so I hope the knee isn't that bad.

Anyone here been through it? I figure since I won't be able to work out, work, or do much of anything I'll sit on my pain killers and play guitar.

[lerxstcat]

I have no helpful info but I'm sending mojo for a quick and complete recovery! Best wishes man!

[Reverend Timmy]

Deneb,most of it depends on how stable your knee is.Since you are an athlete,the doctor usually uses a graft from a ligament.If you really want to keep competing at a high level,rehab will be a bitch.I tore mine in the 10th grade at a baseball tounament and it took about 10 months to get back to almost normal.Not trying to put a damper on your injury,but it can be tough.Shoot,I have had so much surgery,I get a Christmas card from my surgeon every year.Knee,shoulder,elbow,5 hernia,gallbladder and my ankle.Waiting right now for really complicated neck surgery.Good luck and if you have any questions,drop me a line.I'll be glad to anwser them.............................

[Deneb]

Lerx, thank you.

Timmy, the way I understand it is that I have a severe/complete rupture of my ACL. Where I work, (a nursing home that I'm a painter in) we have a PT department. The PT department head looked at it, and did the lachman's test, and this othe test that I'm not sure of it's name. I told him what the nurse told me about the rupture. He said that it was hard to believe it was a severe/complete rupture. He said that in these tests, a normal ACL will have a firm stopping point when he attempts to shift the tibia. In my right knee, there's a firm stop. In my left knee, he said the difference is mere millimeters. He said that typically, in severe/full ruptures, the knee can nearly be dislocated.

Either, they read my MRI wrong OR the other 3 ligaments in my knee are doing their job. The way I understand it is this, the MRI can diagnose that it's torn mildly, moderately, or severely. Thus a complete tear can look as a severe tear. They really only find the true extent of the damage once they are inside. That said, the repair for either a minor or major tear is the same. They replace the ACL.

When did you have the surgery? You said 10th grade, but how old are you now? The way I understand it, the technology has moved light years, in the past 10-12 years.

I already spoke with the PT at my old PT place, the same guy who did my shoulder surgery rehab. I basically let him know that I would be very happy if he could do my therapy again. I really enjoyed having someone who was able to help motivate me through the pain.

All of that said, I'm scared shitless. Everyone says that knee injuries are terrible to come back from. If you know anything about Judo, my bread and butter throw is a right side Uchi-Mata. Everything I do sets up that Uchi-Mata.

http://www.judoinfo.com/images/animations/blue/uchimata.htm

The leg that I balance on...my left leg, is the one with the bitched up ACL. Now as for muscle strength or anything of that nature, my upper body is MUCH more defined than my lower, and I never do anything for lower body (other than Judo).

The therapist told me 6-8 months before I'm back on the mat. He said he's had a basketball player or 2 go back in 4-5 months. Do you remember your rehab? How was the pain level? I read you have had knee, shoulder, elbow, hernia so on so forth. How does it compare to your shoulder?

Oh, and what the hell did you do to yourself that you needed like every joint in your body operated on?

[Reverend Timmy]

Deneb,I am 44 now.You are right,the surgery has come a long way.As far as a pain threshold compared to my other surgeries,the knee and ankle were the worst.I will say the knee did'nt hurt as bad once I got into about the 2nd month of rehab.I have had the same knee scoped about 6 years ago,but it was no big deal. I remember you talking about the shoulder surgery,in all honesty,I think the rehab on the knee will be a little better,but everyone is different.Let's see,20+ years of motocross,college and semipro baseball,alot of football,mixed together with a bunch of dumbass stunts and a pretty bad industrial accident should just about cover my jigsawed ass.............

[Deneb]

So basically you've battered your body I do the same to mine, 25 and I've had my shoulder, and achillie's done, and now I'm going to have to get my jacked up knee.

All in all, it sucks. I'm starting to worry myself, but I guess in the end it's nothing I've not been through before.

[Rsmacker]

Your Anal Canal Limpet??????

Oooooh, sounds rough. Ask Wilks, he is always ripping his (well, someone keeps ripping it for him, by going in dry He loves it!) and once he got bitten by a budgie and snapped his banjo string when it got caught on the cage mesh.
Oh, you should have seen the blood!

Many dedicated months of solitary fwapping over the City Electrical Factors distro board catalogue sorted him out though and now he is able to go dogging with confidence, in some old public bogs in Ilkeston.

[skorb]

I had a 2/3 ACL tear in college.
mine they were able to debride and leave in place the remaining 3rd and the rest of my 21 yr old knee was stable enough to support it, and has been mostly, although I wear a brace to this day during any sports activities.

complete ACL tears are pretty much the worst knee injury and they do require the surgical grafting/replacement of the ligament, and then a lot of rehab, but you see the NFL guys doing this all the time, coming out just as strong as before, and in your case the only recourse is the full surgery & rehab route.

just give it all you've got in rehab, it does matter.

[Deneb]

My surgery is April 3rd. They are going to use part of my hamstring tendon, to replace my ACL. I'm quite afraid.

[Cygnus X1]

I'v done skiing, sledding, barn-basketball, motocross, evel kneivel style jumping on bicycles, softball, soccer, long distance cycling, cross country running, worked at a sawmill, been a heavy industry machinist (millwright work), and industrial activity my
whole career. And to top that, my Dad has worked in similar environments, and was a
enduro/hillclimber motorcylist for many years. Zero injuries requiring doctor's care.

One injury: I drilled a finger when I was 19. Small, but it scared me straight. I have never had another injury in 25 years, except my back gets squirrely every once in a while. (Bulging disc).

I wish you the best, and BE careful while you're having fun!

Signed,
The resident Safety Guy

[Reverend Timmy]

Deneb,it's all good.You having a martial arts background will help a lot.You probably already know that pain management is linked to self control.If I remember correctly,you came through the shoulder surgery pretty good.I really hope it goes well........Cygnus,you never got hurt because you were'nt going fast enough.HaHa!...WFO!