The ACL Repair Blog Firsthand accounts of ACL surgery and recovery

If you haven’t heard the news, ACL tears are genetic or at least, predisposition to tears is. You can find the study here, published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine: http://bjsm.bmj.com/content/44/12/848.abstract or if you prefer, it is discussed in the New York Times here: http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/09/29/phys-ed-are-bad-knees-in-our-genes/?scp=1&sq=acl&st=cse Its about female twins, but the data has implications [...]

This is mostly from a review on ACL reconstruction: Spindler, KP and Wright, RW. 2008. Anterior Cruciate Ligament Tear. New England J of Medicine. 1. Weight bearing right after surgery does not cause harm. 2. Using passive motion machines is not any better than not using them. 3. Use of a brace is no better than [...]

This has come up a lot in this blog in the posts and comments. What is better autograft (hamstring or patella) or allograft (from a cadaver)? As a biology graduate student I have access to scientific publications and some experience in assessing the published information. There are no official published guidelines for doctors, just scientific [...]

As my physical therapist sees me getting stronger and stronger, my exercises seem to be getting more and more ridiculous, mostly in the name of ‘balance’. I have thrown a ball repeatedly against a bouncing backstop while standing on one leg an a tippy board. I have done squats on the Total Gym standing on [...]

Maybe I complain to much, but PT is in some ways torture. Unlike Henry, I am still going to PT twice a week, often for an hour and a half of hard work. Because I was using one crutch for 6 weeks, my left leg is noticeably thinner than my right and definitely weaker. It [...]

Guess I’m feeling better. It looks like Henry and I haven’t written in awhile. Today, I stopped using my crutch. The Doc said I could have stopped last Tuesday, but I waited until today (Sunday) because most internet info recommends 6-8 weeks of 50% weight for microfracture surgery and tomorrow is 6 weeks. (Other doctors [...]

Maybe its just a holiday funk, but it seems that my ACL recovery is depressing me a little. Its not that I haven’t made great progress. I ride the stationary bike for a half hour each day (getting a free bike the day before surgery was the best thing I could have done), do leg [...]

I mentioned that 1 week after surgery I was allowed to shower and go down to one crutch. What could I do this week (day 14) that I could not do on day 7? (some things were probably more avoided for pain reasons than actually precluded) actually use 1 crutch to get around  ride a [...]

SO I am convinced that the severe pain in my shin that runs down to my toes is nerve damage from the peroneal nerve during surgery. Like most cases I can find about it online, my dr seems to be in denial (but at least he didn’t claim it was just from the brace being [...]

Yesterday was day 11 for me. I finally dropped down to one crutch (as per day 9′s doctor orders) during my PT. Being able to carry things in one hand is better than a few fingers clutching a crutch. PT was grueling and my leg hurt all day afterwards. I finally broke down and took some Tylenol [...]