Friday, June 27, 2008

Week 5- ACL Surgery Recovery



Recovery week #5 is down after ACL surgery. As you can see in the picture above, the scar is healing nicely. The leg on the top is my right leg which has had the recent ACL surgery.
This week i got to test my knee out a bit in the pool. My physiotherapy clinic has a "Swimex" pool which is probably about 12-14 feet long and 5 feet deep. It has jets on both ends to simulate a current and can get very challenging even for the strongest swimmer. For me however, being 5 weeks out of knee surgery, the current was kept on the low end. The pool exercises weren't too exciting. Keeping my knee straight, i had to do side leg lifts into the current. Then, with my back facing the current and keeping my leg straight, i had to do backward leg lifts, also against the current. After that i had to do some backwards walking and light running against the current. I tried forwards walking but that seemed a little more difficult for the stage I'm at right now. After the Swimex session i felt that my knee got a good work out but the next day, oh boy was my knee sore....a good sore, but sore.
That was the main highlight of my week. I did manage to get 2 days of pool exercises in addition to my standard balancing and leg strengthening routine. Overall my knee feels good. My Patella sometime feels weird but i think that may be due to the scar tissue around the incision. I see my surgeon for a follow up on July 8th and will be asking him about it. There is also some pain in the back of my knee, especially when im stretching my hamstring but i'm told that is normal for the stage i'm. Other than that, I am able to lead a normal boring life. By boring, i mean, basically i can go to work which is 80% a desk job and also do most things around the house, like cutting the grass. Still a long way to go before sports are in the picture, although, using the pool was a positive sign. Swimming may not be too far into the future.
If you have any questions or comments please feel free to leave them and i'll response.
Thanks for reading my ACL SURGERY RECOVERY blog.

25 comments:

  1. My ACL surgery was 13 months ago. My knee is doing great. I read that you had ACL in 1999. How is that knee doing? I worry about re-injury and I am concerned about the strain on my non-operative knee. I can not image going through ACL surgery a second time. Good luck with your recovery!

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  2. Ya, i had my first ACL surgery in 1999 on my left knee. It is doing very well 9 years later and I've put it through a lot. When i first went back to sports i always had that fear mentality in the back of my mind that i would reinjure it, probably for 6 months to a year but then it goes away as you gain your confidence back. I had a feeling i would eventually do in my right knee and as you can see, i did. I think for me, sometimes i push myself too hard. I was playing competitively in ball hockey and soccer 4-5 days a week. It was a lot of running and my legs were always tired but i still kept playing until something gave out. I think the best advice i could give is listen to your body. Just because you did it in your 20's doesnt mean you can keep doing it in the 30's-40's and so on. Good luck!

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  3. I will be following this closely because i just had ACL surgery (my third) on June 17th. So I'm about three weeks behind this guy. I also had micro-fracture of the trochlear notch so the protocals aren't exactly the same, but close. I just finished 2 weeks out and things are smooth, I guess. This requires patience !!!

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  4. Thanks for the support! My family is really traditional, so before I even had my MRI done, one of my aunts (who's a traditional medicine doctor) decided that she could give me some herbal paste to keep the swelling down and heal the ligament. Many of my relatives shared this thinking, too, until I got the verdict from two doctors that I had indeed torn my ACL. With all these people trying to take a hand in what I'm supposed to do for my own health, it's been really hard to get something done that I've wanted to do.

    Thankfully I've regained some movement in the leg, so I'll be able to get back to some of my life until surgery. I'll be watching your blog too - thanks for documenting your experience! It's good to know what to expect. :)

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  5. Maybe you mentioned this and I missed it somehow... did you get an autograft or an allograft? I'm three days into recovery after getting an autograft (ligament taken from my hamstring to replace the ACL), and I've got a lot of bruising and pain at the back of my knee and higher up on the leg, near where I imagine the hamstring was harvested.

    I was very happy to find this blog, by the way. It's very reassuring to hear the story of someone else having undergone this process. Thank you for taking the time and energy to compile all of this!

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  6. I just had an ACL reconstruction on my right kneeas well. Mine was July 31st and its been healing even faster than my already fast rehab schedule requires it too. Im suppose to resume "light jog" in two months after surgery and i already jog with normal pace! its been such a tough journey especially because my surgery affected my summer after graduation to be quite slow. but im happy to see that other people are going through it too. And i wish you all the best with your knee was well!
    God Bless!

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  7. It has been 5 weeks since my ACL injury (as of tomorrow) and my knee feels great. The problem I am having is my hamstring. I have an appointment Froday to have it checked out. I got barrelled into by a rambunctous child right into the back of my leg. Ever since i have had terrible pain in the back of my thigh.. Just a warning to be very protective of your leg...

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  8. I am having ACL surgery in 3 days on my left knee... I am in the Marine Corps, and I am wondering what I should expect as far as the procedure the day of surgery? And afterward, what amount of pain were you in, after the pain killers, because, I'm assuming, there must be some sort of pain involved in the healing process...?


    (I am also having my surgery off-base, at a civilian hospital)

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  9. Well for the first few hours after surgery, it wont feel all tha bad until the freezing totally wears off. Just take your pain killers before the it does wear off and take them regularly as prescribed and it will be tolerable. Everyone is different. I didnt need the pain killers a few days after the surgery. Marines are tough so you should be able to handle it. Good luck.

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  10. I think I'm just nervous because I'm 20 years old, and I've never had surgery before, and I don't know what to expect. thanks for the help, and for this Blog

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  11. I'm 47 had 3 previous acl repairs on my rt. knee and now experiencing incredible swelling and pain. I know that I have very little or no cartilage left there. I take Glucosamin and Condrotin but nothing seems to help. any suggestions?

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  12. Had acl and meniscus surgery on 3/5. I am wondering ROM for others? I am at 105 with help of therapist ad 101 by myself.... had autograph from same injured knee.

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  13. goodluck too anonymous! im pleased to see you guys are doing better. godbless and i love you

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  14. Good luck to everyone thats having these surgeries. Sorry I've missed out on replying to some of these commentes. To Anonymous who is 47 years old....I feel for you. Has anyone suggested Knee replacement surgery to you?

    Best of luck to everyone!
    Steve

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  15. i just tore my acl two days ago playing in my highschool softball game i have to get surgery and im scared shitless. will it ever be the same as it was and will i gain speed? thats a rumor i heard.

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  16. Anonymous,
    I stopped eating wheat and that took the swelling out of my joints pre-surgery. I'm going to continue to avoid it. I found that the swelling and pain disappeared totally by avoiding wheat--but no change if I take MSN, glucosamine, etc... but everyone is different.
    As for pain killers, I haven't taken any--anyone else in that boat? Knee is a little stiff feeling, but the pain is tolerable.

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  17. Hi i'm 18 and I got my left knee operated on june 18th this summer. It will be 5 weeks on friday and I'm really getting frustrated with the whole thing. It's been almost rfive weeks and i walk around with a cane (it has butterflies on it) and a splint that i hateeeeee. It's falling apart because tthe velcro isnt holding anymore. My quad looks like a toothpick and my knee is still slightly swollen and it just feels messy inside. I dont have full extension and i have about 105 degrees of flexion. I want to know if this happened to you because i really hate how i cant see any results and my summer is going to shit because of this stupid knee. I just want to be able to get back into doing things a simple as walking around or playing basketball again. I got mesurements for a scustom knee brace that i think ill be wearing everyday for a while instead of my splint which i cant wait for. I feel like walking and using my leg more will make things accelerate a bit. Anyways, yea, thats my story.

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  18. i am 30 year old and i have ACL reconstruction with meniscus repair as well and now its 5 week i strongly recommend that if your have surgery you should do exercise and one more thing take olive oil and do massage twice daily you wont believe the effect because i am doing it and its like miraculous.

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  19. I am 5 weeks post acl reconstruction. ..graft from my hamstring..I am American living in the UK and I own a hotel with A LOT OF STAIRS. My knee is arthritic too but feel ok now. Post surgery bruising was horrific, and my knee gets tired very quickly. Before surgery I did tae bo 5 x week and we're all involved in kickboxing. ..best advice is take iteasy do the no resistance PT give it 100% and do what's comfortable without straining the acl

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  20. I have had my ACL surgery on the left knee now 5 weeks ago. I still have swelling in my knee. The range of movement is also very limited. I walk with a limp, and also experience some locking of the front part of the knee while doing a full straightening of the knee. I feel I'm about 2 weeks behind from a rehab perspective to where I should be at 5 weeks. I am continuing to do my PT on a regular basis, but just feel that the recovery is much slower than some of the blogs that I have read.

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  21. Ill be at 5 weeks too and I totally feel you Rahul. I went back to work too early thinking since it was a desk I'd be fine. I actually regressed my pt said. I have sharp pains by the end of day and extremely tired after work which is not normal because Im usually full of energy. I still walk with limp wearing my brace. My knee seems to be more stiff. So ive decided to take another couple of weeks off and focus on pt and taking care of my leg. It almost feels weaker, so I will take this time off and strengthen it again.

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  22. Hi friends of the ACL, I also had an ACL surgery and torn meniscus,I hurt my knee on Dezember last year playing basketball, and my surgery was at January, 24, so it had been 2 months and 16 days, I'm very athletic, even do, I'm over 40, I play volleyball, basketball, my job is very demanding, I walk a lot and need to carry many things, still hard to accept the fact that I cannot play for a while, I start doing most of the exercises, permitted for my situation, specially stretching, and calf exercises, I start going back to the fitness, that I usually go every day, after the second week, doing only upper body, and stretching the legs, I follow that sequence for 2 months, and after that I start doing light weight, or no weight in some of the leg machines,and also the bicycle, last week I start doing the treadmill,it still not easy, I'm limping a little felling some pain, but also pushing a little to get stronger, please don't try to follow what I'm doing, it might not work for you, again, I'm the type of the guy that goes every day to the fitness, and play sports in the weekends, so I think my body is a little more strong to try the things I had been doing, I'm not trying to do nothing hard, I know my limits, and I'm not trying to go over that, because I had been visiting many sites in the net about the ACL, and they all tell me the same, (You don't want to go thru the surgery again, so don't do nothing stup.., if you follow me), know your limits, one of the main thing for me is get my bending back, I still cannot touch my behind with my right leg, I think I need about 8" more, but I'm forcing to get it there. last weekend I went to the park with my kids, and I did some run, again I still limping, for some people it might get a little frustrating, but don't let get there, keep doing all the exercises that you physical therapist tells you to do and everything will be all right. everybody is different, so results will vary from person to person. Oh by the way, at my second week after searching the net about the many situations, I read about a equipment called cryo cuff, it is basically a cooler, with a pump in the top and a knee strap, that circulate the cold water in the knee area, I was doing the ice pack, bags with ice and so, them I decide to buy one, and I can tell yo for me it was the best thing I did, it does a lot more effect than the bags of ice, it is also. I lay down in bed and connect the machine, and it does it work.

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  23. Hi ACL peeps...I'm glad to find people are still posting on this in 2013. This is really what I was looking to find. I currently am 5 weeks out with ACL and meniscus surgery. My basic stats are that I just last week got to 0 degrees straightening at PT and now mostly after home exercises. My max flexicon at PT was 138 but I'm sure it's less at home. I'm still walking slow with a limp and have numbness on the front of my knee.

    I'm a biker, bc skiier, backpacker, etc. and am BORED OUT OF MY MIND! Was thinking of car camping soon, but am hesitant about the discomfort and lack of daily ice. Thinking...maybe week 6 or 7? (Obviously won't go on the mtn bike rides) has anyone else done camping? Would I be pushing it or am I being a girl? And actually... I am a girl :)

    Please..let me know thoughts!

    Peace out and happy healing.

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  24. hi could you please reply to nikki_0313@hotmail.com i had my surgery on the 8th of july 2013, im getting 120deg bend an straight with little pain, but i over flex in my knees, im very flexable i8n my hamstrings, (as per the physio comment) i have been getting slight stabbing pains running down my legs an today i cant walk as good as normal is this something to expect? still little swelling, im icing & elevation, i have been given the go ahead to use the pool now, an a stationary bike, anyother hints that could help please, regards nickole

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  25. I’m 61 and still a girl at heart, 5’6” and 125 so not huge muscle mass by any means. Tore my acl 8 months ago and took the summer to let the initial trauma heal and prehab before going into surgery. Also I had a garden to tend and wanted to be able to manage that. I’m on day 5 recovery from acl with hamstring autograft. Here are your essentials: Get the cryo-cuff cold machine with knee bladder - there are several brands, some avail on amazon, etc. - I was super fortunate to find one the day before my surgery!). You won’t want that last minute stress, believe me. Planning ahead is huge. Exercise band - I found mine at the Dollar Store (Canada) of all places and it has proven invaluable for hoisting my braced leg up and over whenever I have to stand or lay down and of course it is great for sliding heel exercising to gain range of motion. Extra cold packs - cold is your friend and helps you minimize meds, so the extra pack(s) can be used under the knee area, back of your neck, top of leg - hell, wherever it feels good. I was prescribed Percocet and I took them day one round the clock but they gave me awful headaches so the cold pack helped with that. I reduced to 1/2 pills day two and, from day three forward, take 1/2 pills only at night to make sure I get the sleep that is so vital for healing. I am off the meds during the day. Stool softeners - take these religiously. You’ll be so glad you did. They require that you drink lots of water, which you might be tempted to skimp on because getting up to pee is frankly a pain in the you-know-what! Mobility helps your body process food and stay strong. With my husband beside me, I walked to the end of my street (crutches and brace of course) right from the start. Patience. Dark chocolate. A good book.

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