Yet another ACL discussion. I tore my 1st ACL and had bone bruising and some minor cartilage damage in my left knee a year and a half ago, and had reconstructive surgery. My doctor opted to use a graft not widely used: the quadricep tendon graft. I have no problems with my left knee now and have been riding on it all summer. However, it took about 10 mos for my quadricep to feel completely normal (even though my knee felt fine), I am a very active person and did all of my rehab. The reason this method was chosen for me is I have some tendonitis in my patellar tendons, and my doctor was of the opinion that the hamstring is instrumental in supporting the knee, and I’m in my 20’s so he thought my own ligaments would be stronger than a cadavers’, therefore he chose the quadricep. He also believed that this is one of the stronger grafts.
Well I went in for what I thought was a minor sprain yesterday on my other knee. I have very little pain and virtually no swelling in my knee, and I was really just making sure that everything was O.K. I’d been on a bike the day after I twisted it, and got full ROM. It was a little sore, but nothing like with my first knee. To my surprise after he looked at it, he said he thought it was ACL. I have to say nothing makes me more upset than to think about going through it all again. I’m already thinking ahead as to what method I should use this time around. I have my MRI on Thursday.
I’ve read that women are 8X more likely to tear ACL’s. I’ve also been reading that specific exercises to emphasize proper body position, etc. can be learned to prevent future injuries. Do any of you have any experience with this? I have to say that I’m a little hesitant to get back on the water. What are the chances of tearing a bionic ACL?? Are they the same as a good knee??
Also here’s the clip that caused the injury…. my 4th attempt at a backroll. I think it just got in a twisted position on the landing.
http://www.wakepics.com/view_single.php?medid=11950
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