Post ACL surgery

For those that have had ACL surgery. How long did it take untill you could bend your knee fully?
Also, has anyone ever had any set backs?

Did you use patella, hamstring, etc?? Lots of good info on this thread.......

http://www.tmcowners.com/teamtalk/showthread.php?t=12886

it took me almost all of 2 months to get full motion . its been 3 months and i still can't jog or run on it the way i used to but its coming along. the first 1 1/2 months you see alot of progress after that it comes a little slow. just listen to your P.T. and you'll be fine.

Melanie, I had full extension in 4 weeks and 2 degrees of hyperextension in 6 weeks. Im still about 4 inches from touching my heel to my butt. So far so good, hope to be back on the water in Feb. Hope all is going good for you.

i didnt have acl surgery but i broke my growth plate and it took me 2 months to recover and i have to wear a knee brace or else my leg will give out.

48hrs

It will be a year in January and I am still not able to bend my leg totaly. I still feel some pain when my leg is bent for long periods of time and am having some scans done to see if there is and joint degeneration. But my riding is almost back to where it was when I got hurt and I am still working out the kinks (so to speak). But everyone is diffrent take it one day at a time and listen to what the doc tells ya.

I had the hamstring graft done On Sept 29, 2006. I have basically got full motion with some pain. I have a buddy that had the donor(cadaver) graft done and he had full motion with in like the first week. I hear when you use your own material it takes longer for it to heal.

I'm a little over 9 months out. Still feel it every once in a while.

I had the cadaver and in about 2 weeks I had full range of motion.

I have noticed that most people with the cadaver graft have a faster recovery and quicker to full range of movement. The Patella graft seems to be a longer recovery (due to the added recovery time from the harvest area). Which is better becomes your personal situation and feelings on the matter.

Had patella graft on sep. 5. Took about 2 months to get full range of motion. Still cant run, but I ride a bike every other day now.

No way Phantom!!!
Steve, when was your surgery? I never had a problem getting it hyperextended.
Brian, thanks for that link. Just read the entire post. It definately made me feel better.

I got a B+ at physical therapy today! lol I always try to get my PT guy to grade me. He says he doesnt give +'s but I got one today. My fave exercise is squats on a balance board. Can't wait to slide around on that thing like dude man did in "Relentless".

Thanks for all the replys. I feel much better now. I've been feeling like i'm behind because there is some weird "planters cyst" in the back of my knee that needs a shot to take care of it. It blocks me from being able to bend.

I had the Patellar graft 2 months ago. I need to get to 158 degrees. I'm at 143 as of today.
I asked him what braces he reccommends for wakeboarding(he actually rides too). He said, "none!". Theres no way i'll ride without one but he says my doctor is opposed to wearing one. Supposedly he made my knee strong enough so that a brace will not be neccesary. Which brings me to another question.

Who has screws and how many? Im screwed lol, I have 1. 1 dissolved? The other is permanent and is located under the knee.

yes it's true. Had the Patella tendon allograft. Went back to work 7days, which is standing on my feet all day in the OR.
My advantage over majority of pretty much eveyyone on this board, is that I waited 10 yrs to electively have my ACL repair done.

2 Non-absorbable screws femur and tibia.

(Message edited by phantom5815 on November 29, 2006)

1 screw in Tibia, 2 pins in femur. My surgery was august 10th, used my Patella Tendon.

Melanie...its adam from southtown....It took me about 2 months on my first acl to get my full range of motion back and on the second (patella) about a month to get 160 or so, but i had to stretch like 3-4 times a day. At 6 months you will fell pretty good strenght wise, it will still hurt after you ride for a little while, and confidence will be a little low, but after riding the first month it will all come back! At 12 months your knee will feel pretty much normal, but it will always feel a little different than the other. I am 17 months out from my last acl reconstruction and am doing awesome, my riding has been better than ever and can ride just as hard as i used to....

As far as a brace, i think it is a must, not so much for being functional but as something to put your mind at ease and give you some confidence. My first surgeory i had a CTI2 and i HATED it, it slides down when you ride, and whenever you fall the straps come off
Second surgeory got an EBI Alliance and it is pretty amazing, it won't slide down or fall off and the fit is much better than the CTI2. If you can talk your doc into a perscription for it insurance will pay for most or all of it... They can be a bit of a pain as far as having ot put it on all the time and what not but def has helped me....
Since it was my second surgeory i got beefed up a little b/c of the old holes, i have a pin and screw in each fixation point and then a calcium screw going into each of the old tunnles to help fill them up.

Looking back on the whole deal i really feel like i came back stronger than I was, def in much better shape all around and made me appreciate riding more than ever! PT should be about to start getting fun (at least i thought it was about 2-3 months out) Don't worry about it, it will all turn out awesome. Look foreward to seeing you back riding again! Holla if you got any more questions!

had the hamstring graft aug. 16th, 2 Non-absorbable screws.

2 metal screws in each knee. No brace.....

I'll be looking at surgery within the next 2-3 months. My biggest fear is missing the summer, especially since the season here is relatively short. The plan is to almost kill myself in rehab.

I had the patellar graft and got my full range of motion in about 2 months. I was very aggressive on the PT.

In terms of the brace I've never worn one.....not for one day. My ortho, who is the Dallas Stars team physician, says he doesnt believe in them because by the time you're through with rehab the rebuilt knee will be as strong or stronger then your good knee.

Him comment was that if he was going to recommend a brace it would be on your "good" knee because of how much you'll favor it when you first start activities again and you risk blowing that knee out, not your rebuilt one.

I'll be honest that there were some tense moments when I first started riding again in terms of crashes and landing out in the flats but it's more mental then physical.

Do your rehab and you'll be fine!

Dec 20th I will be getting a new acl. Glad to hear everyone's stories, looking forward to ripping again this summer.

I will see at least 1 absorbable screw, maybe two, not sure yet.

FWIW I also have 2 plates and 12 screws in my right forearm from a jan 6, 2006 snowboard fall. Yah this year hasnt been the best for me injury wise, lol.

Okay I thought about this and have a quick question.

Does anyone know of a medical reason to obtain your range of motion to lock out?

I have heard of a lot of people's pt involving really pushing to get the lockout portion of ROM back after acl surgery. With all the sports I am involved with, a locked out knee is the last thing you would want, including in wakeboarding. I am content being an inch shorter if my knee wont lock out after surgery if its an option. I have a lot of confidence that the strength in my knee is there when its bent, but locked out means all bets are off, generally.

Curious what other people's opinions are on this?

It affects your gait (the way you walk) if you have different ROM's for each leg, it is likely you will have a chronic limp. Over time this can wear out other joints (such as the hip)

OH, almost forgot, if your PT has a biodex machine....just wait to the day you start working with that, omg that thing will KILL you haha

I did patella and had some setbacks at first so my 1-3 months was behind schedule. I started snowboarding at 6 and wakeboarding at 7 (in April in Tahoe, cold) and was not in great shape. It helped to redouble my rehab efforts and by the end of the summer I was riding as good/better than before, though riding in a way that was less stressful on the knee (it wasn't 100%). I am still a little scared to do cutting sports (soccer, football), but I think I would get over that if I really wanted to get out there and do it.

Take your time and don't push it. It sucks, but it's only 6 months and you will get better.

As far as patella v. cadaver, I'd do cadaver again in a heartbeat. The difference I was told is the cadaver is less invasive and, therefore, you recover faster (though, sometimes too fast as you feel good but your acl is not stable yet); the patella is more invasive and slower recovery but supposedly safer/more reliable long-term because it is your own tissue. I think the wave of the future is cadaver and I'd do that if I could.

I think you will need some special bindings to help you with your Jedi mind tricks.I have a pair of Pink Snake Skins that will have you ease into your first time back on the water!

Went and had my first deep tissue massage on the entire leg. OOOoooohhhhh! It felt soooooooo goooooooooooooood!!
Also went to the doc yesterday. He said, "No you cant go surfing New Years Day." lol

Hey X, I think is was about 2 months for me, but I had problem with swelling that didn't help. But I was at about 90% in about five months.

Im at 147 degrees. 11 more to go. Woohoo!
Right on skills.