I completely tore my ACL about a month ago at an INT wakeboarding competition on Lake Acworth going for an indy grab I've done 100's of times. I guess I just landed wrong and BAM, ACL snapped.
I had surgery exactly 2 weeks ago (hamstring graft) and the doc said everything went great (no other damage). Just started PT today and I'm not feeling terribly confident in my therapist. I was asking the doc all kinds of questions about the type and frequency of stretches and exercises and his only response was "It's in the hands of your physical therapist now." He handed me a PT prescription sheet that said "ACL Protocol" and told me the physical therapist would know what to do. Problem is, I go to the PTist today and he asked me what the doc said to do
I've been Googling the hell out of it and found all kinds of results for ACL protocol that say to take off the immobilizing brace and do some passive knee bends, straight leg raises, quad isos, etc.. as soon as a week after surgery. I've been kinda scared to take the brace off, but it seems like it's going to make my recovery take longer the longer I wait to start gently exercising/bending it.
I was wondering what other people's experience was with PT after an ACl reconstruction. What kind of exercises did they have you doing and how soon after surgery? I know there's no way to rush it, but I want to be as on schedule as possible.