Well I am sitting in the waiting room waiting for him to come out of surgery. He is a junior in high school and loves to hunt. He had plans to hunt pheasants and waterfowl in ND yet this year but that isn’t happening. Bummed for him! Has anybody went through an ACL reconstruction (they used his quad tendon)? How is he going to be next fall? I really wanted to take him elk hunting his senior year in MT.
My son tore his ACL…
- Thread starter MNElkNut
- Start date
Bigjay73
Well-known member
Not me, but my nephew is back to competitive downhill skiing less than a year after an acl tear. Kids rebound quickly, especially with good PT.
I tore BOTH of mine! Got the first one fixed using a cadaver part. They drilled a hole through both bones and pulled the replacement ligament through and pinned both ends. I was back to work in 3 months. Not sure how much using his own differs but the PT and following through with it at home are crucial. He's young. Should bounce back quickly! Good luck to him!
LuketheDog
Well-known member
Why no hunting this year? I don't see why he couldn't sit in a duck blind...
I tore my first one at 16 and played 6 more years of competitive soccer, then had it repaired. Pretty sure I tore it again 7 years ago at 37 and have been putting off surgery ever since. He will likely be at or near 100% next fall if he does his PT and there are no issues!
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Hunting Wife
Well-known member
Yep. Tore mine in 2022. Granted I had mine repaired with the cadaver ligament given I’m a middle-aged gal and not a college athlete, but I killed an antelope 6 weeks later (against medical advice. Shhhh.) Today that knee is better than the other uninjured one.
If he’s having the autograft (his own tissue for the replacement), it will be a longer recovery just because there are two things to heal. But that is the preferred option for young athletes. Does he have any meniscus repair along with it? I know that is zero weight bearing for a few weeks if they do that.
If he’s diligent about following Dr’s orders with regard to rest and rehab, I think he will be good as new next season. I don’t see any reason he couldn’t elk hunt.
If he’s having the autograft (his own tissue for the replacement), it will be a longer recovery just because there are two things to heal. But that is the preferred option for young athletes. Does he have any meniscus repair along with it? I know that is zero weight bearing for a few weeks if they do that.
If he’s diligent about following Dr’s orders with regard to rest and rehab, I think he will be good as new next season. I don’t see any reason he couldn’t elk hunt.
I had the hamstring ACL repair done at age 50 and was back to downhill skiing 8 months later. I wore a brace for about a year, although I'm not sure how necessary that was. Good luck to your kid. It's hard to see your kids going through stuff like that.
CowboyLeroy
Well-known member
Quad ligament acl reconstruction patient present and accounted for. The quad tendon is stronger than the hamstring, or the cadaver but is a more painful recovery. Rehab is tough, but my hospital didn't schedule my P.T. for over a month after the surgery, and the surgery was almost a month after my wreck, so my leg got pretty stiff in the mean time. My accident was more than just the acl, so I was in a brace much longer than most. Six and a half months before I was allowed to walk without one I think. Hes young so recovery shouldn't be the end of the world but getting confidence back takes time. Wish him well for me, and tell him to follow the doctors orders to a t, and make sure to look up some exercises he can do while it's immobilized to prevent muscle atrophy. I did neither and have been paying for it every day.
Hunting Wife
Well-known member
Adding to @CowboyLeroy post, mine was work comp and took forever to get surgery scheduled. I did a ton of “prehab”- elliptical, step ups, walking, lots of exercises to maintain as much mobility/strength as possible pre-surgery. It helped a lot.
Wildabeest
Well-known member
I’ve been in PT for the past 9 months for total ankle replacement and ligament reconstruction. It’s humbling (and a bit frustrating!) to watch how quickly to younger ones respond to PT. I think he’ll be back at it in no time. Good luck to you both!
El Jason
Well-known member
One of my daughters had her ACL repaired when she was 17 via grafting.
The recovery was rough. She had issues with scar tissue lesions and needed two follow up surgeries.
The recovery was rough. She had issues with scar tissue lesions and needed two follow up surgeries.
Loaded up with his favorite snacks, TV remote in hand, splurged and bought him a Naked juice drink. He can’t get comfortable and it aches quite a bit. This is kinda like a live hunt, only this is a live ACL experience.
The psychology of healing is as important as physical healing for joint surgery. The gains are not linear. Two steps forward and one step back. One day the knee will feel “good” and the next day it will swell/stiffen and make you wince in pain. If you aren’t prepped for the roller coaster recovery track, it can mess with your head.
MtsPSU
Active member
My oldest tore his ACL his junior year of high school while wrestling in a tournament. Totally bummed and was severely depressed because his D1 offers went away—he was top 5 in the state of PA at the time. He had the most amazing surgeon (PSU team doctor) and was religious about his PT, strength and conditioning training. He made a full recovery and was later recruited to D1 schools and eventually committed to and wrestled at WVU. He will be fine just be sure to follow doctor and PT instructions. Also, there are sports psychologists that can be huge in the mental recovery for athletes.
Hang in there!
Mark
Surgery was less than 3 weeks from when he tore it. The pain seems to come in waves. Standing up seems to alleviate it. He is going to bed now. Could be a long night. Mentally he seems to be doing fine.
Our 8 month yellow lab loves to jump up in the lazy e boy chair with him. She is pretty confused why she can’t cuddle with her buddy!
Our 8 month yellow lab loves to jump up in the lazy e boy chair with him. She is pretty confused why she can’t cuddle with her buddy!
Had mine done two years ago after I was an idiot and had to prove to the oldest daughter I could still dunk. Surgery was done just before Christmas. Had my ACL and meniscus repaired. The meniscus part is what screwed me because I couldn’t put weight on that leg for a month. My suggestion is for him to do as much physical therapy as possible. Do not cut it short. I’m double his age but was fully cleared to return to sports “still reliving my glory days” by September that year. I could have been done with physical therapy by July but I wanted to get back to being able to play basketball and my work schedule was good so I did the extra physical therapy till September. I was packing elk the first of November. But I didn’t fully trust my knee until the following year. The part that slowed me down the most I think is I tore it in October and didn’t have surgery till December. When my leg swelled up from the initial tear it put a bend in my leg. So for two months my leg was slightly bent. Took forever during physical therapy to get my hamstrings stretched back out
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Gellar
Well-known member
Good luck, with hard work, determination, a little bit of stress and some good fortune he will be bettef then before!
