My son tore his ACL…

[MNElkNut]

the night went pretty good. Wife woke him up every 2 hours for meds. New issue facing us today is he will need help changing his underwear.

First PT appointment is tomorrow already. I am so thankful he got clearance to put weight on it. That would be so hard if he couldn't.

Put a chair blockade around him last night so the dog couldn't get to him. She even picked up her toy to bring it to him. It was pretty cute.

 

[Sheltowee]

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

Yeah, but did you stick the dunk?

 

[brockel]

Yeah, but did you stick the dunk?

I told her I hope she seen that because she was never seeing that shit again. That was the moment I realized I was no longer bulletproof

 

[beaglegun]

My daughter played college softball. Fastest white girl that I ever saw! She tore her acl on a collision with another girl diving for a ball in left center field. It was so loud, It sounded like a 90 mph fastball into a catchers mit! She got surgery and 6 months later, she got faster!!!!

 

[MNElkNut]

Funny you say that. He is a triple jumper. He can dunk a basketball (he is 5'11") leaving off his left, but not his right. He tore the right. So this may be an opportunity to strengthen that leg which would greatly help his 3rd phase in the triple jump.

 

[Big Sky Guy]

I tore mine at 35 and went with non-irradiated cadaver patellar tendon. I also had two meniscus tears. I think the mensicus tears were more problematic than acl. I would say one year to be near 100%, so elk hunting next fall seems doable to me. Most high level athletes aren’t at their pre-injury performance until year two. Also that young he will heal better/quicker from what I understand.

I had my surgery in July of 2023. I was able to do front country hunting by January but would not have been able to pack any meat. 2024 season I was good to go. Packed a mulie buck out in one trip about 1.5 miles no issues. Packed an elk quarter out about the same. This year I feel like I’m almost back to where I was pre-injury as far as endurance. I do think my meniscus is going to cause issues down the road as it kinda flares up. Doc didn’t want to cut any meniscus out because he said that’s a guaranteed knee replacement in 15 years.

 

[rustednuts]

My wife is a D1 athletic trainer and has returned over 20 athletes from ACL surgery back to competition.

Quad tendon is the gold standard for reconstruction.

The biggest things post surgery are getting the knee moving as quickly as possible to regain flexion. Next will be regaining strength in the repaired leg. The majority of ACL tears can be predicted by muscle imbalance between the legs and hamstring to quad ratios.

He should be able to return to straight line running within 6 months, cutting & uneven takes another 4+ months. The biggest indicator of a re-tear is return to sport too quickly.

 

[MNElkNut]

Interesting comment on regaining flexion. She has his brace locked straight for now. Although he starts PT tomorrow. I bet they flex that sucker tomorrow!!

 

[Dave N]

Interesting comment on regaining flexion. She has his brace locked straight for now. Although he starts PT tomorrow. I bet they flex that sucker tomorrow!!

Don't hold your breath. It takes time for that.

 

[jryoung]

Look into Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy (HBOT) near you for right after surgery. You'll need a treatment over 2.0ATA (there are many places with inexpensive chambers that don't deliver the pressure needed for wound healing), your ortho might have a recommendation locally. We currently have a 15 year old PT currently that is being treated post knee surgery and his Ortho is invredibly impressed with his improvement. We've done many post surgical treatments from plastics, orthos, hair transplants in our clinic. Insurance may or may not cover it, but it could give him a great head start on recovery.

Hyperbaric oxygen treatment promotes tendon-bone interface healing in a rabbit model of rotator cuff tears - PubMed

Due to the high-intensity pressure that the shoulder cuff endures, it is prone to traumas and tears. The main critical function of the shoulder cuff muscles is to effectively facilitate shoulder movement and securely maintain the humeral head in the precise center of the joint cavity to prevent...

pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

 

[MNElkNut]

Our 8 month old lab is confused why she can't be near him. I feel bad for her, but she could step in the wrong place, bump him, etc.