Complete ACL rupture

[marzNC]

MarzNC, I did have periods of instability where I could feel my knee slip, but not anymore. This past month of PT has been more aggressive and I feel it's helped strengthen my knee a little bit. My doctor wants me to do one more month of PT strengthening before returning to work. He cleared me to return to work the end of July. I have not worked since we got back from Alta on April 14.

No, I don't have any swelling anymore. I saw my doctor 2 days ago and he agreed that I didn't need surgery. He said my ACL is 75% torn and since I don't do any sports and not very active, I could live without the ACL. As far as me skiing again next April, he said if your knee if strong enough, you can try. I would like to try skiing again next year and come back to Alta year after year, so we'll see. It was our first time at Alta, and we loved it. Hope to see you there again real soon.

Sounds like a plan! I'll be at Alta Lodge in April for sure.

 

[penny]

I guess I really don't like his use of the word "heal" in the lay article. There is scar tissue and adhesions (sometimes to the PCL), but IMO I don't think that equates to re-vascularization and re-connection of the mechanoreceptors. He states in the actual article that the MRI was not routinely performed at the follow-up so he couldn't confirm anatomical healing.

Hi,
I tore my ACL while skiing a few weeks ago when I fell down and my binding failed to release. I came across Dr. Marx's study : that some recreational skiers who tear their ACLs while skiing can recover fully without surgery and should be re-evaluated in 6-12 weeks. Now I am wondering whether a nonsurgical option is possible for me--I am an avid skier and also a competitive tennis player and I am in my fifties. Any thoughts? I am new to this forum. Thanks for your advice and comments.

 

[Jenny]

Hi,
I tore my ACL while skiing a few weeks ago when I fell down and my binding failed to release. I came across Dr. Marx's study : that some recreational skiers who tear their ACLs while skiing can recover fully without surgery and should be re-evaluated in 6-12 weeks. Now I am wondering whether a nonsurgical option is possible for me--I am an avid skier and also a competitive tennis player and I am in my fifties. Any thoughts? I am new to this forum. Thanks for your advice and comments.

Welcome - and too bad about your fall. MarzNC is sure to give you loads of info, but the link below is to her thread about her ACL/no surgery journey. The second link is her ongoing chronicle.

https://www.theskidiva.com/forums/i...ry-no-problem-my-new-normal-as-a-coper.15049/

https://www.theskidiva.com/forums/i...coper-without-an-acl.14847/page-5#post-246778

 

[penny]

Welcome - and too bad about your fall. MarzNC is sure to give you loads of info, but the link below is to her thread about her ACL/no surgery journey. The second link is her ongoing chronicle.

https://www.theskidiva.com/forums/i...ry-no-problem-my-new-normal-as-a-coper.15049/

https://www.theskidiva.com/forums/i...coper-without-an-acl.14847/page-5#post-246778

Thank you Jenny and MarzNC! I really appreciate the feedback.
It would be great if there is a possibility that my ACL could heal without surgery! But maybe I am still in denial (and really scared) about the prospect of having surgery and the Marx study supports my decision to wait and see.

 

[marzNC]

Thank you Jenny and MarzNC! I really appreciate the feedback.
It would be great if there is a possibility that my ACL could heal without surgery! But maybe I am still in denial (and really scared) about the prospect of having surgery and the Marx study supports my decision to wait and see.

Did you see my PM (click on Inbox)? Not sure if you need more posts first.

Are you doing formal PT? I started PT without waiting for the appt with my surgeon about the MRI. You do the same stuff for surgery pre-hab and you do if decide to hold off on surgery or opt out. As far as I can tell, if you are careful to avoid situations that could result in a buckling incident while you build up relevant muscles and improve proprioception then there is no downside to waiting a few months to make a decision. However, I would not count on skiing again this winter.

One thing for sure, 50 is NOT too old for ACLr surgery. See kneeguru.com.

 

[MaineSkiLady]

One thing for sure, 50 is NOT too old for ACLr surgery. See kneeguru.com.

DH was 56. Surgery was 3 weeks after the event. He was back to work within 30 days/same month, so more like 29? Had some minor restrictions, most related to OSHA (no ambulation devices). He was focused with rehab but more focused on his need to get back to work for annual maintenance. Biked a lot that summer, was cleared to water ski after 5.5 months, also cleared to alpine ski. Was nervous about it initially, then got past it and skied that season as if it hadn't ever happened. Good chunk of this is a mind-game. He rarely even thinks about it anymore. Broke/fixed/life goes on.

 

[penny]

Did you see my PM (click on Inbox)? Not sure if you need more posts first.

Are you doing formal PT? I started PT without waiting for the appt with my surgeon about the MRI. You do the same stuff for surgery pre-hab and you do if decide to hold off on surgery or opt out. As far as I can tell, if you are careful to avoid situations that could result in a buckling incident while you build up relevant muscles and improve proprioception then there is no downside to waiting a few months to make a decision. However, I would not count on skiing again this winter.

One thing for sure, 50 is NOT too old for ACLr surgery. See kneeguru.com.

Yes, I have been doing PT. And I probably need to have surgery soon so that I can recover soon. Thanks for all your feedback!

 

[penny]

Hi Everyone,
I thought I would check back in--it's been 3 months since my injury and I just scheduled surgery for mid-March. MarzNC, I enjoyed reading your posts and I'm so impressed with how well you are doing without an ACL as well as with your fantastic attitude! I wanted to wait and see how well I could do without surgery and also to see how my knee compared to the knees of the people in the Marx study who were able to do well without surgery. Unfortunately, my knee is not sufficiently stable for my lifestyle and my Lachman score is a 2 (those in the Marx study who were able to avoid surgery had Lachman scores of 0-1). I have been getting much stronger with pt and pilates so hopefully all my hard work will help with my recovery. Recently, I have been able to hit tennis balls with my pro who attempted to hit the balls right to me, and I did pretty well but I was not able to move to the ball and I didn't have any confidence in my knee. I'm back in Aspen this week and I'm feeling strong enough to try skiing on a groomed run but this probably isn't a very smart idea. I made the decision to have surgery after doing a lot of research and careful analysis that this will hopefully provide the best outcome for me. It's still scary though!
Thank you all for your words of encouragement--I really appreciate it.

 

[marzNC]

Hi Everyone,
I thought I would check back in--it's been 3 months since my injury and I just scheduled surgery for mid-March. MarzNC, I enjoyed reading your posts and I'm so impressed with how well you are doing without an ACL as well as with your fantastic attitude! I wanted to wait and see how well I could do without surgery and also to see how my knee compared to the knees of the people in the Marx study who were able to do well without surgery. Unfortunately, my knee is not sufficiently stable for my lifestyle and my Lachman score is a 2 (those in the Marx study who were able to avoid surgery had Lachman scores of 0-1). I have been getting much stronger with pt and pilates so hopefully all my hard work will help with my recovery. Recently, I have been able to hit tennis balls with my pro who attempted to hit the balls right to me, and I did pretty well but I was not able to move to the ball and I didn't have any confidence in my knee. I'm back in Aspen this week and I'm feeling strong enough to try skiing on a groomed run but this probably isn't a very smart idea. I made the decision to have surgery after doing a lot of research and careful analysis that this will hopefully provide the best outcome for me. It's still scary though!
Thank you all for your words of encouragement--I really appreciate it.

Thanks for the update.

Best of luck with the surgery. I'm sure all the work you are doing now will make help make recovery go smoothly.

 

[valli]

As another check-in and the person started this thread, I'm now almost a year post-surgery for ACL/LCL reconstruction and meniscus repair and doing quite well. I did pt presurgery and I think it really enhanced my recovery post-surgery, since my quads started firing again right away. I made the decision to sit out this season, partially because DH also had knee surgery this fall, and we've had an incredibly bad season snow wise in Tahoe. I could have gone back to skiing in January per my surgeon, and I can hop on and off boxes and am fine jumping my horse and hiking up and down steep slopes. I'm glad I did the surgery, I just couldn't get full stability back without it, and my knee has healed quite well. I do have to go in next month and have a screw taken out, it's protruding and uncomfortable, but that should be a week to ten days off.

 

[Skier31]

As another check-in and the person started this thread, I'm now almost a year post-surgery for ACL/LCL reconstruction and meniscus repair and doing quite well. I did pt presurgery and I think it really enhanced my recovery post-surgery, since my quads started firing again right away. I made the decision to sit out this season, partially because DH also had knee surgery this fall, and we've had an incredibly bad season snow wise in Tahoe. I could have gone back to skiing in January per my surgeon, and I can hop on and off boxes and am fine jumping my horse and hiking up and down steep slopes. I'm glad I did the surgery, I just couldn't get full stability back without it, and my knee has healed quite well. I do have to go in next month and have a screw taken out, it's protruding and uncomfortable, but that should be a week to ten days off.

Glad to hear you are doing better. I had my ACL reconstruction 11 years ago. I can't tell I had it. I am happy that I had it and would make the same decision again.

 

[marzNC]

As another check-in and the person started this thread, I'm now almost a year post-surgery for ACL/LCL reconstruction and meniscus repair and doing quite well. I did pt presurgery and I think it really enhanced my recovery post-surgery, since my quads started firing again right away. I made the decision to sit out this season, partially because DH also had knee surgery this fall, and we've had an incredibly bad season snow wise in Tahoe. I could have gone back to skiing in January per my surgeon, and I can hop on and off boxes and am fine jumping my horse and hiking up and down steep slopes. I'm glad I did the surgery, I just couldn't get full stability back without it, and my knee has healed quite well. I do have to go in next month and have a screw taken out, it's protruding and uncomfortable, but that should be a week to ten days off.

Good to hear from you! Glad that the riding is working out well.

 

[marzNC]

Here is how valli felt back in Feb 2013:

I just found out yesterday that I ruptured my ACL 12 days ago. I already have pretty extreme joint hypermobility, and I compete in showjumping/three day eventing with horses, so I am leaning towards doing the surgery with a cadaver graft. I was pretty surprised to find out I'd ruptured it, since I didn't get much swelling and can still walk, although with a limp. The good news is that the adjacent knee structures are intact, which is apparently less common. And I did it wearing using a Knee Binding on my brand new Black Pearl skis. I'm pretty bummed.

Always nice to know the outcome. Takes work, but the good news is that recovering from losing an ACL and the other complications that go with messing up a knee is possible with or without surgery.

 

[penny]

Thanks for the update.

Best of luck with the surgery. I'm sure all the work you are doing now will make help make recovery go smoothly.

Thank you!