Acl reconstruction surgery

Hello folks. So I tore my acl about 2 months ago, playing hockey none the less . Just got surgery last Wednesday and back to work today (as a mechanic to boot) and I was wondering if any of you have ever had this issue or surgery before and could she'd some advice on recovery? My doctors said not to work for 4 weeks unfortunately I can't afford that. I will be doing physical therapy 2 or 3 times a week after work. Didn't know if any of yous have gone through this before and could possible help with some ways I could better my recovery and possibly reduce some of the pain.

I also ripped my meniscus in half which was non repairable.

a reply to: Zerodoublehero

I tore my acl in 2008 playing football. I would rehab everyday, even if it's on your own to get your range of motion back.

Pain wise, ice is your friend and so are NSAIDS in safe amounts. Don't use your narcs unless you really need them.


My knee was really achy for the first couple years after my surgery. Cold weather was basically unbearable.

a reply to: Zerodoublehero

i had an ACL/MCL/meniscus repair about 5 years ago.

Definitely not a fun situation to be in. Do what your physical therapist says. Don't over do yourself, but you want to build your leg muscles back to even stronger than they were before.

I went to the gym every day and rode a stationary bike for at least 30 minutes. I'm sure your physical therapist will keep an eye on your recovery and suggest different exercises that will be right for you along the way. Don't skimp out on those exercises.

Also i recommend using a protein shake to help build muscles, i use an all natural non gmo plant based protein mix cause i've heard a lot of negative stuff about the other kinds.

You'll be on the couch for a long time. I took the opportunity to teach myself how to play guitar. I went on different websites and looked up tabs, and went on youtube and found guitar lessons for different songs i wanted to learn. Sounds hard but once you get the muscle memory it starts getting a lot easier. (i also became a master mario kart wii expert)

I actually just had meniscus surgery on my other knee about two months ago. So i've been rehabbing the other leg now. It's a lot easier than the ACL but still sucks. One thing nice about today vs 5 years ago is podcasts. Makes going to the gym much more enjoyable. You can strengthen the mind and the body at the same time, much better than watching cnn or fox or whatever they have on the tv at the gym.

As for the pain, i'm sure you got prescribed some hefty pain killers. Those work the best for sure. Problem is they incapacitate you. For me the pain started to decrease a lot after about two weeks. When the swelling starts to go down and the stitches start to heal your will start feeling lot better. I think i stopped taking my pain meds about 2 weeks after my first surgery and about week after the second one.

Good luck man

Thanks guy I have read a lot to try to prepare myself but it's always nice to get some perspective from people who went through it. They gave me pain med's but I try my best not to take them because of the side effects. I think what makes it tough now is going back to work so soon so there isn't as much rest as I would like to be getting.

They have made some pretty amazing advancements over the past 10 years regarding the surgery it was an hour in out of the hospital deal. I'm just worried about the physical therapy from what I have heard it is pretty intense. I do plan on doing my best in regards to what my therapist says so I can heal properly and get back to plaYing sports. Do you guys still "trust" your knee?

originally posted by: avgguy
a reply to: Zerodoublehero

I tore my acl in 2008 playing football. I would rehab everyday, even if it's on your own to get your range of motion back.

Pain wise, ice is your friend and so are NSAIDS in safe amounts. Don't use your narcs unless you really need them.

My knee was really achy for the first couple years after my surgery. Cold weather was basically unbearable.

Everything that avgguy said is golden.
In my own experience I tore my ACL as well as the other cruciate ligaments. They couldn't even find the remnants of the minisci.

I had an open MRI which apparently sucks. Didn't show the whole picture.

I have extremely bad Tophaceous Gout which is barely contained with medication.

An hour and a half surgery took 3 hours because they had to chip the uric acid deposits off my knee joint.

If I would have had a closed MRI he would have replaced the entire joint. Which I am looking at in a month or two. In both knees.

Rehab. Try not to bend it too much. And ICE is your friend as well are the NSAIDS.

But don't be afraid to use the narcotics when needed!

I wish you luck my friend.

People told me physical therapy would be really hard and painful too. I didn't think it was at all. The only thing painful was them stretching my leg to the range of motion back, which wasn't that painful. The doctors are trying to push you to stretch but not hurt you, the last thing they want is to injure you again.

I could see for a lot of people it being painful and really hard, considering most people don't like to exercise or stretch.

But i played hockey for 10 years, so from one hockey player to another, i'm sure you will be fine.

And yes i trust my knee now, it took about a year though. I snowboard so there is a lot of impact on the knees so it took a little while to make sure it was strong enough to jump again.

a reply to: booyakasha

Thanks that makes me feel a bit better. I also snowboard but I gotta tell you I feel like I'm a long ways away from hitting the slopes. My boss has been pretty good about sitting down at work and icing my knee but when you run an entire shop it never seems like I get a break. I think the worst part has got to be not being able to bend my knee especially when I'm going to bed

a reply to: Zerodoublehero

yeah getting the mobility back was one of the hardest things, you'll get there

Three years ago I ruptured my ACL and tore my MCL+PCL first shift of a hockey game..it was odd, got hit from behind into the corner, my one skate sort of got stuck on the rink but the rest of my body didnt. I heard this massive pop but can't say I felt a ton of pain..I stood up took a few strides in a straight line and said "okay it feels weird but not a lot of pain maybe I am okay"
Then I tried to cut to a side and my leg just collapsed..I knew that was a really bad sign..

I was given 1 to 1.5 years full recovery since I had torn all three things fully and I think it turned out being 13 months before I really skated hard..

My advice is be patient, it's not gonna be easy going through therapy..when they get you to peddle a complete revolution on a stationary bike , as dumb as it sounds, it's going to be terrifying.. Just do your therapy, embrace it because it is going to hurt..nothing like laying on your chest and having them out weights on your leg trying to stretch it out..