Wanting to hear positive cruciate ligament (human) stories

[Almostalwayshappy]

Apologies for the shameless AIBU post for traffic, but I would love to hear your positive stories of recovery from cruciate ligament damage. Sitting in an apartment in France after injuring my cruciate ligament skiing. Stretchered off the mountain as I felt my knee 'pop' when I fell and couldn't weight bear, ambulance to medical centre where I was told I had torn/snapped my cruciate ligament (think this is also known as ACL). Had an X-ray and told to get an MRI on return to UK to decide on treatment options, but the doctor said i would probably need surgery. My leg is in a brace and I am using crutches. Told to ice and elevate. Pain under control with strong paracetamol and ibruprofen. Sleeping well. I am very lucky the apartment has a walk-in shower and we are driving not flying (home on Sunday). This is day 3 after the injury and I have been ok up 'til now. Today I am tearful. I am 56 and very active - yoga, walking, riding and need to drive for work (I have been told I can't drive obviously)). I am self-employed and can take the financial hit, but am struggling with how long the rehab will be, especially if I need surgery. Like most people who are usually active, my mental health takes a dive when I can't exercise and exercise helps so much with my menopause symptoms. I tried chair yoga yesterday, which was OK. I'd really welcome your positive stories of recovery from cruciate ligament injury and any suggestions about how I might prepare for surgery. I have private medical Insurance. Thanks for reading.

@overwork Thanks for posting - I'll keep my fingers crossed for fraying! Glad it wasn't more serious for you.

Not ACL but had MCL tear due to being attacked in my mid 20s. I had to wear a cast for 6 weeks over the whole leg, so it would not bend. I didn't need an operation. The leg was very scrawny and weak and hairy when the cast came off, it took a few weeks to get the muscle and strength back but then I was fine and have been since. It does hurt sometimes in the cold but that's probably due to my osteoperosis. I also had hip surgery last summer, the recovery for that was slow, but I was naughty and didn't do my physio. Now one leg is shorter than the other and it does hurt a bit still. You sound really healthy, my friend who does pilates had her hip done and her recovery went really well. I would stay away from skiing from now on if I were you though!

@BobbyBiscuits Sorry to hear about your hip and hope it improves over time. Thanks for taking the time to reply.

You're very welcome! I've just DM'd you his details.
Wishing you a speedy recovery!

Step by step is a 5 part documentary by arsenal players Beth Mead and Viv Miedema. Detailing their recovery from ACL they (and a number of other arsenal players) did their ACL last season.

It's definitely available on arsenal website but also pretty sure can watch it on you tube. Might find interesting to watch.

Really hope you get answers soon and that you have a smooth recovery.

I tore my ACL and MCL skiing in 2014. They said I would need surgery but I managed to heal it myself. There is lots of advice and information online about this.

It really depends on how badly torn it is, but if it's only partial (ie some fibres are still attached) then it will heal given the right conditions. The main issue is that often there isn't enough blood flow to the knee. After resting for 2-3 weeks I got on the exercise bike every day for 30mins. This is the best thing to get blood flowing to the knee. I was late 30s when I did mine, but apparently older people recover better than teens - common injury in court sports. I would eat a low inflammatory diet, avoid painkillers unless its really uncomfortable since its better to know when something is hurting and take collegan supplements given your age since this can aid muscle repair.

It took 6 months to fully recovery, but I'm glad I didn't go down the surgery route. Lots of advice online

I tore my ACL skiing about 10 years ago. Took about 6 weeks for the initial recovery. Had the surgery, graft taken from the hamstring on the same leg. Discharged in leg brace and crutches that evening, some discomfort but no major pain. No weight bearing for 2 weeks, crutches and leg brace stayed for 6 weeks. Not exactly fun but no drama and no real pain.

Surgeon told me that the physio was the most important part of the recovery. I saw a private physio as my NHS allocated one was terrible.

My knee is now as strong as it ever was and I can ski without needing a knee support.

@NotToYou @Taciturn @FarSideOfBlueMoon Thank you for your stories, advice and recommendations. So useful and mean I'll move forward with the MRI far better informed than I was.

How are you getting on Almostalwayshappy?

What was the outcome of the MRI @Almostalwayshappy , the pop you described is a classic sign of a total tear so hope you’ve got the right treatment plan in place. Let us know how you get on, I’m sure there will be lots of people coming back from half term ski trips with the same concerns

Thank you @PoppyAndParsnip for the prompt - I have meaning to come back and update for those who might come across the thread looking for some reassurance and advice so this will be quite long. Thanks also to @LakeFlyPie for checking in . So...It's almost four weeks since I was stretchered off the mountain after a skiing fall where my bindings didn't release. As mentioned, I am lucky to have private health insurance so quickly saw a consultant who referred me for an MRI. As suspected, I had a full rupture of the ACL (anterior cruciate ligament) and a sprained MCL. At this point, two weeks post injury, I was still using 24 /7 the brace the doctor in France had fitted and occasionally crutches, with not much pain and swelling. I had Googled some exercises to do myself, but had been worried about causing more damage. On seeing the MRI, the consultant referred me to physio and told me to take off the brace and start to just live life as normal. And that is what I have doing. I drove three weeks post-injury, walked 11k steps two days ago (iced and elevated afterwards) and don't think about it constantly. I have seen a physio twice and do the exercises he gave me daily. I have almost full extension of my knee. It still feels a bit 'odd' and achey and there is a 'pinching' feeling at the back of the knee. It is also still a little swollen. Both the consultant and physio say I should be able to ski again without surgery and with a brace and I should be fine with riding. Surgery would be recommended if I wanted to ski to a high level (I wish!), do a sport that requires 'pivoting' like football or netball or if my knee kept giving way (mine has never done this and feels very stable). The consultant did say some people opt for surgery because they find it hard to overcome the psychological impact of living without an ACL. I'll see how I feel in a couple of months, but doubt I'll have surgery. I was pretty upset when the injury happened (long-term issues with associating injury and illness with weakness and malingering) and the support I received here made those initial days in France so much easier. I am feeling very positive now and am using it as a reason to get fitter and stronger than I was before. Only big difference to my life is not being able to do a yoga flow as it hurts to bend my knee fully and also the pivoting wouldn't work - yet. But I am doing lots of stretching and may try Pilates instead. Last night, I was out for dinner with a friend (50s and intermediate skier too) whom I discovered tore her ACL skiing last year. Her recovery was much the same as mine, no surgery, and she skied this year (no brace, just a stretchy knee support) and has no other residual niggles. We may have both been luckier than others, but if you come across this thread looking for reassurance after an ACL injury...don't panic, read the encouraging posts on here and hopefully you'll have a positive outcome.

I would urge caution of not going the surgical route, they do try and talk you out of it but as I said upthread, I lived 8 years without an ACL and although 99% of the time it was fine (I could do most sports), it would occasionally give way (probably every 6 months or so) and set me back another few weeks, usually doing mundane things (stepping downstairs and getting into cars were the two most frequent). It got to the point were my body had compensated and I used to do really odd things without knowing, so not stepping down onto that leg etc. I play a lot of sport and mine never went during sport. It also never twinged or gave any indication that it was about to go, it just collapsed. Not sure of your age, but they also seem to put older (40+) people off the surgery.
It may be fine for you and def see how it goes, but if it does go, even once or twice, I'd recommend going back sooner rather than later. I really wish I hadn't left mine 8 years!

I ruptured my ACL and tore my meniscus skiing when I was 17, 40 years ago. They trimmed the meniscus but left the ACL at that stage.

I remember reading that Peter Muller ( old ski racer) raced with no ACL because his strong quads helped stabilise his knee.

I have skied with it every year without a brace ( I find a brace makes things worse.) I'm fine off piste and on moguls etc- but obvs I'm not a competitive skier. Having said that, we did 10 weeks last year and my knee was very sore and creaky by the end, I think 2-3 weeks is my max.

Good luck with your rec

Recovery!!

Please, if you can, have the repair. If you do want to ski, or be able to remain mobile and fit, I would highly recommend it. Especially considering that you've got private health.

I just wanted to say that I have really appreciated this thread @Almostalwayshappy so thank you 🙏. I fell on the slopes on Friday and the medics who assessed me out there suspect a damaged ACL/MCL. I'm now home and awaiting an appointment/MRI with an orthopaedic consultant and a phonecall with a physio. The advice on here has been super helpful, so thanks again for all the posts everyone! 😊

@cathyandclaire Thanks for sharing your experience. You are a much more experienced skier than me. Part of my problem is, despite being ski fit, I'm a strictly one week a year skier, which means I take it slowly and my bindings didn't release. @MargeIsBack @Sdpbody - really interesting you both feel surgery is the right route. I saw the physio this morning (turns out 11K steps a bit too far and caused swelling) and told him I probably wouldn't have surgery as my knee felt so stable. He told me it was early days (week 4 now) and I shouldn't count my chickens...
@monkeytennismum So sorry to read about your fall. Hope you're not in too much pain. it's such a shock, isn't it? Hope also that you are able to take it easy and let it all sink in. I'm very glad this thread has helped. I'll keep updating for that reason. Let us know how you get on. Sending positive knee vibes.

I think there are different opinions out there even amongst professionals but there does seem to be a push that unless you're not a professional athlete and above a certain age, then conservative management is best in the UK at least. I think they suggest this particularly for older people which I think is quite unfair as evidence shows that the surgery is as successful for old as for young. There are also studies that show that approx 50% of those who choose conservative management opt for surgery later (presumably when the issues become apparent).
There are certainly people who live successfully without an ACL but my personal experience was that 8 years without one was far, far worse than the now almost 9 years since I had it done!

@MargeIsBack Your post is so useful for those of us looking at the options - thank you. It's very good to hear you made such a good recovery - albeit later than you would have liked. May I ask how you were post op? Did you have long off work and was the physio tough?

I tore my ACL playing football in 2009 - then had the misfortune of the NHS making a series of admin errors that meant it took 9 months of waiting for surgery to fix it and then another 9 months of rehab/physio before I was back to sports. I will be honest, it felt like forever at the time but now it's a distant memory and I don't even notice it :-)

I've fully torn and had my ACL reconstructed twice (same knee); first at 20-odd using the patella tendon and again at 40-odd using some hamstring (I'm 51 now). Huge difference in the rehab regimes - first time I was in hospital for a week with the leg kept straight and second time, up and about the same day with a physio and discharged the next morning. I think things have really moved on (and will have done even more in the intervening 11 years no doubt) and if you are an active person, you can have the operation and incorporate exercise back into your regime straight away, obviously starting gently with the recommended exercises and then pretty quickly moving on to walking and gradually increasing strength-building stuff. I ummed and ahhed about having it done again but am really pleased I did as otherwise I'm not sure I would have been as committed to building up strength in my legs/glutes. I have got some arthritis in the knee but I think it's to be expected and I can manage pretty much all physical activities, including skiing. Good luck!

Tore mine playing sport as a teenager. It healed after a few weeks and felt completely fine, had full range of movement etc no pain at all. BUT it sometimes was unstable and "gave way". I had physio and I've lived (coped) with it ever since I'm 35 now. I regularly run 10k, no issues with running in a straight line but I could never risk skiing, jumping on a trampoline etc I have to be careful going down stairs as thats when my knee can give way. I had a particularly nasty fall a few years ago, the first time my knee really properly gave way and it was awful but fully recovered again after a few weeks but now I'm even extra careful.

If you dont get surgery your knee won't be stable enough for skiing or any kind of sport that requires you to change direction like football etc but with physio you can live with it. I do lots of hamstring exercises with weights etc as this helps stabilise the muscles around the knee.