Has anyone’s teenager had ACL repair

[DefiniteMeteor]

DS14 is booked in for next week. I’m just wondering about the practicalities of recovery - will he be able to get up and downstairs, how about bathing, sleeping, what’s the timeline like for mobility etc? We’ve been told 2 weeks off school initially then review, and 4-6 weeks on crutches. Thanks

Useful things to borrow or buy in advance (Amazon has all this) are a long leg pillow to elevate it, crutch handle pads, a few strap on ice packs and a cheap stool for the shower. We rented a cryotherapy machine on advice and that helped. You should be issued with a hinged leg brace.

For us it was a day surgery and as we got home after midnight I was glad we had a sofa bed set up ready downstairs. The physio showed us how to use the crutches correctly and how to do stairs before leaving the hospital. In practice our steep stairs were done backwards and sitting.

The first few days are very painful. Ice ice ice. All they really want is their own bed and waitress service.

Shower: the leg cover I got was too tight and painful to put on over the knee so we wrapped it in clingfilm for the first few days
and it was fine.

School: They were understanding about coming in after the rush and being slow moving between lessons. Friends helped carry the bag and passed the crutches. It’s exhausting. People don’t seem to notice crutches and a leg brace.

Timeline: sounds about right. It is all much better after 4-6 weeks. Do the physio.

hope that helps, good luck.

Thanks so much. Were the ice packs on top of the cooling machine (we have hired a game ready).

We had gel ice packs as well. Useful at night for example and for when you no longer have the machine or early on if the pressure of the machine is too much