Knee injury advice please!

[LakeFlyPie]

I've sadly bust (not sure to what extent) my ACL yesterday on 1st family ski holiday 
It's not too painful at the moment but definitely stiffer than yesterday, quite swollen, bit clicky and unstable without the brace that I got at medical centre.

I'm currently in chalet with leg elevated, a bag of snow on the knee and have taken ibuprofen.

Whilst I'm gutted not to be skiing with DH and children my main concerns are recovery time and impact on normal life when we get home (driving, school runs work etc)

I've been advised to have an MRI scan when I get home to determine need for physiotherapy / surgery.

I'm trying to keep the joint moving and walk as normally as possible with the brace on.

Is there anything else I should be doing to optimise recovery?

TIA

Poor you! What rotten luck.

Is it left or right leg? Easier to drive if it's not your clutch foot.

Don't worry about moving it too much at the moment but if you have a bath, can you ask DH to get you some Epsom Salts, lavender and arnica to put in your bath.

When you get back, do get it checked out so you know what you are dealing with.

I tore mine five years ago, didn't detach so no operation required, and am still haunted by plantar fasciitis that resulted from imobilising my knee and me compensating badly so keep hydrated and when you do get moving try to walk as naturally as the brace allows.

Use the brace for now (prob 3-4 weeks) then gradually reduce the amount of time you wear it. This is to allow the swelling to go down and for the knee to. Stabilise

Keep it moving

See a physio on your return and get some exercises to do to strengthen/keep the strength of your muscles surrounding the knee.

Get the mri and go from there.

I did my acl, mcl and cartilage two years ago. I've had a new acl made from my hamstring and the cartilage repaired. Post injury (not post op) I had to carry on as usual (2 kids blah blah!) but my physio gave me exercises and a brace. I could drive because it's my left knee and have an automatic car but I don't know how you'll cope with a clutch. After gradually removing the brace ( first take it off when you're pottering around the house then after a while leave it off longer) my knee was wobbly and I couldn't run or twist but carried on as normal.

Post op was similar but over a much longer time frame.

I hope it's just a minor injury to the acl and you recover quickly

Thanks for the advice.
Home now and still pottering with brace on and icing and elevating as much as possible. V frustrated at not being able to zip about as usual. It still feels very weird and wobbly and swells up quickly if I stand for too long. It's also clicking a bit, not sure if that's related to the swelling or if I've knackered the cartilage too
Thankfully we have an automatic car and it's my left leg.
Hoping to see physio on Monday and get MRI referral ASAP.

Yeah, mine swelled at the drop of a hat, still does sometimes but it goes down with rest.

I'm sorry to say, with the instability, it sounds like you've buggered the acl. When you see the physio, ask her for surgeon recommendations, I've found the physios can be a mine of really useful information.

Good luck op, keep in touch if you have any q's

Thanks birnhamwood that's really kind.
Saw GP this morning and she referred me for MRI scan. Apparently there is a 3-4 month waiting list for physio , luckily for me I can see one through work, hopefully this week.
V reassuringly GP told me she's bust both of her ACLs , has had repairs and skis twice a year!

Did you use crutches in the early stages? I feel like it'd speed me up and take the strain off my 'good' leg (hip is starting to ache with all the limping! Also give me a chance to try and normalise gait pattern on bad leg if less weight is going through it.

I would try using just one crutch as two really does alter the way you walk. Have it on the opposite side to the injury and bring it forward as you bring your bad leg forward iyswim. Don't have the crutch on the bad side.

Good news that you can see a physio asap with work, she will be able to advise better than me and imo, they're usually spot on with a diagnosis unlike my gp who told me I wouldn't be able to walk if I'd done my acl. He got a bit of a surprise with the scan results