acl reconstruction

dCowboyPJ

i was wondering if anyone here has had their acl reconstructed? if you have, how long has it been and how does your knee feel now?

i had my acl reconstructed a little over 2 years ago. i don't want to say its painful still, but it still doesn't feel right. i can't tell if its 100% stable or not. i'm just to afraid to use it the way i did before i tore it and it makes it feel like its not stable i guess.

i found lately i feel alot of stiffness. my hamstring feels tight almost all the time. i feel like im always stretching out my leg. and when i strech out my leg that is when i can feel some pain in my knee. after my surgery the doctor told me i had some arthritis in my knee. so that could be causing that pain. does anyone else have these problems?

i know, i know, i should go see the surgeon and see what he says. but i'm afraid to go and find out that i need something else done. and he is also an asshole, so i'd rather avoid him if i can.

81

i stayed at a holiday inn express last night, so i feel i can answer this.

go see a doctor.


:P

conman

have you done physical therapy?

Cool Face Ryan

reconstruction will never leave your knee the same, and knowing that you injured it will always leave you maybe favoring it. but go see a doctor haha

gimmesometruth27

what about a derotation brace for activity?

it is very rare to have an isolated acl tear. there is usually always some other pathology, mainly bony bruising, which can become a problem because those can lead to bony/cartilage defects.

did you have any other issues like a meniscus tear or posterior lateral corner injury or osteochondral defect?

was it done open or with a scope?

what type of graft did you have? allograft or autograft?

if autograft, what was the donor site? patellar tendon, hamstring, or gracillis?

without this info i can not definitively answer your questions.

i can give you some ideas, but you should definitely see your surgeon. especially if you still note instability. your surgeon knows your knee and what was done surgically better than anybody so they should be able to tell you what to do.

dCowboyPJ

gimmesometruth27 wrote:

what about a derotation brace for activity?

yep. i have that big brace. i hate wearing it, but i do everyday.

did you have any other issues like a meniscus tear or posterior lateral corner injury or osteochondral defect?

yeah, i had a meniscus tear. he fixed that during the first surgery.

was it done open or with a scope?

meniscus was a scope.

acl i was cut open

what type of graft did you have? allograft or autograft?

if autograft, what was the donor site? patellar tendon, hamstring, or gracillis?

i'm not 100% sure what you're asking here. i know my hamstring was used to repair it though.

dCowboyPJ

conman wrote:

have you done physical therapy?

yeah i went through all of that.

gimmesometruth27

dCowboyPJ wrote:

gimmesometruth27 wrote:

what about a derotation brace for activity?

yep. i have that big brace. i hate wearing it, but i do everyday.

did you have any other issues like a meniscus tear or posterior lateral corner injury or osteochondral defect?

yeah, i had a meniscus tear. he fixed that during the first surgery.

was it done open or with a scope?

meniscus was a scope.

acl i was cut open

what type of graft did you have? allograft or autograft?

if autograft, what was the donor site? patellar tendon, hamstring, or gracillis?

i'm not 100% sure what you're asking here. i know my hamstring was used to repair it though.

generally those big braces are reserved for physical activity and sports only. they are not for daily use. ideally though you would have achieved full range of motion and quad and hamstring strength that is 90% of what the uninfured leg has so that theoretically the brace would not be necessary.

since you had 2 suegeries things are a bit more complicated. the meniscus helps to give the knee joint stability and helps absord shock. if you have a large portion of meniscus removed that can contribute to your instability issues, unless you felt stable initially after the acl was reconstructed.

an allograft is a graft taken from a cadaver and an autograft is from your own body. there are many ways to use autografts. the gold standard used to be to use the middle 1/3 of the patellar tendon with part of the patella and tibial tubercle were used as bone grafts. this is a good technique but people were having stiffness and reduced knee flexion. the hamstring graft is what a lot of surgeons are using these days. it is a less invasive procedure and allows for faster recovery and retun to activity, but i have read studies that state that it is possible for those grafts to stretch and become slightly unstable over time. i am not saying that that happened in your case, but it is entirely possible, especially if you have had a subsequent injury since the reconstruction.

i would continue to work hard on your range of motion and quad and hamstring stretching and progress back into your strengthening rehab program a few days a week. but i would suggest following up with your surgeon before you do anything because he/she is the authority and they know what was done to your knee in surgery.

dCowboyPJ

gimmesometruth27 wrote:

generally those big braces are reserved for physical activity and sports only. they are not for daily use. ideally though you would have achieved full range of motion and quad and hamstring strength that is 90% of what the uninfured leg has so that theoretically the brace would not be necessary.

i have a pretty physically demanding job (commercial plumber), so that is why i wear it everyday. i was told that i would only need to wear it for 2 years which has now passed. but its like a security blanket for me now, and it feels weird not wearing it at work.

and as much as i hate wearing it there are times at work i'm happy that i had it on.

since you had 2 suegeries things are a bit more complicated. the meniscus helps to give the knee joint stability and helps absord shock. if you have a large portion of meniscus removed that can contribute to your instability issues, unless you felt stable initially after the acl was reconstructed.

an allograft is a graft taken from a cadaver and an autograft is from your own body. there are many ways to use autografts. the gold standard used to be to use the middle 1/3 of the patellar tendon with part of the patella and tibial tubercle were used as bone grafts. this is a good technique but people were having stiffness and reduced knee flexion. the hamstring graft is what a lot of surgeons are using these days. it is a less invasive procedure and allows for faster recovery and retun to activity, but i have read studies that state that it is possible for those grafts to stretch and become slightly unstable over time. i am not saying that that happened in your case, but it is entirely possible, especially if you have had a subsequent injury since the reconstruction.

i would continue to work hard on your range of motion and quad and hamstring stretching and progress back into your strengthening rehab program a few days a week. but i would suggest following up with your surgeon before you do anything because he/she is the authority and they know what was done to your knee in surgery.

my range of motion is great. after my surgery the physiotherapist was really suprised how well i could move my knee.

i'm not saying its bad all the time. i'm currently sitting on my couch with my legs cross and i have zero pain right now. but other days if i do this it hurts like hell. i have good days and bad days.
thanks for all of your input

Indifference71

I tore my ACL about 11 years ago when I was 16. It ended my dreams of an NBA career. But 11 years later, it feels pretty damn good. There are times when it will be a little stiff or sore, but nothing too serious.

Unfortunately, it really sounds like you need to go see your doctor. I know the feeling of not wanting to. I had my knee scoped prior to the ACL reconstruction and I knew once I went back to the doctor that it wasn't going to be good news. Good luck to you.

MayDay10

Found out what a painful knee injury feels like today!

Its pretty scary feeling when you plant and you get a trick knee.

Thoughts_Arrive

A Aussie Rules footballer here is having the ligaments of a dead person used in his knee reconstruction.

TroubledSoul

Thoughts_Arrive wrote:

A Aussie Rules footballer here is having the ligaments of a dead person used in his knee reconstruction.

that's an allograft as mentioned by gimmesometruth.

Go Beavers

Thoughts_Arrive wrote:

A Aussie Rules footballer here is having the ligaments of a dead person used in his knee reconstruction.

I'm no doc, but I heard/read that those don't hold up as well as an autograft.

SatansFuton

I haven't known anybody in a while who has had one, or if they have they haven't told me. But in high school all of our football (American Football) coaches had identical ACL scars from their playing days. Which as a player wasn't very reassuring. Especially since every day after practice there would be 15 coaches sitting around with their legs propped up on tables, ice packs on their knees, moaning and groaning about their knees. So decades later it was still bothering them, but also they stood for hours at practice without sitting down, and were pretty active, not as much as us, but jogging and showing us how to do stuff. People who have the option of taking it easy when they want to might not be as affected.

chadwick

my knees are smoked. im bone on bone & have arthritis. i deal with it the best i can. i wear braces. i hurt every day & night, usually nighttime in bed is one of the worst times when the pain is at its worst. i was getting synvisc injection until the injections caused me severe problems were i was hospitalized three days with something called "something something septic" in the R knee. i still get steroid injections every 3 months but no more synvisc.

im young & large so i don't get new knees for awhile. i don't even want the new knees until i cannot walk a single inch. so i swim & walk & lift light weights to stay flexible & burn calories.

in the last 3 months i been into forced weaning off of pain killers. that was one of the worst times of my life as i didn't sleep for quite some time & if i did sleep it was short sleeps & a lot of tossing & turning & the whole sickness of coming off opiates.

my knees actually feel better these days than they have in several years this doesn't mean much because as you know knee pain will drive a person nuts with all the agony.

on a side note... my knees pop & grind when i drive... when i brake the knee grinds & pops & feels funny. this is with every single brake applying application



good luck to you & your acl. did you take pain killers?

81

chadwick wrote:

my knees are smoked. im bone on bone & have arthritis. i deal with it the best i can. i wear braces. i hurt every day & night, usually nighttime in bed is one of the worst times when the pain is at its worst. i was getting synvisc injection until the injections caused me severe problems were i was hospitalized three days with something called "something something septic" in the R knee. i still get steroid injections every 3 months but no more synvisc.

im young & large so i don't get new knees for awhile. i don't even want the new knees until i cannot walk a single inch. so i swim & walk & lift light weights to stay flexible & burn calories.

in the last 3 months i been into forced weaning off of pain killers. that was one of the worst times of my life as i didn't sleep for quite some time & if i did sleep it was short sleeps & a lot of tossing & turning & the whole sickness of coming off opiates.

my knees actually feel better these days than they have in several years this doesn't mean much because as you know knee pain will drive a person nuts with all the agony.

on a side note... my knees pop & grind when i drive... when i brake the knee grinds & pops & feels funny. this is with every single brake applying application



good luck to you & your acl. did you take pain killers?

sounds miserable. :(

chadwick

81 wrote:

chadwick wrote:

my knees are smoked. im bone on bone & have arthritis. i deal with it the best i can. i wear braces. i hurt every day & night, usually nighttime in bed is one of the worst times when the pain is at its worst. i was getting synvisc injection until the injections caused me severe problems were i was hospitalized three days with something called "something something septic" in the R knee. i still get steroid injections every 3 months but no more synvisc.

im young & large so i don't get new knees for awhile. i don't even want the new knees until i cannot walk a single inch. so i swim & walk & lift light weights to stay flexible & burn calories.

in the last 3 months i been into forced weaning off of pain killers. that was one of the worst times of my life as i didn't sleep for quite some time & if i did sleep it was short sleeps & a lot of tossing & turning & the whole sickness of coming off opiates.

my knees actually feel better these days than they have in several years this doesn't mean much because as you know knee pain will drive a person nuts with all the agony.

on a side note... my knees pop & grind when i drive... when i brake the knee grinds & pops & feels funny. this is with every single brake applying application



good luck to you & your acl. did you take pain killers?

sounds miserable. :(

i will trade you knees at any given time.

81

chadwick wrote:

i will trade you knees at any given time.

i would not make that trade. mine ache as the weather changes from fall to winter and back to spring. that is more than enough for me. i would not want to deal with what you are dealing with.

TroubledSoul

Go Beavers wrote:

Thoughts_Arrive wrote:

A Aussie Rules footballer here is having the ligaments of a dead person used in his knee reconstruction.

I'm no doc, but I heard/read that those don't hold up as well as an autograft.

They have an autograft from the hammy for the acl.

The allograft is to stabilise the lateral aspect of the knee.

MayDay10

The guy at the orthopaedic center said it felt like a torn ACL. Have an MRI Monday. Great way to kick off the Summer