3

12/14/2008 12:01:17 PM

i did have meniscus damage too...

12/14/2008 2:42:35 PM

why wouldn't you have surgery? I'd rather have to stay out of sports for 6 months than have arthritis and all that crap. It's been an easy process too.

12/14/2008 2:44:23 PM

^^that sucks man. When did they tell you to start walking on it?

Quote :

"unless you had meniscus damage, put weight on that shit asap, pop some oxys and move around as much as possible, it'll keep the swelling down and cut your pt by weeks as soon as you can have the soft cast off, start bending it, you should be walking on it by the time you get the staples out, don't hobble and favor it, just walk very slow, normally"

69, what in the hell kinda ACL surgery did you have?! I had no cast. I had no staples either! I did have the nerve block though, that was CLUTCH. As soon as the nerve block wore off I was able to walk around without crutches and didn't need the brace much.

12/14/2008 5:46:05 PM

Well I had a brace on for 24hours which they said not to remove, it was NOT comfortable at all, but suspended all movement in my knee/leg.

The nerve block was clutch until it wore off, and I didn't take the pain meds until after the pain started, which took a lot longer to kick in, hurt like hell until they kicked in...

I have my post-op appt on wed, thats when they'll take out the staples and take off the wrapping. As for walking on it, they said just to do the exercises for movement about 15 times an hour of just flexing different muscles and making them stronger. I've been doing that, still can't life my leg up, but I was able put some weight on it today and walk around with crutches. Im off the pain killers, just started Motrin/Tylenol mix today to help with the swelling.

Im pretty pleased with my range of motion/walking ability as of today after having the surgery on Friday. We'll see what the doc/physical therapist says on wednesday...

12/15/2008 9:00:05 PM

what kind of graft did you get? And do you have staples b/c of the repairs needed for your meniscus?

I was hooked up to that passive motion machine less than 24 hrs after surgery.

12/15/2008 11:23:00 PM

didnt you mean:

Quote :

"TKE-2000 knee ligament test"

12/16/2008 12:26:16 AM

I got the hamstring graft, and I don't quite know the reason behind the staples

12/16/2008 3:05:04 PM

patellar is where it's at!

12/17/2008 10:07:57 PM

^damn right!



(patella)

12/18/2008 8:15:43 AM

Well, after a re-visit to the orthopedic specialist I discovered my knee tissues are "stretching back out" to eventually how it was on both knees pre-surgery. He gave me the option of two knee braces and some medications for day and night, or having a donor tissue graft on both knees which has a substantial cost and down time.

He did say by 52 they should start to tighten up, so there is a silver lining.

1/29/2009 12:54:41 AM

^damn man, that blows!

I had an evaluation of my knees last month at Duke Sports Medicine and they said it was one of the best surgeries they've seen in a while

Saw my surgeon up in NYC on Monday for one final "check up". He just yanked on my leg for 1-2 minutes and then just talked to me about the future. Everything's A okay for whatever sports I wnat to play, but he wants me to wear this ACL brace when doing sports for a year. He said its not mandatory but he'd prefer that I wear it.

He also told me to never, ever, ever again do squats, stairclimbers, step exercises, or wall sits (i'm also guessing lunges). Kind of a bitch but oh well.

1/29/2009 9:58:12 AM

Yea, that squatting motion and stairs can get pretty painful. The only thing that sucks about the braces is they get so damn hot through the day, but they add so much stability.

Maybe I can get a handicapped sign haha.

1/29/2009 10:04:41 AM

^^Why did he say no squats and all that? Maybe I missed something.

I've been doing squats, leg press, lunges, you name it.

Just went to the doc this morning for the 5 month check up. Everything looks good except for the tendonitis I have in my petalla tendon. Went at it a little to hard I guess.

1/29/2009 11:15:08 AM

^I've been doing pretty much every leg exercise out there and yes I've been fine too. However, he told me that over the years it'd become a problem. He was the head physician for the Knicks for almost 20 years so I'm going to follow his advice.

1/29/2009 12:02:50 PM

^Hmm, the doctor that did my surgery is no longer with the group, and afaik wasn't in such prestigious positions.

1/29/2009 12:46:54 PM

bttt

9/24/2009 7:46:00 PM

ibThePeter

9/24/2009 7:52:07 PM

^you people

MRI said I got a 'complete ACL tear'.

With my insurance I pretty much have to go to Triangle Orthopedics, off Blue Ridge. Any experiences with doctors in their system?

9/24/2009 8:32:43 PM

Welcome to the group, ThePeter. Tell us a little about yourself.

How did you hurt yourself?

9/24/2009 9:48:17 PM

I tore it playing football. Running back on a kick return and was fully on my right leg, I got shoved from the side and felt the knee buckle. Didn't really hurt, I just needed a minute or two and I got off the field.

I'm slated to go to Triangle Orthopedic and see Dr. Hage on Monday. I'm assuming I'll be getting surgery, and from what I've read here, getting the leg lock brace won't be fun living on the third floor.

9/25/2009 4:11:33 PM

I had the same doctor at Triangle Ortho. He is pretty good. I had no complaints at all. The physical therapists there can be rough though. They like to give you a lot of bullshit, but if you give it right back its cool. Dr. Hage, I believe, is the doctor for some of the Campbell athletics teams.

9/25/2009 6:30:52 PM

Sounds awesome! What kind of bullshit do the physical therapists give you?

9/28/2009 2:02:17 AM

double

[Edited on September 28, 2009 at 2:07 AM. Reason : post]

9/28/2009 2:07:34 AM

Yeah, mine didn't hurt when I tore it either. Well..didn't hurt until it swelled big time ~ one hour later.

Best advice as far as surgery goes is to get the passive bending motion machine and start cranking on that thing immediately. And work hard at the PT exercises.

9/28/2009 11:58:09 AM

Sounds good. My surgery just got scheduled for sometime on October 6th at Rex.

Doc said I have a torn ACL and a stretched/strained LCL along with a bad bone bruise (probably in part because I've been walking around on it ). I'll be getting my hamstring switched for my ACL and a cadaver LCL graft.

[Edited on September 28, 2009 at 3:17 PM. Reason : lkj]

How was getting around? I have fall break to work with for the first week, but after that, still in school and living on the third floor...I'm getting the leg lock brace as well.

[Edited on September 28, 2009 at 3:18 PM. Reason : lkj]

9/28/2009 3:16:41 PM

Once the swelling goes down walking around on a torn ACL isn't a huge deal, as long as you have a brace and are careful. Once you can I strongely advise you start working the leg out, before surgery. Ask your orthopaedic surgeon about that. Just stuff like leg lifts, curls, extensions. Nothing impact! Though with a strained LCL that might be out the window (I only had an ACL injury). But the stronger your leg muscles before surgery the faster your recovery will be. After surgery I was crutch free after a week.

When I tore my ACL I lived in NYC. It was a pain getting around. I tore my ACL March 13th and didn't have surgery till June 18th. I was only on crutches for 3-4 weeks and then just a knee brace. Ask about how they're administering anasthesia; besides having general I also had a nerve block in my leg that took over 48 hours to wear off, i.e. I had zero feeling in 90% of my leg. Which was really great, lol

[Edited on September 28, 2009 at 4:19 PM. Reason : re]

9/28/2009 4:18:55 PM

I can't really think of how to do leg exercises, considering i have a torn ACL

I would sometimes work my legs out so they're in pretty good shape. Ironically, I started doing leg extensions when I was in there because my knees would feel out of whack after running or playing football...look how much good that did, lol

9/28/2009 4:27:47 PM

Bending exercises should be fine, the lack of an ACL is only really an issue for twisting motions. Inline stuff like leg extensions and leg curls shouldn't give you problems*

*this was what my Dr told me, but I only had an ACL tear, nothing else.

9/28/2009 5:00:59 PM

Good point. I'll give my doc a call tomorrow then. I did get into the gym a few days later, not for legs, but some exercises I couldn't do. One was lower back extensions where you use your legs to stabilize and push back with your back... definitely didn't feel good on the knee.

9/28/2009 5:08:04 PM

So I had surgery last Friday, so right about a week ago. The pain wasn't that bad at all, popped oxycodon as a precautionary day of, then about half the day on Saturday. After that it hasn't been really much of an issue.

I went in Monday for my first day of PT, so I have some questions. He was really surprised at how well I was able to perform, since I could hyperextend decently, get 82 degrees of knee bend, and do all the leg lifts no problem. The rest of this week I've been doing those exercises; tensing the leg, bending, leg lifts in all 4 directions. Haven't had any issues. I'm still only partial weight bearing but its going really fast as far as getting off the crutches goes.

Of course, my mom has researched this a lot, and some of the stuff she's read online has been the first week you're only supposed to bend your knee max of 30 deg and other limited type of stuff. From reading this thread it seems like it boils down to how much muscle you had in your leg before you got surgery and got the atrophy going.

What types of PT and to what extent did you all get into right after surgery?

10/15/2009 11:18:04 PM

bttt. I guess I should also note that I only got the hamstring-harvested ACL reconstruction and they shaved my meniscus, as it was torn and at high risk for continuing to rip. They didn't give me the LCL graft, so my recovery should be a lot faster and easier.

10/18/2009 6:54:11 PM

Roughly a year out, and my knee still gives me troubles. The ACL doesn't really give me issues that I know of (besides cracks and pops) but my LCL is fucked up and I don't feel quite as stable in side to side motion.

On another note, I was talking to this guy who used to play in the NFL today and he mentioned that you can rarely see shark tendons used to reconstruct ACLs. However, there is a huge risk of infection months/years down the road. I did a google search and couldn't find anything, anyone ever heard of that? He was told this by Romanowski when he played for the Broncos, and he asked his doctor and the doc said "Yes, its been done before, no we aren't going to do it"

9/29/2010 9:13:37 PM

^I've never heard of that. FWIW it took my knee about 1 1/2 yrs to get totally back to normal for me. I.E. it didn't hurt to sit on my leg when it was folded, or wouldn't swell up after a day of skiing.

If it isn't right go back to the doctor and find out what needs to be done to make it right.

10/6/2010 8:47:37 AM

Damn TKE, what's next your back?

I'm betting my knee is next; I'm also a runner.

10/6/2010 1:46:41 PM

hopefully nothing! 2 surgeries in 30 months is enough for a lifetime. Ugh!

10/14/2010 1:21:40 PM

Join the club, left leg hamstring graft 8 years ago, then 5 months ago I tore all ligaments in my right leg and had the patella surgery and part of my meniscus removed. Fun stuff

10/14/2010 3:12:33 PM

Bump

8/31/2011 10:14:16 PM

oops, I guess I could have bumped that myself...

I have my operation with Dr. Fajgenbaum tomorrow morning. Hurt it about 6 weeks ago and haven't missed a day at the gym since, so my leg should be about as strong as it possibly could be. Here's to making it to the game Saturday!

8/31/2011 10:28:52 PM

No way you're going to the game

My LCL is still fucked and my knee feels awful at times. Damn you Dr. Hage for not fixing it

8/31/2011 11:02:37 PM

goddamn you people make threads that make me wince.

8/31/2011 11:37:54 PM

^^^no way you'll be at the game. And you shouldn't. An ACL reconstruction is pretty damn invasive surgery (as far as joint surgeries go). What type of donor tissue are you using? Patella, Hamstring, or cadaver?

9/1/2011 9:20:51 AM

Had the patellar graft

9/1/2011 6:30:04 PM

That's the one I had as well. Hope your recovery goes well. Did you get one of those machines that bends your leg for you automatically?

9/2/2011 8:29:53 AM

No I did not. Whew that was some kind of pain last night, though...

9/2/2011 12:18:21 PM

Welp, it looks like I'm joining the club. Has anyone heard of the double bundle acl repair? thoughts?

6/2/2014 2:11:26 PM

Going with patella allograft at Raleigh Ortho.

Saw a Doctor at Triangle Ortho - they were horrible.

6/14/2014 10:18:32 PM

Yeah I went to Triangle Ortho when my shoulder was messed up. Ultimately went with another practice however, Performance Orthopaedic in Cary. Highly recommend them - they're awesome.

Also I have heard of the double bundle ACL repair. I don't think it was around when I had my reconstructed but it looks legit.

Do you have surgery scheduled yet? If so, when?

[Edited on June 17, 2014 at 1:37 PM. Reason : k]

6/17/2014 1:28:40 PM

^No I'm still waiting for the swelling to come down though I'm close.

I went to Triangle, Raleigh, and Performance. I liked Triangle the least. Performance was ok. Actually upon research the double bundle is starting to fade away; the Pitt doctor who was leading that research doesn't do them as much either. I like the Dr. there, but ultimately his style surgery isn't right for me. I really would prefer an allograft patella tendon and I don't think he's as comfortable doing that.

[Edited on June 17, 2014 at 3:42 PM. Reason : ]

6/17/2014 3:41:47 PM

Why did you guys not triangle ortho?

6/17/2014 4:51:36 PM