hi guys..
im feeling really down atm..
found out i tore my ACL..and need surgery
anybody wanna share what they experienced while surgery?
training?
doctors told me 6-12 months off :(
i really feel low atm
Tore both of my mine over the years. Long rehab, not pleasant... Two options on surgery: cadaver donation or patella transplant. The former heals sooner but patella is your own tissue. You're looking at at least a year until you're 100%. Don't let anyone tell you otherwise. You might get back sooner but don't push it and rehab it correctly. I started BJJ after my surgeries and have done fine. Your other option is do nothing but rehab and hope for the best. I went for quite a few years before having surgery and did rather well. That said, if you are athletic and it seems you are (BJJ), then you will eventually need the surgery in order to perform at 100%. The techniques are all over the web. Look em up. Good luck!
thanks for the tips guys :(
it really sux loving something and not being able to do it :(
Sorry to hear that bro. Tearing my ACL was the worst injury I've ever had.
There are actually THREE grafts typically used:
1. Patella tendon - longest recover, but the most stable and will let you do anything you want again
2. Hamstring tendon - much quicker recovery, but many seem to experience less stability than with the Patella tendon graft. LOTS of problems with chronic pulled muscles in the donor hamstring, as well.
3. Cadaver graft - fastest recovery, but also has the highest rate of re-injury. If you want to train hard and COMPETE again, my personal opinion is to avoid this one. I know of several people who had this one (by different surgeons even), and ALL of them re-tore their ACL within 5 years and had to go through it all again
I had the Patella graft. Would not hesitate to do it again, even though the recovery was long and hard.
I'm actually having a Hamstring graft in 11 hours 55 minutes, so I know what you're going through.
there is no way in hell I could go through life w/o surgery, I've lost about 30% of my ROM, not to mention I can't squat anything and my leg is noticeably atrophied...
Talk to your doctor about which graft HE prefers to do. If he prefers to do a graft that you're not comfortable with getting, find a doc that does your graft. I opted for a hamstring graft mainly for future concerns (I.E. Patellar-Femoral degeneration from the patellar graft, weakened patella/possible cracking, etc)
Anyway, Enough of my Med-school addled brain... Here's probably the most informative website I've found on the issue of graft and graft choices...
good luck brother..
you'll be in my prayers!
tell me how you go..
tapout10 and raleigh hit the nail on the head. good luck man.
go see a muscle activation guy and see how much they can do for you.
www.muscleactivation.com and find a guy/girl in your area
ttt 4 leftbench
April 19th will be 6 months since my surgery... I still don't feel ready to get back on the mats.
Its really a pain in the ass, but hey what can you do? Do your exercises that they show you in physical therapy, they definitely help.
I had the cadaver done, and my doctor told me that it is just as strong as the patellar graph, if not stronger. The recovery is better too, because he's not cutting off a chunk of your skin to use as your ACL, he's using someone else's.
As far as the recovery goes... the first 2 weeks are pretty fucking rough. I figured I'd be out of work for about 5 days, but boy was I wrong. I ended up taking 2 full weeks off, and was on crutches for a while. After a month I was walking on my own again, with a mean gangster limp.
The knee still gets really tight if I sit for a long time, and it hurts some times more than others. People keep pushing me to start training again, thinking I'm being a pussy, but they don't realize that this shit takes a long time to heal. Make sure to listen to your body and don't push and start training too fast.
I am going to attempt getting back on the mats in a few weeks just to lightly drill some stuff. I don't plan on even attempting to roll for at least 1-2 more months, unless my knee starts healing at an extremely quick rate. Who knows.
Either way, get the surgery, and recover fully from it, and you'll be fine. Let me suggest stocking up on lots of good books and DVD's for after your surgery. Oh and some Ex-Lax too! I didn't shit for 9 days due to the pain pills they had me on... finally I needed stool softener and ex-lax to take care of that problem, and it worked wonders.
Take care if you have any more questions feel free to ask
hey guys.
got my MRI scan back today
report conclusion:
-Full Thickness Proximal ACL tear with distal retraction of redundant fibres
-Displaced Bucket-Handle tear of medial Meniscus
-Peripheral tear of posterior junction and posterior horn of lateral meniscus
-Low-grade strain injury of the proximal attachment of the MCL and posterior oblique legament
-Joint effusion with synovitis
- Incidental thickened suprapatellar plica
i have no idea what these means, but i dont think it sounds good :(
looks like surgery for me :(
lemme boil that report down for you..
your ACL is fuxored... plain and simple. Your knee's cartilage is pretty torn... Your MCL is damaged yay!
Its been 1 full week since i had surgery with a report identical to yours, Crutches for 3 weeks minimum due to the cartilage damage, rehab @ 6weeks, Sports @ 3months, should be 100% @ 6 months.
I went with a hamstring graft, and wow, the only pain I have is from one damn scope hole in the front of my knee... THAT IS IT... unless I forget to take my pain meds =P... but anyway...
Get that knee knifed as soon as possible...
k0ntr0l has torn the correct.