Torn ACL

Got ACL tear on my right knee July 3rd, since then tried to manage day to day activities (no badminton) without surgery. Finally made my mind and got the ACL recontruction surgery done on 11th Dec. Now iam starting with physio since last week. Starting to walk 10 steps limping as of now. Need advice from anyone who had undergone the same. Iam now 41 yrs
 
Swaroop KP said:
Got ACL tear on my right knee July 3rd, since then tried to manage day to day activities (no badminton) without surgery. Finally made my mind and got the ACL recontruction surgery done on 11th Dec. Now iam starting with physio since last week. Starting to walk 10 steps limping as of now. Need advice from anyone who had undergone the same. Iam now 41 yrs
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Gradually increase time and resistance on stationary bike.

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Hello all,

I recently learned that I have a partially torn ACL in my right knee.

Backstory :- the injury was caused in a bike accident before covid.. the then orthopedist for some reason unknown (? No fractures on x-ray) didn't stress on the MRI so i just limped around (no badminton) for almost 2 yrs and then slowly my knee started getting better at movements and jogging / running after a light warm-up i started playing badminton almost as good as before untill a month back when the pain and slight instability returned so i got the MRI done with the results aforementioned.

I'm 37 now and would be getting hitched this year. So for now I have started wearing brace and taking pills for joint support and strengthening (similar to those suffering from osteoarthritis). The pain has definitely reduced.
I'm still playing my regular doubles at similar intensity but fewer games. A few days back I was baited to a singles game best-of-three after my doubles session.. which left my knee a bit sore (but i won :p).

I will continue this regime for a couple more months (I'm taking half dosage currently) and then decide. The long recovery/rehabilitation period and the fear of getting my joint space exposed and getting subpar end results is the deterrent in my case.


P.s :- I'm avoiding that singles player nowadays.. he's itching for a rematch !
Cheers.
 
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continue with your physio... I think they may assess you before being fully discharged.
I tore my left ACL... and initially had a hard time understanding what the damaged has done to my game. Over the past 11 years, I had learn and surely managed it better and limiting myself to certain intensity, selectively choose my playing partners as I do not wish to worsen my knee condition. we have to learn to manage.... especially now that I am 59, muscle are getting weaker as we aged. Of course, muscle strengthening and resistance exericse helps a lot... but how much more damaged do we want for ourselves? Learn and make many mistakes along the way before I become wiser to keep myself in check. Still learning.

I have slow my pace, adjust my expectation and outcome despite, being complained by players I partnered especially after the 1st hour.... my focus and attention span started dropping, so is my "fitness". Hope whoever it is out there, learn to managed and measure your expectation.. in order for the long haul. still long way to go even if we can't play any more, we still need move around and get long with life.
 
How is everyone going with their ACL recovery?

My background:

Age: 28

First injury: Complete ACL tear in Jun 2021. Opted for conservative treatment (non-surgical) under suggestion from surgeon and physio. After passing return to sport assessment, slowly returned to badminton around 5-month mark. Played badminton for almost a year without pain or issues. Got really into bouldering and lost interest in badminton. Stopped playing plus got lazy with my knee maintenance physio exercises (big mistake).

Second injury: Decided to get back into badminton after 2-month break. First game back, bucket tear in lateral meniscus, flap tear in medial meniscus in Nov 2022. Due to inconvenient holiday scheduling, 2 months of pre-hab leg strengthening before surgery. ACL reconstruction (hamstring graft) + meniscus trim in Feb 2023.
A few personal milestones from my recovery so far:
  • Week 1: Full knee extension, walking with limp.
  • Week 2: Walking without limp. ROM 120 degrees.
  • Week 3: Stationary bike.
  • Week 4: Lunging and box squats.
  • Week 6: Jogging.
  • Week 8 (Current week): First hike :). Deadlifting. Deep lunges. Full depth squat. Stationary bike on lowest seat setting
I've still got so much recovery to go thru and months and months away until I can jump back into the courts but at least things are finally looking up. I think the biggest blind sight about this journey so far has been the depression which I honestly didn't think I would get. When your whole life revolves around sports and exercise, it's hard not to get depressed when you can't do them. Gardening has been my side hobby and I feel like I would be in a worser mental state without it.
 
michael5098 said:
Opted for conservative treatment (non-surgical) under suggestion from surgeon and physio.
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This I find quite odd.

Young person with active sports, probably competitive - the risk of meniscus injury is quite high if the muscles around the knee that compensate get weaker.


If it was an older person who can mentally adjust to a lifestyle change of lower activity, I would understand about not going for surgery. In fact, I am starting to change my mind about older people declining ACL surgery. If they don’t have a high degree of osteoarthritis, why not do the operation and maintain their quality of life?

Did you have the bucket handle tear removed or have a repair with stitches?
 
Cheung said:
This I find quite odd.

Young person with active sports, probably competitive - the risk of meniscus injury is quite high if the muscles around the knee that compensate get weaker.


If it was an older person who can mentally adjust to a lifestyle change of lower activity, I would understand about not going for surgery. In fact, I am starting to change my mind about older people declining ACL surgery. If they don’t have a high degree of osteoarthritis, why not do the operation and maintain their quality of life?

Did you have the bucket handle tear removed or have a repair with stitches?
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They initially recommended surgery to begin with but changed their mind during the pre-hab phase after seeing the quality of movement and strength passed their tests. Both meniscuses were trimmed. Looking back, I regret not getting the surgery initially, would have saved me time, money, and my sanity.
 
michael5098 said:
They initially recommended surgery to begin with but changed their mind during the pre-hab phase after seeing the quality of movement and strength passed their tests. Both meniscuses were trimmed. Looking back, I regret not getting the surgery initially, would have saved me time, money, and my sanity.
Click to expand...


Even I regret not getting the repair surgery... The surgeon chose not to get an MRI and missed the diagnosis.
Now I don't want to go under the knife followed by the recovery period.
 
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