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complete ACL/MCL tear and torn meniscus in left knee
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Looking for information of people who have had this and opinions on my thoughts moving forward

I found out Friday I have a complete tear of ACL/MCL and medial meniscus damage
The event that caused this was on April 5th

The surgeon is somewhat conservative. He feels the MCL will heal on its own but we will re-check it in four weeks to make sure it is healing
The ACL will not heal on its own and "could" be repaired

Right now, I can ride my cross bike on the tow path with NO problem. In fact, I am riding as hard as I was pre event. No issues for the most part during and post ride, I just have to be careful about clipping out with the left leg. I plan to get out on the roadie soon. Going to stay of the TT since I won't be doing any racing this year

My plan is to continue to bike and lift, swimming will start back soon, maybe run a bit starting June 1 but only on the flat surface of the towpath

Surgery for the ACL would be around Oct 1, continuing to cycle all summer with some ez running and swimming in the mix, as well as continuing to do upper body lifting and single leg body weight only work [ie- one leg squats, lunges etc] on the lower body

So anyone who has dealt with this, is putting off the ACL until October and doing what I have planned OK? Any advice from those of you who have gone through it much appreciated

Thanks again
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Re: complete ACL/MCL tear and torn meniscus in left knee [mgorris] [ In reply to ]
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Ugh, the dreaded unhappy triad. See if this is what you are looking for:


http://www.arthritis.org/...physical-therapy.php


Full article looks to be from 2010:

http://www.nejm.org/...Moa0907797#t=article

If it were me I would be really careful about things that involve twisting, quick changes of direction, etc.. Swimming, biking, and straight ahead running on level surfaces once the swelling is gone might not cause you any problems as long as your doctor is OK with it. Depends on a lot of things, like how bad your meniscus tear is, etc.. But if it were me I'd still get it fixed in the fall for sure. Just my opinion.
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Re: complete ACL/MCL tear and torn meniscus in left knee [mgorris] [ In reply to ]
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Your surgeon's plan is consistent with current practice. The MCL will heal. The ACL has basically no chance of healing. Does it need to be reconstructed? Probably. You'll probably not notice much of a difference on flat ground and during running, walking, and cycling. Walking up or down stairs or slopes may reveal instability and any sports or activities that involve cutting, jump stops, pivoting, etc. may also reveal instability.

Good luck dude!
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Re: complete ACL/MCL tear and torn meniscus in left knee [mgorris] [ In reply to ]
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been there done that....

personally get the ACL repaired if you continue to do sports. Until you get it repaired refrain from twisting /stopping fast / change of direction kinds of movement and I'll tell you why. My ACL tore first, I felt the pop and honestly it didn't hurt one bit, but I did feel a heat sensation behind my knee, I said no biggie and keep playing. (basketball).. my next Chris Paul cross over move ..bamm another pop, but this time I could not walk with a normal gate. I tore my meniscus on that one and strained the MCL. When my ACL went my knee became less stable and well it was too much to ask for my 40 year old meniscus.
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Re: complete ACL/MCL tear and torn meniscus in left knee [spntrxi] [ In reply to ]
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I tore an ACL in Aug & Had it done in December. More than likely lost a lot of meniscus because I was stubborn & put it off. If i had to do it again, I'd have done it straight away.
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Re: complete ACL/MCL tear and torn meniscus in left knee [mgorris] [ In reply to ]
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Tore my meniscus in fall of 2015, put off surgery until December of 2016. I wish I had done it sooner. Got more jacked up and chipped off a bit of bone. It's been four months now and still hurts after surgery.
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Re: complete ACL/MCL tear and torn meniscus in left knee [mgorris] [ In reply to ]
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Meniscus might need surgery depending on type of tear anyways.

Why wait so long for the ACL surgery? Is that to completely heal the MCL?

Generally, ACL repair depends on age and activity level. If you do anything then straight ahead pavement running, you'll probably prefer having an ACL. Plenty of threads on ACL's here - count on 6-12 months of recovery.
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