I had an MRI which revelaed a sprained ACL on my right knee. My doctor won’t be able to talk with me about this until Tuesday, which is kind of annoying. Just trying to get an idea of what rehab will look like, how long it will take and what the chances of success are.
Right now it hurts to walk and do pretty much anything else. Swimming bothers it a little bit. The knee isn’t swollen.
Thanks!
Any evidence of torn fibers?
I had a partial tear (thank you football!) and opted to not have reconstructive surgery. It was a while back, IIRC I was only completely off of it for about 2 weeks, then I did PT with a focus on hamstring strenghtening to stabilize the knee since my ACL is only about 50%. I don’t remember it taking too long to get back to straight line running on even, flat terrain, but anything lateral was out of the question for a few months. After probably 3 months, with a brace (a specific one for ACL stability, not one you pick up at Wallgreen’s) I was able to get back to some sports (basketball, racketball, etc…) but gave up football. I think I was in the brace for about a year.
Sometimes even now (15 years later) I can feel a little instability in the knee (the ACL doesn’t grow back) but I don’t have any pain, it is a little noisy sometimes, but, no pain or stiffness.
If you truly just have a sprain, and no tear, I would think you would bounce back rather quickly. Have you actually had the MRI read?
FWIW my tear was diagnosed as a sprain through the knee stability tests (can’t remember the names) and, after the 3rd time I reinjured it trying to get back on the field after a couple of weeks off each time, they finally did the MRI which revealed about a 50% tear. Apparently there was just enough not to be so unstable through the tests (you know where they grab your leg and jerk it all around).
It sounded like there might be a slight tear, but it was mostly just a strain. I didn’t actually speak to my doctor only an associate of his who called and gave me the short story. I’ll get the full one next Tuesday when I talk to him.
same boat as you are, my knee give in during the tests because of the muscles being strong enough but with 40-50 hrs in the office and not doing any strenght work, it would give during certain movements in the office and like yours did not hurt…running and cycling made the muscles stronger again, because after i got back to running normally, the knee kept giving out.so far not everything ok…chances are with your sprain, you`ll be up and running in no time! hopefully your meniscus did not get hit
I would just keep ice on it and take ibuprofen. I have had 3 knee surgeries ranging from meniscal repairs to ACL replacement on my right knee and I feel fine. The last surgery was just over a year ago to have my knee scoped and cleaned.
One other question doctor, if you don’t mind.
The MRI was ordered to rule out a Lateral Meniscus Tear. I was fairly convinved I had it. One symptom I’ve got is this clicking/popping sensation. I feel it when I push off the wall swimming and also when I kick in the water if my knee is bent a bit. AFAIK, the MRI didn’t pick up any damage to the meniscus.
Could this possibly be a symptom of this sprained ACL?
Thank You.
Does your knee feel loose like it can go left or right and like there is a little pressure on it? Just asking because my left knee feels that way Squirrelly I guess you would say. First time ever felt like this.
X’cuse my grammer I am running between a 4 yo 6 yo 11yo and dinner.
If your knee is sprained you need to rest it. You need to rest it for like a month. Swimming is fine but you should not kick. And you should not be pushing off hard because that doesn’t count as resting.
Not sure what to say about the clicking…? Maybe bursa related? If it’s some weird bone on bone situation due to your injury, you really need to avoid motions that cause the click!
Your injury sounds mostly muscular from your description. When I tore my ACL I pulled bits of bone off and stuff–I could feel it all giggling around under my kneecap. I could still walk but it felt weird, almost numb and uncomfortable with the bits of bone.
If you don’t absolutely need surgery for sure, DO NOT GET IT. I just had my ACL reconstructed and it’s awful. It hurts all the damned time and it’s all I think about. Additionally, you have a good chance to lose feeling in your entire shin from that vertical incision. For some reason nobody talks about this last problem.
If you do get surgery, I would seriously, seriously think about using cadaver versus hamstring (popular method) or patella tendon (old method that can cause arthritis.) The risk of cadaver is that you can contract a virus from it or that it could fail. The virus thing is a small risk and if you ask me, the risk of failure is no different from using your own tissue. I had hamstring method and I have noticeable loss of strength in my hammy. I’m also on Celebrex like some old, arthritic person. I also want to point out that if they need to burr anything down, you will not be happy about it afterwards. It hurts like a mofo. And just in case this isn’t enough to deter you, I have a high pain threshold and was completely unable to talk I was in so much pain when I awoke from anesthesia–gripping the bed, wishing I could bite down on some leather like in the old movies, this sort of thing. But it sounds like you don’t need surgery, which is VERY GOOD.
If you have a minor tear, your doctor will probably make you just do rehab. Avoid anything other than forward movements and take as many as 4 motrin at a time, max 3x per day. That is not good for you but is prescription strength and is better than taking vicotin or some other prescription pain killer that makes it impossible to focus. (BTW, this level of painkiller is the non-narcotic level given to prison inmates for proceedures like having a root canal because those people can’t have narcotics.)
exactly why I opted to quit football and not have the surgery.
Thanks for the info. Trust me, I’m not pushing off hard! It’s pretty pathetic.
It doesn’t sound like surgery is in the cards. What kind of excersizes are appropriate for rehab? I don’t even know how I sprained this thing in the first place…
I had an MRI which revelaed a sprained ACL on my right knee. My doctor won’t be able to talk with me about this until Tuesday, which is kind of annoying. Just trying to get an idea of what rehab will look like, how long it will take and what the chances of success are.
Right now it hurts to walk and do pretty much anything else. Swimming bothers it a little bit. The knee isn’t swollen.
Thanks!
Tell me what the MRI report actually said. I can interpret it for you. FYI a “sprain” means ligament is torn, but your question’s answer will have more to do with the degree of tearing (microscopic or macroscopic tearing). A few torn fibers of the ligament likely won’t show up on MRI, which, even on a good day, has resolution no better than about an eighth of an inch. So if ligament fibers appear torn on the MRI, then the injury is “macroscopic” (i.e., greater than 1/8 inch) and means the prognosis (i.e., your future) is worse. But, talk to your orthopaedist. My guess is that you may fully recover without surgery, but perhaps with some amount of physical therapy. If it were me, I wouldn’t wait to do PT. I’d start now, regardless of prognosis. But that’s me.
Thanks that’s good info.
I’d like to get started on the PT asap, but I don’t know what I should be focussing on. Any suggestions? Hamstring?, Hips?..?
I won’t be able to talk to the doctor until Tuesday.
Thanks that’s good info.
I’d like to get started on the PT asap, but I don’t know what I should be focussing on. Any suggestions? Hamstring?, Hips?..?
I won’t be able to talk to the doctor until Tuesday.
The PT will decide. But most PTs work off the orders of the MD. What did the MRI report say? Got a copy?
If your ACL is intact, pain is your rehab guide.
Avoid leg extensions with weights. The part of that motion when your leg reaches the top of the arc outward (180 degrees, I guess) is dangerous for your ACL when it’s damaged and it is commonly the way that post-op ACLs fail.
You should to light biking, squats of just your body weight (I use one of those giant rubber balls behind my back, against a wall, arms crossed), calf raises, box steps, heel slides (sit with legs at 90 degrees, slide heel of injured leg out slowly out to 180ish and back to 90). Absolutely no lateral motion, at all, is acceptable. And make sure to warm the leg up with some zero resistance biking or leg extensions.
Your exercises should be for time, not weight or reps. You should have easy motions that create a lot of reps, but not in a way that is stresful or requires a lot of push. Just do them for like a minute or two, rest for half that time, and repeat. Don’t use a lot of weight for any of these exercises. That’s about the best you can do and be safe to not re-injure your knee.
Good luck!
One other thing to think about is that if you need an operation, you may want to go to Birmingham, AL to see James Andrews. It’s not hard to get an appointment (you can consult via the net) and if you don’t see him and have pain afterwards, you will regret not seeing James for the rest of your life.
I had some guy who does a bunch of professional athletes but I was lazy to go see James Andrews. I’m not confident that I made the right choice, but I think I did what I could.
Oh, recovery time for this is like 3-4 years. You will be walking in a week (one crutch, at least) and fully walking within 2 months with a limp. But 3-4 years before you feel somewhat normal again. This is going on what others tell me–I’m still in year #1.
I did that to my right knee once on a climbing trip in the tetons, it sucked ass but it healed up pretty quickly, just iced lots and rested. When my knee was hyperextended it sort of bruised the fat pad below the knee cap, that is what hurt me the longest and even that went away. The only lasting part of it is sometimes when I sit for long periods of time my knee feels a bi weird, so I just bring my heel up to my ass and it will pop (no pain) and the knee feels fine. Really, it should heal if you take care of it, like most sprains. get yourself a couple bombers of a really strong IPA and rent a movie, that usually helps.
Another suggestion: find someone who does Kinesio Tape. It’s the stuff you see on the knees of Postal and Discovery teams back int he day. Get someone trained in it and it will help immensely with reduction of swelling and provide some support. IMHO, I’d have it taped post-surgical, too (as in MINUTES after surgery). Start asking around about the best surgeons within an hour or 2, and inquire about post-operative infection rates. Any surgeon worth his salt will know which hospitals has the lowest. Don’t feel like you need to rush… an extra week in the scheme of things is a drop in the bucket.
I think the comment about PT soon is valid. Find the best PT around and make good friends. You will probably spend a sig. portion of the next 6 months there.
I know it can be scary, but keep in mind that the ACL is most stressed during start/stop activity and lateral movement. We triathletes do alost none of that, so your future looks very promising. If you liked Rugby or basketball, we’d have an issue. Curling may be another option, too.
Jon, buyer beware regarding medical advice over the internet. Based on the scenario you explained, I would imagine you have nothing to worry about as far as your ACL. Management of partially torn ACL is dependent on clinical stability and athletic goals. In the unlikely case of reconstruction, and in view of the perspectives offered here; please consider peer-reviewed evidence based guidelines, liberal use of second opinions and thoughtful inquiry in conjunction with your surgeon. Best of luck.
I don’t know about this tape thing (although I didn’t know about the technique and found it interesting.)
If you have surgery, afterwards (like 1 hour afterwards, whenever you get home and situated, you’ll be in a passive motion device for 12 hours a day (usually at night). So you can’t really tape the knee up.
Another thing to add about rehab is that even if you are going to have surgery, most surgeons make you do pre-hab nowadays. So you should feel comfortable doing the light exercises I mentioned.