About
December 11, 2010 |
My name is Jon Haver. I have torn my right ACL twice and will use this site to share what I have learned to do and not to do during ACL surgery recovery.
So how did I get here?
Well in sep 2007 I tore my right cal playing rugby at university. It was a clean tear and was misdiagnosed, it was not until some instability while skiing that I went and got a second opinion. Eventually an MRI confirmed it was torn.
Jon Haver - 2008 - Pre ACL Surgery
In sep 2008 I had acl reconstruction with a right hamstring graph. Recovery went well and I was able to be skiing after 4 months. Based on my doctor clearing me and feeling confident after a good winter of skiing I decided to play soccer in may of 2009… 8 months after surgery….bad idea
Re-Tear My Right ACL
My fiancé(wife now) was convinced I was pushing it too quickly to play and her exact words were “you shouldn’t play but if you insist I will come because you are going to need someone to drive you to the hospital when you re-tear it” well I certainly should have listened to her. The good news is I was able to drive myself home as I would have never lived it down if I had to get a ride to the hospital.
Because I was getting married, had just started a new job(project engineer with an oil and gas company in Canada) and was still able to function ok I delayed getting surgery until a more convenient time, December 8th 2010.
My goal with this surgery and rehab is to get myself into a position where I can enjoy my key sports again Skiing, Mountain Biking, Tennis and if all goes well Soccer(eventually).
3+ Years of Knee Pain
Having suffered through over 3 years at this point of having a bad knee I am very modivated to make sure I do everything I can during my ACL surgery recovery to make sure my knee is as strong as it possibly can be.
Share what I have learned about ACL Surgery Recovery!
On this site I will share practical information including post ACL surgery exercises, ACL surgery recovery timeline and my personal story of how I deal with the recovery for a second time.
Feel free to contact me to ask any ACL surgery questions
Comments (19)
My name is Jon Haver, I have torn my ACL in my right leg twice and along the way have learned a thing or two about how to recover from ACL knee surgery. With the latest surgery Dec 8, 2010 I plan on sharing the exercises, pain mangement strategy and timeline for my recovery. In addition to helping people with their ACL surgery recovery the purpose of this site is to help me stay fully committed to my ACL rehab and be certain this was my last ACL surgery.
Hey man I had my right acl reconstruction 8/13/2010 and its now 4/8/2011 I ride motocross and stuff like that. Just how easy is it to re-tear it? My doc said I can ride after 6 months but my leg still doesn’t seem strong enough, and I think I may have messed up my other leg cause I depend on it to much. It pops when I straighten it now… any help would be appreciated.. going back to see the doc on the 18th hope everything is good. My (surgery knee) has popped too but I’ve never planted or twisted it that I know of? If you could email me or anything…
Hey, your doc will know best I tried to convince myself I didnt re-tear my knee but I “knew” when it happened. In order to re-tear it it needs to be a substational event more than just a large knuckle “popping”. In terms of advice to get back to your sport, motorcross, I would do as much sport specific exercises possible. I mountain bike and the part that scares me is whenever I have to put my leg down and from the little bit of dirt biking I have done I know thats a big part of motorcross…so…maybe try and do some single leg leg-press and try to add as much imbalance into it as possible. Single leg squat with dumbbells only going down 25degrees and again increase difficulty with balance multipliers like shutting your eyes etc.
Good luck!
Hi John,
I just tore my ACL on Monday, May 2, 2011. I had my first pt on Thursday and was really happy with the range of motion that I had during therapy. It’s now Friday and I am very stiff. I did not have the same range of motion..actually, much less then yesterday.I iced my knee and kept off it whenever possible and kept it elevated at work. Is this ok? I have two pt appointments to work on my range of motion before they schedule surgery.
Susan, make sure your Physio knows the intent of you attending Physio is to get the swelling down so that you can have surgery. They may be thinking they are trying to get your knee back as functional as possible….which is not the case. Pre surgery physio #1 objective should be to get the swelling down. Having your knee swell up is normal after physio but try to get the swelling down as quickly as possible…one trick is to put an ice back on your ankle and knee then put a heat pack on your upper quad…this has the effect of pulling the blood from your knee.
Hi Jon,
I tore my ACL about 5 weeks ago now, after wrongly getting diagnosed with a medial tear for the last 5 weeks ( 4 different Physios). After 2 weeks I had full motion strength in my knee I was back at the gym and sprinting again. But it just didnt feel right and when i went back training I had it buckle under me a few times.. Off to a specialist sports doctors I went and he said torn ACL and the MRI has confirmed it.
I am in a dilema about what route to go down graft wise, the surgeon I am seeing prefers the hamstring graft. But for me I have always had pretty short hamstrings and prone to pulling them. Would this have an effect? I am leaning towards trying to get a patella graft.
Thought I would drop you a message and see your thoughts. Great site by the way.
Cheers
David
Hey David,
As for me, both knees were using hamstring grafts. And yes I would recommend it because there was no pain since the operation till now. Plus if you’ve done some hamstring curls prior to surgery, Im sure the graft will mature with strength.
Good Luck
Hey Jon,
Hows the O&G industry? I thought of doing it, but then i checked out that both my knees have torn ACL’s. Nowonder my soccer wouldn’t improve! Anyway I’ve decided to take a year of post graduate, hoping that it will heal by then.
Cheers
I had my ACL surgery repairing it with my hamster. Its been 4 weeks now and last night something on my knee i think it was my ACL had a sharp/burn and i think it teared. Before when i try to bend my knee or make it straight i can feel my ACL on my knee at times. And now i dont feel that anymore. all sudden i have more movement then before so i knee something was wrong going to the doctors on monday and hopefully get a MRI ASAP
This is a fantastic website, thanks for all the great info. I am having reconstruction Thursday and this answered a lot of questions for me. I injured my knee in June playing softball and had to have surgery 2 days later because I tore my meniscus so badly that it locked up my knee and I couldn’t walk. They wanted me to rehab from that before the recon. and it’s been a long road. The only question I really still have is about the CPM…did you experience any pain with it?
help!! i am losing my mind with my knee injury! without getting into too much detail, i basically tore my acl, mcl and pcl…i had reconstructive surgery in september of 2010 and am STILL having issues. i also have some nerve damage and walking long distances still gives me problems. my leg becomes fatigued very quickly and no matter what i do nothing seems to be helping. is there anything anyone can suggest? i have gone thru all of my PT and nothing works. i admit, because of this injury i have put on some extra weight that i am sure doesnt help the situation but i feel like i should be able to do simple things like go shopping at the mall without having to “rest” on the benches every so often. please someone help me! im 29 years old and have been out of work for almost 3 years because of this. living with my parents and feeling useless is making me go crazy not to mention the depression it has caused…
Hey all,
Tore my acl in Oct riding Motocross, had my acl surgery on 16 dec 2011, 4 days after surgery and i’m feeling alot better today.
still using crutches, sometimes without but with a massive limp.
thanks for this site, its helped alot reading how everyone is coping and what people are doing to help there recovery.
so far i feel my revovery is on-track and i’m happy with how its going.
thanks all the way from sydney Australia
[...] Tore ACL Playing Soccer 21 01 2012 I am a huge fan of your blog. I tore my acl/mcl about 8 months ago, 7 months post operation. I feel better month to month, but just not there yet. You mentioned you came back to early to soccer. Is there a few things i could do to really know when i am ready to play competitive again? After doing this once i dont want to do it again. Tore ACL Playing Soccer [...]
I tore mine back in August while playing hockey. I’ve had my MRI and the results say a tear and I’m waiting on a consultation. I’m in Toronto, but all my doctors are in London. I’m curious as to where you had yours, and with whom?
Thank.
Jon Haver, i just recently had my ACL reconstruction surgery about 2 months ago and im getting into the one legged squats for physical therapy ive been very consistant with it… ive yet to see any results my knee is still very flimsy and my knee still gives out from under me. Any ideas on the problem???
Hi Jon,
I tore my ACL playing rugby at my college a few weeks ago. I just had an MRI yesterday and have scheduled my surgery for May 18th. It’s gotten me a bit down (since I won’t be able to play this season and probably most of fall season), so I went searching on the web for sites regarding ACL surgery. THIS site is byfar the best. Thanks so much for all the great tips; your information has helped and will continue to help me in the coming months with my ACL surgery/recovery.
Thank you so much for this excellent website, so much great info!
I tore my ACL last September and had surgery in October. My recovery has been fantastic, but I felt over confident and tried playing indoor soccer and I lasted 4 mins. In short, the first time I tore my ACL it felt like my knee popped out of its socket or just came apart and quickly went back together with immense pain. When I played soccer the other night it felt like it came out again but the pain of tearing te muscles weren’t there. The swelling has gone Down quit a bit now but I’m concerned I retore it. Any thoughts from any of you? Thanks.
I tore my ACL last September and had surgery in October. My recovery has been fantastic, but I felt over confident and tried playing indoor soccer and I lasted 4 mins. In short, the first time I tore my ACL it felt like my knee popped out of its socket or just came apart and quickly went back together with immense pain. When I played soccer the other night it felt like it came out again but the pain of tearing the muscles weren’t there. The swelling has gone Down quit a bit now but I’m concerned I retore it. Any thoughts from any of you? Thanks.
Hey sup John, love your website really helpful. My ROM is at 120-125 degrees and i need more what should I do to get the extra ROM?
First off great site. Not to be a backhanded comment but if you (publisher) got some credentials behind your name I’m pretty sure you would be able to make a whole lot more. If you could include a little bit of the physiology that would be awesome. Thanks.