r/ACL

Tore my ACL in March 2025 and what with NHS waiting times I only went in to talk about surgery last month. After talking, he decided surgery doesn’t really seem like something I need (right now at least) considering I am basically living my life perfectly normal, bar hearing the odd painless click/pop (how to stop these also?). I’m 23, not necessarily an athlete but definitely fitter than most, and can do most exercise without issue. I’m just careful not to do anything crazy on my bad knee whe it comes to things like yoga or Pilates. So anyway I’ve decided I’m just going to go without surgery and am excited to say that in May I will be walking the Camino over two weeks, a total bucket list item of mine. Just wondered if anyone else who didn’t do surgery has also taken on similar hikes and how the experience was for you?

I am 5 weeks post op , Gained Muscle activation and walking is easier now but muscle strength is not there .

Iwant to ask from which month it is possible to play football again some sources say 9 months some 12 months some 6 and some 5 , My doctor said 5-6 months , my physio saying 9-11 months , I am not able to understand when I will able to play football again .

I heard online if u do combo u do 0.5 per day ,5 days 2 days off and continue , gonna start out with 10mg each if u guys have any suggestions , i have damaged nerves in my neck spine and brahial area and shoulder( clicks ) and so on

How common is this? I’m 3 weeks post hamstring graft + LET, I just had my first follow-up meeting with my surgeon and he says I’m progressing well enough to stop wearing my brace and come fully off crutches and start walking unassisted.

I mean, obviously he knows best so I’m going to trust him, it just seems wayyy earlier than I was expecting. From what I’ve read on here most people don’t come off crutches till the 6 week-ish mark (for reference I had no meniscal damage)

Or will there always be some sensation or something that reminds you that you have had a major surgery?

One of the things that has made my recovery (so far, it’s still early days) has been keeping low expectations then being pleasantly surprised when things are better than I expected.

I am 20 days post op. I expected miserable pain and near zero sleep for the first 14 days. It hasn’t been nearly that bad.

I’ve been absolutely religious, and I mean devout, about my PT, icing and elevating routine. A few big wins today at PT:

- my extension is at -3, matching my non surgical leg

- my flexion is at 90 with minimal pain (I can’t go past 90 yet bc I had lateral meniscus repair)

- I can walk with one crutch (a free hand!)

- my PT said my quad is coming back nicely and he can see a major difference in my muscle engagement and tone

- I am tolerating the electro stim machine well and we moved to a protocol to stimulate muscle contraction to 30% of my non surgical leg

- my swelling is still present in the joint but my knee resembles a knee and not a softball

I have had some down days since this injury and today felt like a nice step forward in the process. I felt some true optimism for my future. Thought I’d share in hopes to inspire the same in others (and just feel good typing those wins out!)

Sending good vibes and PT rigor to all!

I tore my ACL and fractured back of my tibia a little over a month ago. Started walking normally after a week of icing. Got MRI and xrays and met with a surgeon who said it doesn’t look like I need surgery if I build my quad muscle back and start PT. I’m almost 29 and don’t plan on getting the surgery. I’m pretty active and play rec league softball. I’ve been doing my own leg workouts and hip mobility/strengthening for a few weeks now and plan on going to PT. I found that stationary biking helps.

Give me all your tips!!!

Just wanted to know is it normal or it's patella alta

As I am confused there are different range for xray and mri if i am wrong please correct me

Expecting response from professionals orthopedics surgeon/doc and subreddit members 🌟 too !

Thank you 😊

Hey Reddit,

I'm (30m) and had my acl reconstruction op 5 days ago. This shows how privileged I’ve been in life, but the last few days have been up there with the most challenging of my life. I’m on my own in the flat a lot of the day whilst my partner is in work and feel isolated. Logistics feel like a lot of pressure, im needing to ask work for more time off and they haven’t responded, my gp is further away atm and I need to travel back, and this week I learned that my dad has a tumor which they dont know if its cancerous, and I keep crying all the time I don’t know if it’s side effects of the medication I’ve been taking as well. I didn’t know that I’d need to self inject blood thinners every night post op, thats been challenging too. I’m really missing people and having friends Or some support a bit more often. I’m grateful for my op and support I’ve had, and I appreciate I’m very fortunate, I just didn’t expect myself to find the injury/rexovery so MENTALLY challenging.

Thanks for reading

Tore my ACL last Sunday during some military training. Currently waiting to fly back home (international) and am wondering how quickly I can get the surgery done. I understand there are many factors such as surgeon availability, the healthcare system, waiting for swelling to go down etc. I want to get this done asap so I can get back in action before long.

Does anyone have experience with trying to get their surgery done asap and roughly how long did you wait between tear and op?

To preface: I have a connective tissue disorder

I got my third ACLR in December and was 2.5 months out of surgery when a freak accident happened

I was "allowed to sleep without my brace" but was a little sketched out by it... but I did end up stopping sleeping with my brace.

I was on my partners side of the bed when in the middle of the night they rolled over onto my bent knee. I woke up out of a dead sleep hollering lol

Couldn't slep for three nights, after two weeks the symptoms were getting worse. Got a scan and sure enough the brand new acl that was put in was torn!

Dr said it was the craziest thing he's seen happen. Could you imagine waking up to your ACL being torn??