re: OT orthos: ACL tear question

OP,

Lachman is a fairly good test in an experienced user. However it's not perfect with FN and FP. Bottom line an MRI is right 99% of the time.

thanks

you should definitely get it checked. Is there a reason you want to avoid the MRI?

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did you have surgery? how long was the rehab?

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Yes.

ACL surgery is so simple now. I had a great Ortho here. Could walk day of surgery. Was jogging in about 4 months, running by 6. It wasn't easy, and I held off sports with any lateral movement for 12 months, but it was normal before 12 months, I just wanted to play it safe being in my early 30s.

Yes it was worrisome. Yes it was uncomfortable, but other than a small scar I barely notice it. I've been back to all my normal metrics for a good 6-8 months. 5k and 10k times evened out. Can run a soccer triple header.


If it is an ACL, good luck. Strength and Flexibility, that's the focus. You have to focus on flexibility early, my goal was to stay far ahead of the curve on flexibility all through the process and that helped bigtime. My PT agreed.

Rehab is the legit 9 months it's touted to be and do not skimp it. You'll be getting around fine after a 6-8 weeks in terms of your day to day being back to normal but it takes a long time to reinforce the muscles, especially the quads, supporting that knee. You'll get a schedule after the PT and you need to stick to it.

Also, the few days after the surgery is a hundred times worse than when you actually tore your ACL. Be prepared to accomplish nothing for two days at least.

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nah they don't bother me. it's just that the coverage i currently have doesn't cover it.

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If you shop around you can find a place that will do it for around $500 as a cash patient. Not cheap but not awful either.

Go see a good ortho and explain that you'd rather not pay for an mri unless he has a high suspicion based on the exam. If your acl is torn, he can probably pick up on the instability. If your knee is unstable on exam then you definitely need an mri. If it seems stable then it might be a meniscus. That still needs an mri to diagnose, but you could try conservative treatment and if that works, you can avoid the mri.

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Go see a good ortho and explain that you'd rather not pay for an mri unless he has a high suspicion based on the exam. If your acl is torn, he can probably pick up on the instability. If your knee is unstable on exam then you definitely need an mri. If it seems stable then it might be a meniscus. That still needs an mri to diagnose, but you could try conservative treatment and if that works, you can avoid the mri.

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thanks... my buddy is a well known ortho, and i went to see him when it first happened. he messed with my kneecap for about 10 min and said it wasn't a meniscus or acl, so i did rehab for tendonitis, which i do have. i'll make sure to get an mri this time to confirm, i don't think it's normal for my knee to be so sensitive.

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Yes. ACL surgery is so simple now. I had a great Ortho here. Could walk day of surgery. Was jogging in about 4 months, running by 6. It wasn't easy, and I held off sports with any lateral movement for 12 months, but it was normal before 12 months, I just wanted to play it safe being in my early 30s. Yes it was worrisome. Yes it was uncomfortable, but other than a small scar I barely notice it. I've been back to all my normal metrics for a good 6-8 months. 5k and 10k times evened out. Can run a soccer triple header. If it is an ACL, good luck. Strength and Flexibility, that's the focus. You have to focus on flexibility early, my goal was to stay far ahead of the curve on flexibility all through the process and that helped bigtime. My PT agreed.

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I completely ruptured an Achilles. The idea of walking after any kind of tendon surgery is so foreign. I didn't walk for quite a while, and the scar is substantial.

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I completely ruptured an Achilles. The idea of walking after any kind of tendon surgery is so foreign. I didn't walk for quite a while, and the scar is substantial.

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Girl on my rec soccer team tore her achilles the week after I tore my ACL. She as way behind me in recovery. Achilles is bad, bad news.

Funny thing, I was doing back flips with my cast on. When it came off, and the calf was so atrophied, I tried to jump to the high bar and the leg gave out...I was almost to college and I wrote gymnastics off. Became a NCAA diver for split second. Then Motocross, Rugby and hang/skydiving for fun!