Those that have suffered MCL/ACL tears

I tore my ACL 25 years ago. Initially thought to only be a meniscus tear as it somehow did not show up on MRI. During the meniscus surgery, he found the ACL tear but as it was never discussed, and I was under and out, he obviously could not repair it then. I never had it repaired. Another MRI several years ago shows basically nothing left there at all. Basically, I have had no ACL for last 25 years. Hasn't kept me from doing what I like (golf, hiking, etc) I just have not done anything where I did a lot of cutting motions. I am 60 now.
The glamorous story is i tore it playing football, which is true. The less glamorous part was it was co rec flag football while in my 30's Sounded like a twig snapped, I remember that, but somehow it did not show up on MRI initially.

6mos to a year recovery. Surgery then PT for 4-5 mos. Costs whatever insurance doesn’t cover. Depends on your plan. If you’re saying you do t have insurance, go get some lube and start applying to anus now.

A lot of this depends on your age and insurance.

ACL partial tear around 30 years old.

Went to Dr Winder in BR. Good guy. Said ACL could pop at any moment and cause more damage later. Then was the right time to replace.

Intense recovery was 3x per week PT for about 3-6 months give or take. And then I had pretty much full strength and was able to run/jog again. Took me a lot longer to gain confidence to cut and do more aggressive things.

10 years later I still don’t have complete full range of motion compared to other knee. But damn I’d be on struggle bus if I had to do it today. That was pretty agonizing pain and recovery.

Have torn both ACLs... first one was 2003 (left knee) and recovery wasn't terrible, but I'm no elite athlete. I was playing rec league sports again in under a year. No recollection of costs.

Second one was right ACL and meniscus in 2018. I feel like technique improved because the ACL recovery was faster even though I was older. The meniscus part just took time, was 2 months without putting weight on it so the meniscus could fully heal.

My son was born earlier that year and spent 6 weeks in the NICU on my insurance.. so I had hit deductible already and paid $0 out of pocket.


ETA: I had cadaver ligaments put in both times... no need to hack at my patella or hamstrings.

I have a similar story. No ACL either.

1) less than 6 months. But I was also 17/18 y/o at the time and rehabbed hard.

2) 4 weeks. Had to wait for swelling to go completely down which took about 2 weeks, and then waited on opening in Dr schedule + good time to be out of school for a week.

3) Not sure as I wasn't the one making the payments. Thanks dad!

For reference, when I blew out my knee I did ACL + MCL + Meniscus all at the same time. Almost 20 yrs later and it has started giving me some issues. But I also work as a firefighter and have been pretty hard on it the last 10 years. The first 10 yrs post surgery/recovery had no issues. Dr. Shane Barton was my surgeon.

3 knee surgeries in 3 years.
Right ACL/meniscus 6 months before re tearing right meniscus
Right meniscus 6 months
Left ACL/meniscus 6 months
All in high school so healed up quick can’t imagine doing it now…
Fortunate enough to not have the slightest idea how $$$

Knees bother me all the time naturally

I tore just about everything you can tear back in '85. Hurt at the end of football season and was ready for practice the next year. And that was 40 yrs ago. Orthopedics has come a long way since then.

I’ve torn both of my ACLs. First one was1991 in the spring. I had no insurance and did not have it reconstructed till winter 1993. It was a patellar tendon graft and the surgeon broke my patella during the surgery. So I have two huge screws and two extra pins in the right knee.

In the spring of 2008 I tore my left ACL. This time I had insurance but waited three months to have it reconstructed because of work. This time it was a hamstring tendon graft and they use biosorbable screws. Also the surgeon was Brent Bankston who I think is the best knee guy in the state. The difference in my outcome was night and day. I need my right knee replaced and my left knee is like I never had surgery.

As far as recovery, it you are in good shape you can walk pretty well at six weeks. At three to four months you can jog in a straight line. Six to nine months return to sports, but realistically it’s about a full year. Really it’s at about the 18 month post surgery where mentally and physically you don’t even think about it.

Good luck!!