re: Those that have suffered MCL/ACL tears

I tore mine playing basketball at the rec at bama. Can't really remember how long it took for it to feel normal again after surgery, 4 or 5 months I think. Recovery wasn't that bad.

My gf tore hers skiing a few years ago and she was going on 1 mile+ walks like a week and a half after surgery. Took her like 2-3 months to feel recovered. She's a beast though.

Same here. Tore it skiing when I was 28. Worked with orthopedic surgeons at the time who recommended against surgery because I had no instability. Played sports and skied for years afterward.

Got hit with a crack back block first game of senior year, 1969. Bones in knee separated and I was blind for some amount of time, probably a few seconds. In hospital shortly thereafter and was operated on that next day but don’t remember but a few minutes of the whole week. Morpheme is a strong drug. I thought I was in one hospital but found out years later it was a different one. Ortho surgeon was William Smith and my Dad told me after I went home that Dr said I had torn 3 ligaments (acl,mcl,and pcl) and one was torn at both ends and shredded. He said that wasn’t supposed to happen bc when it tears at one end the stress is relieved. He said he didn’t know if he fixed it. He didn’t. After working hard to rehab and get ready for baseball when I started to practice throwing my knee would pop out and I would fall down.

I was sent to Dr in Oklahoma City who was supposed to be the best of the best. I found out he operated on many pro athletes which should have been obvious to me by the men in his waiting room. He examined my knee and told to go wait in his office.Since the first operation, healing, and rehab had been such a nightmare I was hoping he had some cure or treatment other than surgery. When he came in to his office I asked if he needed to operate and he said no but in few months or so it would be so screwed up I’d be like Chester on Gunsmoke but he thought he could fix it. We scheduled the surgery and instead of a hard cast after surgery like Smith , O’Donohogh( (sp) put 3 strips of cast covered with ace bandages and a suction tube drawing out blood and reducing swelling. With Smith the swelling in the cast caused great pain and I was on pain killers the whole week. I left the hospital with a hard cast. Went back for checkups and to get cast and stitches ( like piano wire) removed. Did rehab again hard to try and play baseball again. Played one game and went back for a checkup. When I told him I’d played a game at first base as I couldn’t squat and play catcher. He asked me if I was going to make a living playing and I said not anymore, he told me if I tore it up again he didn’t know if he could fix it and he said he was the best . So no more sports.

He did a great job and I managed to do most things except kneeling and at times suffered with pain and swelling depending on the activity. 30 years later I started having significant pain and was treated for years by Dr Bryan Griffith with injections. Great guy and great Dr.. He kept telling me he couldn’t believe the shots still worked and at some point the shots would stop working and I would need a total replacement. He told me when I decided to do it I didn’t need to come in, just call and schedule the surgery understanding it would be scheduled 6 to 8 weeks out. The last shot lasted about 2 weeks and I could hardly walk 30 feet and that with excruciating pain. Scheduled and had the surgery and Dr Griffith did great. That was over 15 years ago and my knee is still good but due to advanced age and serious illness I don’t get around very much. If you are considering replacement I highly recommend it.