ACL injury?

[a311]

Evening all,

Weekend before last while playing rugby I felt/heard a pop, no collision sort of slipped. Had an x-ray to confirm no break. Couple of days later I went to the fracture clinic but the doctor could assess it properly as it was too swollen and sore. The swelling has gone down a bit it's still a bit sore I can put a little weight on it but pretty immobile. I returned to the FC today and although I had a bit more movement it was much the same i.e couldn't tell what the issue was except he thought it would be my ACL. He explained if I didn't want to do sports such as rugby and skiing then it can be treat without surgery. I might be able to hang my boots up at 33 but hope to have decades of skiing ahead of me.

He's ordered me an MRI scan to confirm. I hate knees and when I look online it makes me feel queezy looking at pictures etc. Has anyone else experienced similar and can share their experiences? Fingers crossed it's something less serious still.

Cheers

[hajaba123]

33 and hanging your boots up!?! Screw that, see a proper knee consultant and get it sorted

[a311]

hajaba123 said:

33 and hanging your boots up!?! Screw that, see a proper knee consultant and get it sorted

I'm with you in spirit, initially even when it was painful I was hoping to get back ASAP. After a week of struggling to do anything other than go from the bed to the bog, and there's only so many boxsets you can rewatch, taking a st is a real job, and the Mrs bring me all my meals will have used up all her goodwill for the rest of our marriage. I'll see.

Work have been pretty understanding and have offered to do some remote working if possible now the pain has died down a lot. More for my own sanity really.

I've had exactly 2 injuries when playing rugby more more than 20 years, a cracked knee cap when I was about 18 and this.

[RCBRG]

ACL reconstruction is a hard 9 months of rehabilitation, but my knee is genuinely as good as new. i've run half marathons, i can ski, cycle, wakeboard etc. it is worth doing to return completely to normal

[a311]

RCBRG said:

ACL reconstruction is a hard 9 months of rehabilitation, but my knee is genuinely as good as new. i've run half marathons, i can ski, cycle, wakeboard etc. it is worth doing to return completely to normal

How much work did you miss in those 9 months?

[Mojooo]

worst mistake I ever amde was not having my partially torn ACL reconstructed as it failed 2 years later and caused more significant injury - have the surgery regardless

I would be cautious about skiing though as that is one of the worst sports for knee injuries I believe

I would also seek to see a physio as soon as swelling goes down as they will be able to assess quickly. the general doctors i dealt with were ste with one even doing and ACL test and telling me it wasn't my ACL (after second injury fully tearing it)

[a311]

Mojooo said:

worst mistake I ever amde was not having my partially torn ACL reconstructed as it failed 2 years later and caused more significant injury - have the surgery regardless

I would be cautious about skiing though as that is one of the worst sports for knee injuries I believe

I would also seek to see a physio as soon as swelling goes down as they will be able to assess quickly. the general doctors i dealt with were ste with one even doing and ACL test and telling me it wasn't my ACL (after second injury fully tearing it)

Thanks for the input matey. Skiing is a must!

[RCBRG]

a311 said:

How much work did you miss in those 9 months?

i was in college at the time, but i missed 3 days. i was on crutches for about 10 days, and limping for upto a month. from then on its all about strength building. depends on your job as to how it'll affect you i suppose

[a311]

RCBRG said:

i was in college at the time, but i missed 3 days. i was on crutches for about 10 days, and limping for upto a month. from then on its all about strength building. depends on your job as to how it'll affect you i suppose

That doesn't sound too bad. I was envisaging weeks off with lots of physio. I'd say 80% of my work is desk based get paid sickness so it's not a huge issue.

[RCBRG]

a311 said:

That doesn't sound too bad. I was envisaging weeks off with lots of physio. I'd say 80% of my work is desk based get paid sickness so it's not a huge issue.

there is LOTS of physio, but basic mobility is back in no time

i was at physio twice a week for 6 months

[benaldo]

I had ACL and meniscus surgery in Dec'11 after injuring it playing football and had about 2 weeks off but that was mainly due to having Xmas off. I could have been back in work just over 1 week later really. I also have a desk based job so it was ok except for doing a couple of days working from home and looking a bit odd doing rehab exercises at my desk..... After 6mths of physio I was able to run and had a go at football which was OK but haven't played regularly again as it was in the back of my mind and it was only a weekly kickabout so didn't really miss it. I have played a couple of times since and it is fine. I also went snowboarding 1 year after surgery and no issues at all. I've snowboarded since and have done weight-training with squats over 160kg and deadlifts of 180kg and my knee hasn't exploded across the gym (which is nice).

My advice is to get it done otherwise it will feel fine after the soreness has gone down but mine kept on collapsing every so often and will get worse I suspect. I was 36 when I had surgery and both knees feel fine now at age 40.

[The_Doc]

Mojooo said:

worst mistake I ever amde was not having my partially torn ACL reconstructed as it failed 2 years later and caused more significant injury - have the surgery regardless

I would be cautious about skiing though as that is one of the worst sports for knee injuries I believe

I would also seek to see a physio as soon as swelling goes down as they will be able to assess quickly. the general doctors i dealt with were ste with one even doing and ACL test and telling me it wasn't my ACL (after second injury fully tearing it)

There are experienced physios and bad physios. There are experienced sports knee surgeons and there are general knee surgeons and there are general orthopaedic surgeons.
MRI's sometimes give an answer and sometimes not
Sometimes the diagnosis is obvious within the first two sentences of the description of the injury.
Sometimes I don't work out what's really wrong until I look inside a knee.

Just make sure you see a soft-tissue or sports knee surgeon if it fails to settle

[a311]

benaldo said:

I had ACL and meniscus surgery in Dec'11 after injuring it playing football and had about 2 weeks off but that was mainly due to having Xmas off. I could have been back in work just over 1 week later really. I also have a desk based job so it was ok except for doing a couple of days working from home and looking a bit odd doing rehab exercises at my desk..... After 6mths of physio I was able to run and had a go at football which was OK but haven't played regularly again as it was in the back of my mind and it was only a weekly kickabout so didn't really miss it. I have played a couple of times since and it is fine. I also went snowboarding 1 year after surgery and no issues at all. I've snowboarded since and have done weight-training with squats over 160kg and deadlifts of 180kg and my knee hasn't exploded across the gym (which is nice).

My advice is to get it done otherwise it will feel fine after the soreness has gone down but mine kept on collapsing every so often and will get worse I suspect. I was 36 when I had surgery and both knees feel fine now at age 40.

Thanks for the reply, I'm still hoping it's nothing that requires surgery.

The_Doc said:

There are experienced physios and bad physios. There are experienced sports knee surgeons and there are general knee surgeons and there are general orthopaedic surgeons.
MRI's sometimes give an answer and sometimes not
Sometimes the diagnosis is obvious within the first two sentences of the description of the injury.
Sometimes I don't work out what's really wrong until I look inside a knee.

Just make sure you see a soft-tissue or sports knee surgeon if it fails to settle

Thanks of the reply, I'm maybe getting ahead of myself but do you know can recommend some more northerly based surgeons etc? I'm about as far north as you can go without being in Scotland, but willing to travel.

Maybe a how long is a piece of string question but how long would you expect someone to be laid up post injury? It's been a week and a half, it's still painful and can't put any weight on it, can't get around without crutches.

[hajaba123]

a311 said:

Thanks of the reply, I'm maybe getting ahead of myself but do you know can recommend some more northerly based surgeons etc? I'm about as far north as you can go without being in Scotland, but willing to travel.

Maybe a how long is a piece of string question but how long would you expect someone to be laid up post injury? It's been a week and a half, it's still painful and can't put any weight on it, can't get around without crutches.

This dude's quite far North http://www.williamhage.com/contact.html ;-)

[Winky151]

I ruptured my ACL about 20 years ago (also tore the minuscus & LCL) about 3 games from the end of the football season (I turned but my knee didn't or the other way round). Played the last few games with a knee support & started the following season in goal as we didn't have a 'keeper (I was a centre back), had keyhole to tidy up the loose ends which were catching in my knee about October & was back playing outfield two weeks later (would have been sooner but I'd promised my wife I wouldn't + we'd found a keeper in the meantime). Never had it re-built but then I've always gone to the gym so as long as I keep the muscles built up then I don't get any issues. Played on outfield for another 15 years until I needed an op on my back. Still play weekly 5 a-side + I cycle, jog, gym, play squash all without issue. I do more seated leg press than squats because of my back injury but press 200kg.

Edited by Winky151 on Wednesday 7th October 17:24

[joeg]

Don't waste time getting an Mri push to see a surgeon, they are not the best diagnostic for a knee sometimes better get keyhole. Also I had my acl reconstructed would def recomend it...it once got explained to be that a torn acl is like a frayed rope which will keep getting weaker and weaker

[oldnbold]

I completly ruptured my ACL at 25 and did a fair bit more damage as it was about 18 months before it was properly diagnosed. Had a reconstruction in 1987, I was told never to play rugby again, so I didn't. I then went on to discover skiing a couple of years later and qualified as a BASI Alpine instructor in my early 30's.

I was skiing about 8 weeks a season for 12 years or so always wearing a good knee brace. Loved skiing, long hard days, first lift up and last off, bumps, powder, etc. Eventually had to stop skiing in my mid 40's when my knee was just to painfull to continue.

I'm now 54 and my knee's are knackered, the ACL repair has broken and I have severe arthritis in both knee's, apparently I'm too young for a total knee replacement, about the only thing I am to young for, so have to limp along until I reach my 60's.

I don't regret a thing, it was very hard to stop playing rugby but I started coaching to stay involved, but skiing then took over.

[Mojooo]

In my experience... if you want to see an NHS surgeon you will be waiting a long time - first you need to convince your GP to refer you. Then there will probably be a few weeks waiting.

The quickest way would be to drop £40-50 and see a private physio - you will be able to see one immediatley and they will hopefully be able to diagnose it. That way they can start any treatment with exercises to reduce swelling and they can also write a letter to force your GP to refer you to a surgeon.

You can also pay to see a private surgeon - they may ro may not be able to diagnose without an MRI but in my experience (having had 4 surgeries) they will normally want an MRI.

What I did was get a private MRI for about £250 and then see a private surgeon when I had the results - think that was £160.

If you go to the surgeon without an MRI you run the risk that he tells you to get an MRI and come back - in which case you have paid for 2 appointments when you could have had 1.

[a311]

Mojooo said:

In my experience... if you want to see an NHS surgeon you will be waiting a long time - first you need to convince your GP to refer you. Then there will probably be a few weeks waiting.

The quickest way would be to drop £40-50 and see a private physio - you will be able to see one immediatley and they will hopefully be able to diagnose it. That way they can start any treatment with exercises to reduce swelling and they can also write a letter to force your GP to refer you to a surgeon.

You can also pay to see a private surgeon - they may ro may not be able to diagnose without an MRI but in my experience (having had 4 surgeries) they will normally want an MRI.

What I did was get a private MRI for about £250 and then see a private surgeon when I had the results - think that was £160.

If you go to the surgeon without an MRI you run the risk that he tells you to get an MRI and come back - in which case you have paid for 2 appointments when you could have had 1.

Good advice, I might leave it a little while to see if the swelling can go down a bit as I don't want to get the same response from the physio- i.e. too swollen/sore to assess/diagnose. I'll ask the lads down the club for a recommendation on a physio.

oldnbold said:

I completly ruptured my ACL at 25 and did a fair bit more damage as it was about 18 months before it was properly diagnosed. Had a reconstruction in 1987, I was told never to play rugby again, so I didn't. I then went on to discover skiing a couple of years later and qualified as a BASI Alpine instructor in my early 30's.

I was skiing about 8 weeks a season for 12 years or so always wearing a good knee brace. Loved skiing, long hard days, first lift up and last off, bumps, powder, etc. Eventually had to stop skiing in my mid 40's when my knee was just to painfull to continue.

I'm now 54 and my knee's are knackered, the ACL repair has broken and I have severe arthritis in both knee's, apparently I'm too young for a total knee replacement, about the only thing I am to young for, so have to limp along until I reach my 60's.

I don't regret a thing, it was very hard to stop playing rugby but I started coaching to stay involved, but skiing then took over.

This is it, I love playing rugby, but I like the crack etc almost as much and could keep involved in other ways. I've skied for 20 years also BASI qualified but just to do odd weeks teaching kids etc as a paid hobby. I hope to have 30 years plus skiing ahead of me though so will have to do something about it if it is ACL. I'd like to play rugby again but as convalescence drags on I'm starting to re-think it.

Cheers

[joeg]

Why an Mri? They can miss a lot with a knee injury. Due to the history "a pop" and a good examination once the swelling has gone a good surgeon might just elect to go straight for keyhole. Cutting out the cost and waisted time of Mri