Having torn my ACL in my right knee whilst windsurfing some 7 weeks ago, I have just had the chance to see my surgeon and am looking at surgery in the next two weeks.
Apparently it is a partial tear, and from various activities since I have found that I don't have full stability in that knee. Fairly disconcerting as it has led me to stop surfing, windsurfing, skateboarding...can still ride a bike though
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The surgeon is going to a graft from the hamstring and apart from what sounds like fairly straight forward surgery I hope; the rehab definitely is going to be a long haul. But from what I have gathered from advice, worth going through the whole process.
Would love to hear from others who have had a similar injury and what experiences/advice that they would have based on their decisions post injury.
Cheers
G'day,
I had a high grade tear of the peroneus brevis tendon in my left ankle. Lots of pain and swelling and lack of stability. It stopped me doing lots of things like skateboarding, kicking a footy and even driving a manual - was even stopping me playing pool, because at the end of the day I was that sore all I wanted to do was put my feet up. I did it surfing... and for a long while I thought it was a very bad sprain and was just going to take time to heal but months on it just seemed to be getting worse... I found out after seeing the surgeon that these types of injuries do not heal by themselves and nearly always require surgery.
18wks after surgery I am still in pain each day - having said that, I'm now back at the gym (bike and walking treadmill) and had my first surf on the weekend. Dr says it was a very bad tear (5cm along the length of the tendon - kind of split it in two halves) and it would take at least 6 months to heal post surgery. It's been 4.5 months so far and I feel it's going to be another 3 months at least.
I did plenty of swimming as soon as the plaster was off... not much else you can do. Don't whatever you do try to get ahead of the healing process - one slip or stumble and you'll undo all the surgeon's hard work and will be looking at another op...
Good luck!
I completely ruptured my ACL about 12 years ago in a bad landing from a table top jump .My doc's first advice was to strenghten the muscle groups around the knee which took about 6 months b4 the physio let me on the water again .I promptly ran into a sandbar and reinjured my acl deficent knee .So the next path was to have the ACL reconstructed which entailed removing the middle 1/3 of my patela tendon (the bottom bit of kneecap)with a little bone block on each end and then inserted and anchored in place where my ACL used to be .This was followed with 6 months of rehab .The end result has been fantastic with the reco job holding my knee together betta than original equipment .The downside is that the whole process took about 18 months it would have been quicker had I gone staight for the recon job .Replacing the ligament with tendon provides a more flexible ACL as tendon stretches where ligament don't.So good luck and i hope you find something to ease the pain when its windy .
I am basing the operation on statistics - as my injury is not a full blown tear I have the option of no operation and risking/living with it and working my way around its limitations and still playing sport. Aparently there is a 30% chance of reinjuring the ACL again if I make this choice and hence needing surgery if this occurs. If I have the operation it means I have a 5% chance of doing the same injury again. Having said that statistics show I have a 10% chance of doing my ACL in my good - non injured knee.
Considering the extreme twisting possible while crashing in the footstraps, (and I'm sure many doctors and surgeons don't realise what we really do on a windsurf board) I would never chance it or try and live with it.
After doing an ankle bad (3 ligaments and broken bone) and shoulder (partial dislocation and smashed up bursa) I am of the opinion that in addition to the obvious surgery and physio, glucosamine, fish oil and tons of protein really helps in rebuilding. Load up on those
Shi_house, big guy, just go for the surgery. We will keep you posted after ripping those waves up for you
All being well, a speedy recovery and you might be back for mid of next summer. Did I mention I needed a camera bitch
Had a complete knee recon a few year back in Perth. Great surgeon and walked out of hospital the next day (albeit a little ginger). Back sailing, hockey, running - can't tell which is the bad knee apart from a small scar. A bit too scarred to try any wild jumps but that may be an age thing as well as an injury thing.
Mark- have also started giving the glucosamine, fish oil, etc. Not too sure if it makes a difference, but willing to give it a big shot. Also doing a fair bit of bike riding pre-surgery, hoping that a reasonable level of fitness and muscle tone will aid in the recovery.
Rooster as for a camera bitch - what would be worthwhile filming?? More than happy to be the water (beer) boy. As for mid next season, I am thinking beginning of - hopefully
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From what I have researched, there are plenty of professional athletes (that which I am not) who have had the same surgery and have successfully returned to the same level of sport. This surgeon that I saw had lots of thank you photos and messages from Dockers, Eagles and other sporting teams. Am assuming the bad handwriting on the pictures where not the doctors .
get the surgery now to make the next number of years pain free.
Keith Holt did a recon on my knee that included 3 ligaments and a tendon.
He did a farkn awesome job and his anaesthetist was amazing. Every doctor i've spoken to says that hes the best in town.
If you want any more advice PM me.
Cheers Bertie, as it would happen, this is the surgeon that I am seeing. Everyone who I have talked to has said he is the man to see. Mind you you pay more for it, but its worth it.
Did my acl about ten years ago. Had the hamstring reconstruction, very painful but definitely worth the pain. Couldnt windsurf for a year, lots and lots of gym work and swimming, walking in the water to get my leg back to normal. But since that year of hard work I am windsurfing as normal whenever there is wind and spend my winters skiing - not a problem. Really glad I had the op, if I hadnt I wouldnt be doing much right now.
