RoosterRussell92 Posted 17 October 2011 Posted 17 October 2011 Hello, Just wondering if anyone here has ever suffered the dreaded cruciate ligament injury? I tore my anterior cruciate ligament back in May playing 5 a-side (only had it confirmed today after numerous doctors said it was "nothing major" - can I make a complaint about that?). Anyway, I've now got to have knee reconstruction and wanted to get an idea of recovery times from anyone that has had the same surgery. Obviously I've had a Google of famous footballers that have had the injury to see how long they were out for and it looks like I've got at least six months of rehabilitation after surgery ahead of me. I'm also interested to know if anyone did any pre-surgery physio to strengthen their muscles? I've been trying to do a bit here and there but really need to get myself down to the pool I think. I realise it's not a common injury so don't expect a flood of replies but thought it was worth a try nonetheless. Looks like my glittering career has come to a premature end anyway. Ah well, at least I'll have a few weeks off work and hopefully, a decent looking physiotherapist!
The Doctor Posted 17 October 2011 Posted 17 October 2011 Never suffered a cruciate ligament injury but I've had knee problems, just muscles shorter than the bone causing structural weakness and that took about 4 months physiotherapy to get anywhere near recovery so I'd think 6 months would be a optimistic target and you'd be looking at closer to 12 months.
martyn Posted 17 October 2011 Posted 17 October 2011 That sucks that you were misdiagnosed, might set you back a little bit in terms of recovery considering the length of time passed. I tore my ACL and pulled my LCL (Lateral colatteral on the outside of the knee) totally off the bone back in October 2008. Goalkeeper hoofed a long clearance, the ball bounced and I attempted to head the ball back to my own goalkeeper on the half turn, foot got planted, collapsed backwards and sideways and never got off the ground. I too was initially misdiagnosed by a nurse claiming I'd torn my hamstring. Once I saw a proper physio who could immobilise my knee, and subsequently flap my shin forwards and sideways with no resistance, the scale of the injury soon became apparent. Had LCL surgery in November 2008, then 2 months in a brace with no movement and set at 20 degrees to allow the ligament to set, January 2009 I had the ACL op. I was at a huge disadvantage considering my time spent in a brace after LCL surgery, and had absolutely ridiculous muscle atrophy (wasting) in my thigh. You will be fine because as a standalone ACL tear, you'll be rehabbing it immediately. Work hard in your immediate physio, learning to trust your knee balancing and being able to straighten it. After a while get on the bike and really work hard, do all the exercises you are given religiously and you'll give yourself every chance of getting back to the level you were at before. Unfortunately, my injury was so bad I'm not back to playing football, but I'm ok to play cricket and I swim regularly. Best of luck to you, it's a nasty injury.
StanSP Posted 17 October 2011 Posted 17 October 2011 Firstly, sorry to hear about your injury! I've had a Grade 2 tear on my medial collateral ligament (inside of the knee). Did it while playing rugby. Studs got stuck in the ground, someone came in tackled me. Thought I'd broken my knee at first it was that painful. Swelled up to the size of a tennis ball and that's no exaggeration. Luckily, it was an incomplete tear. I was told it would never heal fully but it would heal enough to play again. I never had surgery but the doctors said 6-8 weeks before I was able to start playing any sport again. See if this helps regarding complaints (I haven't read through it) http://www.gmc-uk.org/concerns/making_a_complaint/faqs.asp
martyn Posted 17 October 2011 Posted 17 October 2011 Firstly, sorry to hear about your injury! I've had a Grade 2 tear on my medial collateral ligament (inside of the knee). Did it while playing rugby. Studs got stuck in the ground, someone came in tackled me. Thought I'd broken my knee at first it was that painful. Swelled up to the size of a tennis ball and that's no exaggeration. Luckily, it was an incomplete tear. I was told it would never heal fully but it would heal enough to play again. I never had surgery but the doctors said 6-8 weeks before I was able to start playing any sport again. See if this helps regarding complaints (I haven't read through it) http://www.gmc-uk.org/concerns/making_a_complaint/faqs.asp Think Cesc and Rio (pre WC 2010) had this exact injury and got back without surgery.
Ozwin Posted 17 October 2011 Posted 17 October 2011 I know it's nothing like the same thing but I've done my ankle pretty badly and it's majorly bumming me out. It hurts on the inside when I twist it outwards (I have to physically push it outwards to feel pain mind) and it's been 2 months without it getting better at all. It feels stiff in the mornings, and throughout the day sometimes it just feels a bit weak or achey when I walk on it. This comes and goes though. I'm thinking of going doctors tomorrow but you reckon they'll just tell me to rest it? I want them to tell me what's up because it's pissing me off now, I just want to play again.
StanSP Posted 18 October 2011 Posted 18 October 2011 I know it's nothing like the same thing but I've done my ankle pretty badly and it's majorly bumming me out. It hurts on the inside when I twist it outwards (I have to physically push it outwards to feel pain mind) and it's been 2 months without it getting better at all. It feels stiff in the mornings, and throughout the day sometimes it just feels a bit weak or achey when I walk on it. This comes and goes though. I'm thinking of going doctors tomorrow but you reckon they'll just tell me to rest it? I want them to tell me what's up because it's pissing me off now, I just want to play again. I've had ankle injuries too, both were just quite bad sprains though and no ligament damage. They told me to rest mine and although it doesn't hurt at all when walking, there's still swelling. It doesn't even hurt when pressure is put on it either. Is there any discolouration on the ankle or further down the foot? If you say you'd like physio then they might consider it, especially if you say that you do a lot of sporting activities and need it to heal as best as possible. I don't know though. That's just my guess.
Ozwin Posted 18 October 2011 Posted 18 October 2011 Nah it's fine all the time other than when I twist it outwards, which means when I tackle someone the impact is naturally going to send that pain shooting through my foot. I can stand on it fine, I can walk on it fine, I can even kick a ball fine (I tried last week down 6-a-side and I was blasting them in off the volley and all sorts, better than normal haha!) but I don't want to start playing until it's properly healed otherwise it's going to take even longer. Thing is, after 2 months it doesn't feel like it's gotten better at all. Just feels like it's always there and when I wake up it feels a bit stiff for a few steps. It's the most annoying thing ever. I'd rather it'd have broken cos at least then you know what it is and can fix it, this just seems like a small thing to go to the doctors about but I have no other option. It should have got better by now surely?
StanSP Posted 18 October 2011 Posted 18 October 2011 I remember when I went to the docs that they told me ligament injuries never heal fully. There's always the possibility there'll be permanent damage and injuries further down the line. Just kick up a fuss with the doctors. Say that you've been to the doctors before and just had the same thing said to you but it's not got any better, and you don't want to keep returning wasting theirs and your time over and over again.
Bert Posted 18 October 2011 Posted 18 October 2011 Each cruciate is different. Some take longer than others. It depends how you go about it all. Mine was a 6 month job.
RoosterRussell92 Posted 18 October 2011 Author Posted 18 October 2011 Thanks for all the replies and sorry to hear about everyone else's misfortunes. Martyn, that sounds pretty horrific - do you think you'll ever get back to playing footy? I'm more than willing to put as much effort into rehab as needs be so hopefully that'll cut down my recovery time a little bit. Bert, Martyn - do you know what type of graft you had to replace the ligament? My surgeon is using hamstring tendons I think, although I'm not really sure how that compares to the other (patella?) graft. We'll see. Were you both operated on at the general? Cheers for the link StanSP, I'll check that out later today when I'm not suffering from death by Excel! Ozwin - I can pretty much guarantee that they will tell you to rest it. That's all they seem to do nowadays. As it happens, I badly injured my ankle playing 5 a-side about 5 years ago now. I stupidly carried on playing straight after I did it and it swelled up to pretty much double the size and went a nice shade of purple for a good two weeks. Anyway, I was travelling at the time and was reluctant (too skint) to pay to see a doctor and did nothing about it. After about 6 months of still feeling slight pain/having twinges when I pushed out on the ankle, I did go to the doctor's and was told that I'd probably suffered ligament damage and taken some bone out at the same time. That said, I didn't have any scans so I don't know how true that may, or may not have been. I think it took about 12 months for me to stop feeling pain when I pushed outwards on it - so perhaps it would be a good idea to rest it for a few weeks.
martyn Posted 18 October 2011 Posted 18 October 2011 My grafts were also from hamstring tendons. Leaves a nice little scar just below the knee. I live in the South East so was operated on down here. No proper football again for me, injury was too serious, although I can see myself attempting a bit of 5 a side again some time soon. My knee feels much much better but still doesn't feel 'mine', really hard to describe the feeling.
RoosterRussell92 Posted 18 October 2011 Author Posted 18 October 2011 My grafts were also from hamstring tendons. Leaves a nice little scar just below the knee. I live in the South East so was operated on down here. No proper football again for me, injury was too serious, although I can see myself attempting a bit of 5 a side again some time soon. My knee feels much much better but still doesn't feel 'mine', really hard to describe the feeling. I think I can kind of understand what you're saying about it not feeling as though its "yours". Best of luck with the 5 a side comeback if you decide to try and play again anyway and thanks for the info earlier, much appreciated.
CupidStunt Posted 18 October 2011 Posted 18 October 2011 I tore a what i thought was a groin Muscle once, felt like my leg was on fire, i heard the "rip", took me about 2 years to fully recover, as i tore the fecker again, coming back to football too soon
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