Knee Ligament Damage

Hi Brizy,
I did my Cruciate in May 04 and to cut a long story short I tried to come back to football on my doctors advice and the thing went again within 20 minutes. I was wearing a brace too at the time ( for what its worth)

There's no way that I could play football with my Ligament Damaged - But I have read books and there are a small percentage of people (apprantly) who are able to return to full sport with a ruptured ACL.

The pivot test is designed and geared torwards testing your ACL, therefore I would guess if you fail this test - you have a damaged ACL.

Your circumstances do seem rather strange though - when you initally injured yourself - how long were you unable to walk properly for? This may give an indication of how serious the damage was.

At the end of the day your back playing sport which is the main thing & you only want to go through a reconstruction as a last resort - I had my RECON done 8 months ago - back to running etc. but still a way to go. Needless to say after surgery - your back to the way you were when the injury took place. In my case on crutches and off work for 5 weeks.

If I was you the only slight concern I would have is that ( If the ACL has gone or is damaged) then you could be wearing away your cartlidge or other knee structures and causing potential problems for later life

Hi Britzy
I am an Armed forces Remedial Instructor (PTI, Exercise therapist) and have rehabbed hundreds of ACL ruptures. The pivot shift is mainly accurate under general anasthetic and difficult to do and sometimes inaccurate when the paitient is conscious. The Anterior draw and Lachmanns tests are for more accurate but all of these three tests are still less accurate than an MRI scan, although these arent 100% accurate there are as near as damn it uther than an arthroscopy.
It is true a full ACL tear will not repair itself although the loose part of the ligament can bind to other areas so you appear to have a more stable knee. The gains you have recieved are many due to your rehabilitation and stability exercises. The stronger your knee the more stable it is especially if you strengthen the hamstrings.
Not everyone has an ACL repair after a rupture although most elite sportsman and young people prefer to do so as this will reduce the general wear and tear of thre knee.
Hope this helps.

Thanks for both those replies...very interesting indeed.
I do take on board the possible damage being caused to other knee structures & it is a concern.
I was walking ok after a few days when I injured it initially & there wasn't any great knee swelling.. however I was constantly tweaking it getting in & out of awkward places were I had to twist my body & this happened for several weeks afterwards.
Like yourself I went back to playing (too early) with a view to just going in net, but kicked the ball & my knee gave way, only this time my knee did swell quite badly & was quite painful for 2-3 days.....Much worse than when I actually injured my knee. (but what was aparent & I overlooked it at the time was muscle wastage around my knee.. and how you need to re-train those muscles after a major injury).
At the moment playing with my brace is helping & I't still seems to be stronger month by month & to have a re-construction at present would set me back another 12 months possibly. (I'd be approaching 49yrs then ) so in the short term I've got to take it week by week or should I say game by game... My physio at the hospital has been excellent and I got to praise those guys. I purchased a wobble board a few weeks back & this has also helped I'm sure. What is also interesting is that you indicated that the ligament can re-attach itself & possibly heal slightly...I wasn't aware of that & I suppose without investigative surgery I'll never really be 100% sure.

Best Regards
Brizy

dont know wether i have come to the right source but when i am at work i am on my feet foe 6 may b 7 hours at a time i only work 16 hours as i am a kitchen assistant at the end of the shift my knees really hurt esp my left one can ou explain why

dont know wether i have come to the right source but when i am at work i am on my feet foe 6 may b 7 hours at a time i only work 16 hours as i am a kitchen assistant at the end of the shift my knees really hurt esp my left one can ou explain why

Hi there
On the 16th dec 2007 i got tackled playing football for my local team and sufferd
a disslocated knee cap which also snapped my acl and pcl and also my medial ligament. I Had my medial reconstruction but my acl and pcl are still snapped my recon on them are due on the 19th march.Im walking now without crutches and ive got alot of movement in it however the swellings gone down and its more painfull now. my surgeon said ill never play again but my physio said i would but it will take a long rehab any advise will be appreciated

hi all,i am a keen swimmer and try to get wet at least 2/3 a week. but whilst at work my left knee gave way when going down a flight of stairs, and as i took the next step my right gave out as well leaving me at the bottom in a bad way ..
was taken to hospital in aberdeen and was told the i had ruptured my bilateral patellar tendons to both legs...after a 6 hr op i am at home hopefully on the mend.has anyone heard of this happening before and is it the same as a acl rupture that has been talked about above...i am just about to start physio, but just wondering if anyone else has any advice on the matter... i am up and walking about all be it with the aid of long leg braces and crutches...but going to be out of action for at least 8-12 wks.. regards rob