After going through an ACL tear, and the subsequent ACL repair surgery, the last phase is, of course, recovery from the ACL repair. Expect the doctor to tell you this will take somewhere between 3-9 months.
It’s not fun…
My Recovery From An ACL Repair
Since most ACL reconstructions are now treated as outpatient surgeries, the morning after, I found myself lying in my own bed. I recall waking up and thinking to myself…
“Gee, I don’t feel too bad. All things considered…”
Of course, I had a 5-day supply of OxyContin, and my knee was wrapped in a water-cooled knee brace that was recirculating through a chiller. Then I discovered I was scheduled for physical therapy.
That day.
My wife dragged my sorry butt to the clinic, crutches and all. Once there, the guy got me stretched out on a bed and pulled off the knee brace, whereupon he tells me to bend my knee.
“Uh, no.”
Laugh… “Seriously,” he says. ”Bend it.”
“What?”
“We’re going to bend your knee.”
“I don’t think so.”
And so the conversation went for a few minutes. Eventually, he got his way. It hurt. Not excruciatingly, but it did hurt. We spent about an hour at it, and he sent me home.
We went through that cycle every day for the next 4 days, and then I ran out of OxyContin.
That’s when I discovered two new things. The first was that OxyContin is a very, very good painkiller. The second was that it is indeed, highly addictive. To say I was cranky was a mild understatement. My wife clearly demonstrated her right to sainthood by putting up with me during this period.
I spent about 8 weeks in physical therapy, during which time I developed the ability to walk comfortably again. Tack on another 12-months before I could say I had full function back.
It still bothers me sometimes. The worst position for me to assume is a full squat. The first time I did that, I thought I was going to die. Now, I know if I get caught in that position, I need to cross my legs, and whatever in there gets screwed up will straighten itself out. It’s likely also changed my running gait, as evidenced by a visit I once made to a shoe store. The expert helping me pick a shoe figured out right off the bat that something was causing my gait to be different on the right side.
So, would I have an ACL repair done again? At 30-years old, and being an active person, it was a good thing. Now, nearly a decade later, I would probably try to make physical therapy work for me before I’d go back under the knife.
Proper recovery from an ACL repair isn’t for the faint of heart.
