Injured ACL in knee

[Flight]

Has anyone torn their ACL? Mine is almost totally ruptured, and there is some instability in my knee when I do certain movements. It's fine if I am careful not to do those movements, not painful at all now, only if it clunks out of place does it hurt.

I am going to try and find a specialist to get more advice, but I'm hoping I can just live with it as is. Just looking to hear anyone's experiences.

[Sue B]

I've had knee trouble most of my life and surgery on both knees for repetitive luxating (dislocating) kneecap. I shredded my ACL when I dislocated my left kneecap mid-stride running on a jogging path 10:00 at night in college. By then I was an expert at reducing luxations, but that one was excruciating and 2 very cute guys wound up carrying me back to the dorms. At any rate, when I finally had surgery (pre-MRI days) the surgeon noted my frayed ACL but elected to let it be. I had a lot of trouble with instability in that joint that was eventually resolved with repeated intense physical therapy. The knee is fine now, some 30 years later, and as a bonus, I learned a ton about pt for knee rehab. I learned to do squats correctly, to bicycle with correct knee alignment, to use a tens machine...you name it.

In all those years, dressage never bothered either knee, jumping did some and eventing became impossible because I cannot jog or run any distance long enough for fitness training and when I'd hop off at the end of the cc course the darn kneecap would pop out. Oh, and the ACL did not affect recreational downhill skiing at all, in case that is something you like to do. My beloved ortho told me that it was most important to keep thigh muscles strong, and even, so that quads don't out do hams and vice versa. So for me, anyways, surgery to stabilize ACL was not necessary.

[Flight]

Hey that's great to hear Sue B. Not that you have bad knees of course, but that you've managed to not need surgery for your ACL.
I'm hoping mine will be the same, and the earliest appointment I could get is over 2 months away, and it seems to be getting more stable as time goes on. So, maybe in 2 months I might not need the appointment (probably wishful thinking).
Interesting about skiing, I was going to give it a miss this year thinking that there was no way I should do it, but maybe I'll give it a try.
Thanks!

[khall]

A friend of mine tore her ACL and did not do knee surgery, she just lives with it but does not jog anymore. I tore my meniscus Jan 2013, had knee surgery to remove the torn part of the meniscus leaving very little left. Will probably have to have knee replacement at some point. I do not jog (hate it) but am very active (at least 15,000 steps a day and working out now daily), some knee pain but not terrible nothing nsaids won't take care of. Wore brace for almost a year to help stabilize the knee. Much better stability now thank goodness! So I think it would depend on what you want to do as to what repair if any you choose. My vet also tore her meniscus, she has had at least 3 surgeries that I know of and is seeking meniscus donor for repair this time. But she wants to ski the big stuff so wants her knee 100%.

[Flight]

Thanks Khall! Good to hear more stories about managing knee problems. Luckily it's only ACL for me and nothing else, I guess as long as I don't further injure it and start damaging the menisci etc.

[HafDressage]

Sorry I'm late to the party, but I rarely check the other forums.

I just found out via MRI that I have a torn left ACL and torn left medial meniscus. I tore the ACL over 10 years ago and not sure about the meniscus. I don't have instability in my leg and I don't have any trouble riding or doing other activities (of course I don't play competitive soccer or something like that). I do have tendonitis in my quadriceps (both legs) and I would say it might be a touch worse in the leg with the tears, but not really noticeably so. I went to the knee doctor to check on the tendonitis and that is how we found the tears.

I don't want to have surgery, so my doctor recommended physical therapy for the tendonitis and to strengthen the muscles surrounding the torn ligaments. I am fine with this plan for now and won't be having surgery unless it becomes totally necessary at some point in the future.

So, if you haven't already, it might be worth trying physical therapy if you don't want to have the surgery.

[Flight]

Thanks HafDessage, thats interesting that yours is still torn after 10 years and I'm hearing around that people can live with a torn ACL without too many issues. Mine is still a bit unstable if I turn and push off it without 'preparing' my leg for it, if that makes sense, and if I do something by surprise (like slip) it can clunk out and back in. It's very painful when it happens, but only for about 1min or so. Then it's fine.
I'm still waiting for the specialist appointment, he may say to have surgery given my work can give me cause for it to be unstable but good to know riding generally doesn't cause issues. I don't tend to have any problems riding.

I tried running again the other day, and had a few sharp pains in it that didn't warm up out of, but there was a lot of bone bruising, so may just have to wait a bit longer for that to resolve.

[Flight]

Just going to update this. I'm glad I had the ACL reconstruction, it was a long rehab but my knee is great. No instability at work, and I just ran my first half marathon! What am I saying first.. my only!

[Chisamba]

Just going to update this. I'm glad I had the ACL reconstruction, it was a long rehab but my knee is great. No instability at work, and I just ran my first half marathon! What am I saying first.. my only!

I am glad it worked out!

[musical comedy]

Just going to update this. I'm glad I had the ACL reconstruction, it was a long rehab but my knee is great. No instability at work, and I just ran my first half marathon! What am I saying first.. my only!

Oh, how I wish I was in that kind of shape. A big congratulations to you. During one of my short breaks from horses, I took up running. I was really hooked/dedicated and did it daily. A whopping 3.5 mile and I thought that was a lot.

[Flight]

Thanks! Yes you can get a bit hooked on running. I do find it hard to run enough to be fit enough for the longer distances and keep 2 horses in work. It might be easier over winter because it's not so hot and I can run in the middle of the day. I nearly cooked myself a few weeks ago trying to run at 11am !!

[heddylamar]

Congrats! I'm glad the half went well

I'm only riding one horse, but have a 1.5-2 hour each way commute (whee!) Long runs office days, I'm up to go running at 4/4:30 a.m. On short run days (5-7.5 miles ) I can sleep in until 5:30. I am no fan of running in the heat of the day, or, really, any time after 11 a.m.

Twice a week I work from home, and get up at 4/4:30 to run, then head to the barn to ride. I get home at the same time I'd normally arrive at the office.

[Flight]

Heddylamar, it's quite dark here at that time and no street lights, so I don't like running in the dark. How do you manage? Plus that is soooo early

[heddylamar]

Head lamp, blinky light on a shoe, and reflective clothes. I'm an early riser, so the getting up isn't a problem. It's the not getting run over that's the challenge!

[Flight]

Hmm, maybe I need to toughen up a bit and blinky shoe lights almost sound worth the getting up early