Continuing the topic from my last post, let’s get straight to it. So what happens once the MRI scan is done and you have your diagnosis — an ACL tear? Since surgery isn’t strictly necessary for this ligament tear, you should first figure out whether you actually want to go ahead with surgery or not. That depends on a lot of factors, like your age and how sporty/active your lifestyle is. You can actually manage very well without an ACL, and even take part in certain sports. Your doctor will explain the details, and I’d recommend making the final decision together with them.
I’ll continue here assuming surgery has been decided on. And as a first thing, let me warn you right away: this journey isn’t going to be easy! A lot changes, and you need to be able to handle it for a fairly long time.
But before the surgery, a few tips. To make recovery as easy as possible, you’ll want to get your leg into tip-top shape beforehand. That means your knee’s range of motion should be as close to the original as possible, and your muscles should be strong and toned. For this, you can turn to, for example, a physiotherapist or a personal trainer, who’ll give you the right exercises. A stationary bike is also a good option. Of course, how much of this exercise work you can do depends on how much time there is between the injury and the surgery. In some cases the surgery is done fairly soon after the injury, in which case there won’t be much time for this kind of preparation.
Here’s what an ACL surgery looks like using a hamstring tendon graft:
An interesting fact is that the body eventually turns the new ACL made from the tendon graft back into a proper ligament (like a butterfly finally emerging from a cocoon), and the part of the thigh muscle that was taken also regenerates and recovers. In addition, special screws are used today that turn into bone within a couple of years. Technology has advanced remarkably, to make this whole process as gentle as possible for the person going through it.
I imagine all of this can seem pretty scary, but for the person having it done, the surgery itself is actually one of the easier parts (assuming, of course, everything is done correctly).
I’ll wrap up here for now, and I wish you nerves of steel!
