ACL and meniscal tear-- returning to riding without repair?

[FlashGordon]

Last fall, I tore my ACL, meniscus and also fractured my tibia. All I did was twist in the wrong direction and boom, my knee fell apart. I was unable to have surgery immediately, as I had a 3 month old, two other kids and a husband who had had a major Achilles repair 2 days prior. (Horrible luck, clearly.)

Anyway I had a ton of pain and could barely walk for months, but after a lot of PT and such, I’m now relatively functional. I can walk, work out (I do have to modify my workouts) and get through the day fine. I’m starting to think about just skipping the repair for now, but my leg IS very unstable and I’m not sure about riding. I tried it once last spring on my daughter’s bouncy little pony, and it was uncomfortable.

So I guess my question-- has anyone out there had such a injury and opted not to repair? And then continued riding? Any brace recommendations that work ok? I do have a somewhat basic neoprene brace, with supports and a hinge and velcro straps, but it would be difficult to ride in.

TIA!

[TBMaggie]

I had the same injury, except for the fractured tibia over 35 years ago.I had a horse go up and fell on me/right knee. My knee felt very unstable for a long time - strangely enough, riding really helped strengthen it, and it wasn’t painful to be in the saddle. I remember feeling so happy that it was my right knee - because I could still get on a horse and managed to drag my right leg across my very tolerant horse’s butt and back.

No surgery - I begged for it, but the doctor refused. No sure why, but back then you had to be a pro skier or 20 yrs old for them to consider it, and I wasn’t either. In time and a lot of PT and riding, my knee stopped buckling. I never think about it anymore. I’m not sure how your fractured tibia plays into how stable your knee is or will become, but you may be just fine without the surgery.

Oh, and I never got along with any kind of brace…too bulky, too hot, made my lower leg swell…I just made sure that I did my PT every single day, and let my body tell me when enough was enough. Those knee ‘rubber bands’ get really tired if you over-do. Do you have a horse that you feel safe on to try riding? I had to have help getting on and off, but it was THE BEST PT both physically and mentally.

[vineyridge]

It really all depends of the type of meniscal tear. I had one called a bucket handle tear that made my knee very unstable, and it would collapse if my weignt was not perfectly vertical. Without an ACL to hold the knee together, the tear in the meniscus allowed the top bone to slide right off the bottom one. I had ACL replacement surgery and meniscus cleanup for that one. If your tear is a simple one that didn’t affect the rim of the meniscus, you really don’t need an ACL at all. I tore my other one and have been happily living without it for years.

[shiloh]

Last year I broke my ankle in multiple places and also managed to rip up the knee on the same leg. They did the surgery on my ankle and I have a plate and a screw in place but the knee surgery came later. (They did not/would not/could not believe that - even though I was complaining most bitterly about the pain in my knee - I had done damage to it. I had to throw an epic tantrum to get them to do an MRI and lo and behold - I had a torn MCL, double tear of the meniscus and ACL damage.) They would not fix the MCL - told me that they would not repair it even on a young fit football player. Ankle still does not feel stable and knee still hurts in MCL area. Could not afford to go to good PT folk and will not go to PT at my local hospital (They exacerbated two previous injuries and I will not give them a chance to cripple me,)

While I myself do not feel up to riding or handling any large animal right now, but if you are working out and have been able to modify your routines, then I see no reason why - with a few tweaks - you could not ride. For myself I was happier with getting the surgery but you may feel differently. I would check with your MD to see if the tibia has stabilized and if possible maybe wangle an MRI to see how the other things are progressing before making any huge commitments to returning to riding.

I can’t imagine how you lived with that injury AND took care of kids and injured hubby. I thought I had it bad just taking care of me and my herd o’ cats! :lol::lol::lol:

[flight]

I only tore my ACL, I was able to ride quite ok with it for about 6 months. I then ended up with surgery because it was too unstable for my job.
I think it’s a bit more complicated with meniscus tears.

[rothmpp]

Your comfort level in the saddle may be very different now than it was 6 months ago.

I did the ACL/meniscus tear thing and did have it repaired. Stability wasn’t the issue for me - the meniscus was causing me all kinds of pain.

My mother torn her ACL, and they did not repair it. She had stability issues initially with it, but it definitely got better over time.

[skydy]

On the other hand, I have a friend who ignored her ACL tear until it became unmanageable and when she did have the surgery it was a much more extensive procedure than it would have been if she had had it attended to promptly.

[geddyupgo]

I tore my ACL and had a bucket handle meniscus tear on my left knee. Believe me, I can’t stand the thought of any type of surgery; hate going to the dentist for a cleaning so I tried all sorts of therapy to get around it but the meniscus tear made my leg highly unstable and frequently painful. After about three weeks I gave in an opted for therapy. They didn’t do the ACL repair - this was in 1999 and I’m sure things have changed since then but if you weren’t 20 (I was 57) and /or a professional athlete they didn’t do acl repairs routinely, citing the extensive recovery/rehab period; - but I did have the meniscus repaired. Lots of PT at a very good facility and a stability brace… they even had a technician from the company come to take measurements while I sat on a jolly ball. The brace (almost $1000) did not work for riding - too bulky but I still use it when I ice skate (the risk of re-injury is substantially higher in ice skating as all you have to do is catch a toe pick and the thrill could definitely be gone. I was fortunate enough to have as my equine partner the best mare in the world and she didn’t even bat an eye when I turned her around and mounted her from the right side (mounting was my greatest fear); we went about our riding plans as usual. Almost 20 years and another horse later. I’m 73 and still riding. I mount correctly on the left side and my leg is pretty stable. I still use the brace when I ice skate. No need to press my luck!
Not sure where you are located but if you can find a really, really good sport medicine specialist (look for one who has been with any of our national Olympic teams if possible), they may be able to evaluate your knee at it is today and give you some options and tell you what to expect from each of them. Good Luck!!