How are you feeling post op? I have my surgery next week (full ACL rupture, leaning towards the hamstring graft) and I’m a bit apprehensive about it.
You need to do the surgery… but don’t be apprehensive. The surgery was the easiest surgery I’ve ever had. Was in and out in a breeze, I don’t recall the ride home, and they gave me some pretty heavy hitting painkillers. It was a fun and adventurous day :lol:
Be prepared for it to feel worse before it gets better. The first few days were fine, the rest of the week was not… but now it is in the past. :yes: The week after the surgery was trying. The hamstring area hurt more than the knee. Stock up on comfort foods, cook ahead. Buy cleaning wipes because you will not be able to shower. I’m independent by nature, and had a very hard time being indisposed. I pretty much slept the first week, binged some shows I’ve been meaning to watch…
Make sure you stay ahead of your pain. I don’t like the feeling I get from painkillers, and did not take them as often as I should have: BIG MISTAKE! It made me miserable and if I had just sucked it up and taken the prescribed dose I would have been fine… I also found that for my particular prescription, it was useless if taken at half-dose and/or without the prescribed tylenol on top of it. Don’t forget to take the aspirin daily, and also, stock up on stool relaxers depending on your medication.
I am now a month from post op, and it does not hurt at all to walk around on :yes: It still hurts to bend, but that, I am told, is normal. And… it is nothing like it was pre-surgery, where it would kill if I stepped on it funny.
P.S, Thank you for chiming in Hilary, I was hoping you’d come back with some encouraging words – and thanks also, to stressgirl37… sorry hiking is not in the cards for you this year :no:
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I didn’t tear my ACL, but ripped it off where it attaches to the tibia.
original injury was a year ago March, my horse bolted while lunging and I was pulled forward hyperextending my right knee. I had no pain until I tried to take a step and the knee buckled.
Went to ER had a x-ray, and er doc said nothing broken and sent me home with a giant leg wrap and crutches and was told to come back in a week.
After a week I still couldn’t bear weight, and almost no range of motion. was sent to Ortho and put on the wait list for MRI. Sent back home in another giant wrap and half cast.
Finally 6weeks after injury I saw a surgeon, who said tibial emmesis fracture and minor tear to ACL and MCL. Two weeks later I had surgery to reattach the ACL.
After surgery I was in a full leg wrap with casting for a few weeks, no weight bearing. Then in full leg brace at full extension for another few weeks. I did months of physio, they let you ‘graduate’ when you can reach 110 degrees of flexion.
I started riding again about 8 weeks after surgery, I couldn’t get my for in the stirrup so I rode without them for about two months.
I am now a year out from surgery and I still can’t fully extend the knee, after stretching I can get to 5 degrees, pre injury I could hyperextend -5 degrees, and I can flex to 120 but it’s painful.
The knee is really stiff all the time and I have a fair amount of pain, but I can ride and walk my dog so it’s just kind of become my new normal
My trainer had her ACL repaired the first time with her hamstring. She re-tore it again 15 years later. She had cadaver the second time. She said the recovery with the cadavar was much easier. Only one spot to heal. She also had a continuous passive motion machine the second time but not the first. She thinks that made a big difference.
I had cadaver. Talking to other people that have had patellar or hamstring the initial rehab and pain levels are better with cadaver.
Rehab is not fun. I agree that you need to take the meds and stay ahead of the pain. If you are in pain it will make your PT and rehab exercise worse. You will need less of a dose to stay comfortable rather than waiting to take it when it hurts.
For narcotics I find I need to take with a milk product to keep from getting nauseous. Pudding, protein shake, ice cream, cottage cheese works best. I only needed a few bites. Do NOT take on an empty stomach.
Take something like Senakote to offset the effects of the narcotics
Thanks for the info! According to my surgeon (and the research I’ve done) the revision rates are unacceptable for younger people who want to return to sports with the cadaver graft, so while not having to deal with a secondary injury site would be nice (the robbing Peter to pay Paul dilemma) it seems that the cadaver graft isn’t a good option for me.
As a gym rat, I’m not afraid of the PT, I’m just afraid of the mental side of it.
Just want it over with! One week…
@weixiao I had to play with the pain meds because the full dose made me sick and hallucinate. I ended up taking 1/2 dose of the narcotic plus tylenol for about 10 days, plus Naproxen 2x/day to help with inflammation. My doctor did a nerve block and when that wore off in 2 days, ouch! After the big bandage came off after 3 days, I could do a sit down shower. Painful but doable. I had a cadaver graft on both of my repairs. I’m 6 weeks out and just got freed of my brace, still doing PT, on track with progress but it is a long process to be fully healed. No riding for me for several more months. Good luck!
@weixiao Big jingles for a smooth surgery today. Check in when you are feeling well and good 
let me know if I can order you Doordash or Ubereats this week if you are hungry!! I know I lived off of it when I was still on “stall rest” :winkgrin:
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Yes, hope your surgery goes well!
My funny story about the hamstring graft. Post op they kept asking me how far it was to the toilet from my bed. We had a funny set up in the house where the downstairs half bath had a bed in it. So I’m like 6 feet? It’s a small room.
What they failed to mention was that while most of my leg was blocked, the back of my thigh was not. And that is where they took the hamstring graft. I hadn’t taken any pain meds because the block was in effect.
First time I had to pee I carefully made my way the whole 6 feet over to the toilet and sat. Only to experience the excruciating pain of weight on the unblocked hamstring graft area! Pretty sure I levitated right back up. Lots of bad words ensued and I’m like OF ALL THE THINGS you might have mentioned this to me!!
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Thanks guys! I really appreciate it! Had the first surgery of the day and got home a couple of hours ago. Feeling pretty good so far! They loaded me up with anti-nausea medication so no trouble with that, thankfully. Ended up going with a quad graft which is cool! Nerve block didn’t seem to take that well and is already wearing off a lot, but so far really no pain at all, just a bit of soreness in the back of my knee and under the knee cap. I know there is more to come but nice to start around 0! No pain at all at the graft site and already have a lot of extension (hard to tell if I’m at full extension with all the bandages but it is definitely at least close). Fingers crossed the ride doesn’t get too rough from here!
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Good update! Keep us in the know :yes: hope today you are doing well!!
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Thank you! Still really can’t complain! Ended up going out for a burger last night with my sister. Had a couple of hours that made me sweat this afternoon when the last of the block wore off with some rebound pain, but it’s settled down again. Been doing my PT/ice/elevation diligently and managed to shower with the help of some garbage bags/cling wrap/waterproof tape so feeling pretty good! Still only just shy of the 36 hour mark so I’m guessing that it could still get worse over the next couple of days before it gets better but hopefully not too much?
I’m dying to see what it looks like under the gauze and wrap, but have to be patient and wait for my appointment on Tuesday. I should have thought of that extra day before I booked to have surgery before a holiday weekend!
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Press N Seal wrap will keep the wound dry in the shower.
I had ACL surgery on 3/6/19 (patellar tendon graft). I’m back to riding 2 horses/day on the flat, but my doctor is still adamant about no jumping. It’s taken me this long to feel “normal” in the tack, but still not 100%. One big issue I am having is if fabric (or god forbid a saddle block) touches my knee scar, it is very uncomfortable. I still have some nerve damage. I ride really well in my Voltaire jump saddle (with stirrups about 6 holes longer than I used to jump in), but riding in my dressage saddle feels torturous and ineffective. Has anyone else had this issue? How long did it take you to return to jumping?
I’m only 4 weeks out so not back in the saddle yet, so I can’t really answer your question, but have you been treating your scar at all with massage/anything topical like bio-oil or vit e oil?
