Recently tore my ACL

KikoJones

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So last week I tore my ACL. I was rolling and had my knee pop. Got an X-Ray, nothing broken. Got an MRI, left knee has "Ruptured ACL". I don't really want to have surgery but the impression the Ortho PA gave me is that, if I wanted to compete I'd have to have it worked on.
It's been over a week now and I'm about 80%. A little fluid behind the knee cap and a little sore on the left and right of the knee. I ordered a compressing sleeve for my knee and plan to return to BJJ in a week or 2.

I'm just looking of experiences and based on that, recommendations. My experience with surgeons is that they want to cut.
 
I haven't seen your imaging, but even on a lower grade tear going back to training in a week or two is a great way to make sure you'll definitely need heavy duty surgery sooner or later.

The non surgical route for lesser tears would generally involve ~ 6 months of physical therapy with follow up imaging to see if it's able to repair on its own with PT and rest. Ultra controlled drilling maybe, live rolls in the next 3 months are a terrible idea though. Realistically you're looking at time off whether you go under the knife or not.

Feel free to get a second and third opinion and a referral for PT, and try to see an orthopedic surgeon who does sports medicine not just general ortho.

The thing about ligament injuries is that they can feel sort of fine, until things just "give out". And with the ACL torn, your knee will be unstable and even greater tension will be placed on the other ligaments.

Trying to ignore it and go back to training can turn a partial tear into a more serious (or even complete) tear and also risks tearing your MCL and other connective tissue in the region.

Just trying to ignore it and train anyway will have you ending up like Thiago Santos in the Jones fight where nearly every ligament and tendon is wrecked and the surgery required is much more significant and harder to recover from.
 
Best of luck OP. If you decide on surgery at least the prognosis is generally quite good.

Update us on your recovery!
 
Did it pop one, two or three times?
Both of my knees popped two times (in two different incidents) and I did not require surgery.
Both times I needed a knee brace and wabbled around for a month or so.
I was told if you hear three pops its bad. Its all about the pops I tell you.
 
Sorry to hear it. I'm curious - what was the situation when it popped? I just like to know the details.
 
I haven't seen your imaging, but even on a lower grade tear going back to training in a week or two is a great way to make sure you'll definitely need heavy duty surgery sooner or later.

The non surgical route for lesser tears would generally involve ~ 6 months of physical therapy with follow up imaging to see if it's able to repair on its own with PT and rest. Ultra controlled drilling maybe, live rolls in the next 3 months are a terrible idea though. Realistically you're looking at time off whether you go under the knife or not.

Feel free to get a second and third opinion and a referral for PT, and try to see an orthopedic surgeon who does sports medicine not just general ortho.

The thing about ligament injuries is that they can feel sort of fine, until things just "give out". And with the ACL torn, your knee will be unstable and even greater tension will be placed on the other ligaments.

Trying to ignore it and go back to training can turn a partial tear into a more serious (or even complete) tear and also risks tearing your MCL and other connective tissue in the region.

Just trying to ignore it and train anyway will have you ending up like Thiago Santos in the Jones fight where nearly every ligament and tendon is wrecked and the surgery required is much more significant and harder to recover from.

This is almost exactly how it went for me. I put off surgery for about 3 years, and when I finally got my ACL repaired the meniscus was also a mess and the rehab was miserable.
 
I tore mine (according to doctor but never MRI), not painful pop like yours with massive swelling. Afterwards I could tell it wasn't as supportive as before, but I wasn't going to get surgery either way.

Took a year off and it's about 95% of what it was, and doesn't feel like it's going to give way. Doctor was forced to retract his diagnosis later. Caveat is that I was 30 at the time, and mostly just swam for the year.
 
Kinda related anecdote: a friend of mine had a ''bad'' knee from basketball in high school. She had to be careful with it, but most of the time she was a monster athlete. Did all kinds of sports, we'd go trail running and play squash all the time. One day her knee gave out completely and when she went to see the doc he told her she hadn't had an ACL for about 10 years. She had enough muscle around her knee to stabilize it so she never noticed.
 
Kinda related anecdote: a friend of mine had a ''bad'' knee from basketball in high school. She had to be careful with it, but most of the time she was a monster athlete. Did all kinds of sports, we'd go trail running and play squash all the time. One day her knee gave out completely and when she went to see the doc he told her she hadn't had an ACL for about 10 years. She had enough muscle around her knee to stabilize it so she never noticed.

I trained with a BJJ world champ with the same situation. He'd been having trouble with his meniscus and saw an orthopedist. The doctor did the standard manual exam on both knees and then looked at him funny, "You know you don't have an ACL in either knee, right? Does that bother you?" He had meniscus surgery but I don't think fixed the ACLs. I expect his legs to fall off when he gets old enough that his conditioning degrades.
 
Congratulations. All real BJJ practicianers have torn an ACL. Get your surgery, do the rehab right, and prove your a real one by getting back in the mat.
 
This thread is making me think I should check in with a sports medicine clinic and get imaging of my knees.

I've "strained" both MCLs a few times, but never got imaging and now I'm wondering as I get older...

Yeah I’ve definitely hurt both my knees in training, wouldn’t be surprised if I got imaging that there would be some kind of damage.
 
Did it pop one, two or three times?
Both of my knees popped two times (in two different incidents) and I did not require surgery.
Both times I needed a knee brace and wabbled around for a month or so.
I was told if you hear three pops its bad. Its all about the pops I tell you.

Sorry to hear it. I'm curious - what was the situation when it popped? I just like to know the details.

It felt like my knee popped out and back in. Immediately painful and lots of swelling. Now 2 weeks later, with Ice and heating pad it feels 90% but still a bit unstable. I get to see the Surgeon in 2 weeks for an evaluation.
I have a buddy I used to train with that' a Physical Therapist with focus on Sport Medicine. He works with a group of Doctors that apparently do Ortho and Sports Medicine for local sports teams.
He's promised to help me with my rehab. I'm stoked because he's a Blue Belt and understands how important BJJ is to me. Been doing this for the past 8 years and knocking on the door for Black. No way I'm quitting now. Depending on what the Surgeon recommends, I want to sign up for Old Man Worlds this year. I have Gold at Blue and Purple. Now need one at Brown. Only think is at Black I'll have Megaton in my Division. lol

In the meanwhile, I've begun a weight lifting and stretching routine. I can get my cardio on point during my 6 weeks of training camp. That fucking Aerodyne Bike is gonna be my bitch.

Thanks for the well wishes. I'll come back to this thread and update my progress.
 
This is almost exactly how it went for me. I put off surgery for about 3 years, and when I finally got my ACL repaired the meniscus was also a mess and the rehab was miserable.
how long did it take your meniscus to repair?
 
I haven't seen your imaging, but even on a lower grade tear going back to training in a week or two is a great way to make sure you'll definitely need heavy duty surgery sooner or later.

The non surgical route for lesser tears would generally involve ~ 6 months of physical therapy with follow up imaging to see if it's able to repair on its own with PT and rest. Ultra controlled drilling maybe, live rolls in the next 3 months are a terrible idea though. Realistically you're looking at time off whether you go under the knife or not.

Feel free to get a second and third opinion and a referral for PT, and try to see an orthopedic surgeon who does sports medicine not just general ortho.

The thing about ligament injuries is that they can feel sort of fine, until things just "give out". And with the ACL torn, your knee will be unstable and even greater tension will be placed on the other ligaments.

Trying to ignore it and go back to training can turn a partial tear into a more serious (or even complete) tear and also risks tearing your MCL and other connective tissue in the region.

Just trying to ignore it and train anyway will have you ending up like Thiago Santos in the Jones fight where nearly every ligament and tendon is wrecked and the surgery required is much more significant and harder to recover from.
I tore mine many years ago while I was still playing a lot of basketball. Full left ACL rupture along with a lateral meniscus tear. I've had about 5 surgeries on the knee to date. Meniscus trim a week after the initial injury - I rehabbed it for a couple months then went back to playing ball with a custom brace. Over the next year of playing 3-4 times a week I had about 2 weird knee slips that probably damaged the meniscus more, but I was playing at a near pre surgery level. I was a fanatic about building myself back up to be better than before the incident. You take things for granted until they are taken from you. 1.5 years later - yeah Canadian health care is free but there are super long waits - I actually cried when I got the call to go for the surgery I was so happy. The next 6-9 months were hard. Lots of physio and feeling like it would never be the same. I was playing again at the 8 month mark, but things were shaky. It took about 2 years to feel normal again. They nerves take time to build on the grafted acl to really get the brain feedback your body needs for athletics. I was a stand up guy before the injury. I was scared to take leg kicks on the knee after all the work to get better. That actually led me to grappling. Over the last 14 years of so of grappling, I've had knee issues on and off, 4 more follow ups to clear up bone chips, more meniscus work and even a baker's cyst. It's been solid for the last 8 years or so though. For normal training, you will be fine. Even for comps, you will mostly be fine. Stand up is the issue, loading someone onto your hip and rotating your joints to throw them becomes an issue. Many people tear their acl doing this to begin with. Many UFC fighters have had ACL tears, even in both knees and come back. You just need to take care of your body and don't skip leg day, especially hammies. Good luck with your recovery. Wish you the best man.
 
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