For those of you who have blown your knee/acl, a question

garrett.

garrett.

Active member
unfortunately i blew my knee out a few days ago and im almost certain i will have to go in for surgery to get it fixed. i go see the orthopod tomorrow to get it officially checked out, then theyll tell me i need an mri to see whats going on in there for sure.

so, here is my question to you: how did you have your ligament repaired? cadaver graft, hamstring graft or a patellar graft (im pretty much completely ruling out the patellar graft at this point.) i realize with the cadaver graft there is one less thing that needs to heal but i want the most durable new knee possible obviously.

so fellow ns'ers who have blown there knee, what procedure did you have done to fix it?
 
also, how does your knee hold up now that its been operated on and how does your hamstring feel if you went with the hamstring graft?
 
I got a cadaver graft last February and I was up and about in 3 months. Knee still swells up when I ski hard but thats to be expected.
 
do you wear a brace? i was probably going to go bionic legs and get 2, just to play it safe and keep one leg fresh at least
 
I've never blown a knee. Had two friends who have. Both went with the hamstring graft and have held up well. One is a badass snowboarder. He goes huge all the time. The other a skier. Also goes huge.

I work for a physical therapist, and I'm around a lot of sports injuries. The hamstring graft is a good option because it uses your bodies own tissues and therefore won't reject the graft as it could with a cadaver. Also, the hamstring graft is going to be stronger (once healed) than your original ACL.

The other piece of advice I can give you is to research and find yourself a good PT, as this is going to make a big difference in your results. Also, the PT may be able to refer you to a surgeon that he/she has had good results from. I can speak from experience when I say that not all Dr.s or all therapists for that matter are the same.

Work hard in rehab, and you'll be shredding again in no time. Good luck bro!

mac
 
Well I shattered my kneecap a couple years ago but never tore anything. They put in two screws (one of them is now in a couple pieces) and it still gets sore when I ski hard, but I sorta expected that.
 
thanks for the advice!

luckily my mom has worked in the medical world (managed an orthopedic surgeons practice for 17 years) so i can definitely be pointed in a good direction for surgeons and PT. from what little research i have done i found that the cadaver graft was weaker and was leaning towards the hamstring,
 
You're welcome man, and I'm not saying the other surgeries aren't good options because they are, otherwise they wouldn't exist, but if I was in your shoes I would go for the hamstring. Shred ON!
 
i had a patellar graft 5 years ago and its held up just fine. skied 140 and 160 days the following two years and still ski pretty hard. it hurt to kneel for about a year after surgery but after that its been fine.

y rule it out? just curious.

and I'm sure you know this but hit the PT hard before and after surgery
 
from what ive heard the patellar tendon healing is the worst part of the surgery, ill definitely be hammering the pt after, im not sure how much i can do before seeing as i cant walk and am pretty much confined to the recliner
 
Depends on what Doc you go to, he will likely tell you what method he likes to use and that this is the route to go.

I had mine done by the best ACL doc in the country. He does hamstring grafts. I know more than one person that has had problems with a cadaver. I know more than one person that went the patella route and it worked well. Hamstring is known to be the strongest, you want the strongest it can be- prolly.

Get the brace route.

DonJoys have a guarantee after surgery. If ya blow your knee again, they pay for it. The brace is comfy, and it can prevent it from happening again.
 
find a good PT now that you'll stay with after surgery. most will start you on some exercises before surgery. that's what I did and same w/ my buddy who's torn both. from what I remember it makes your recovery a tad quicker.

and yeah, healing your patellar is half or most the pain after surgery. I don't know much about hamstring grafts so I cant comment there.
 
Both me and my brother did a hamstring graft and we honestly could not be any happier. I had a pretty easy recovery because it was strictly acl nothing else, it was time consuming but straightforward. Don't know how old you are but with a lot of younger people the cadaver is not fully accepted by your immune system and it can be difficult for it to grow as strong as it should be. The way my surgeon described it is that the grafts are like the skeleton of a new building (iron bars, sidewall, etc.) but in order for a building to be fully operational you need electric, water, plumbing, etc. which he said was the all the blood vessels and shit like that which will develop in the graft, which your body/immune system will develop over time. Therefore, in his opinion, (which i strongly agree with seeing as my reconstructed knee feels better than my other one 2 years outta surgery) it is safest/smartest to use a graft from your own body, so that it is accepted and strengthened naturally (I know several kids who did cadaver and it retore very easily, and ive also recently heard that theyve altogether stopped using cadavers on younger people.)

The problem with the patella the way i understand it is that it is MUCH more painful and MUCH more invasive for you knee. I did hamstring and although my hamstring felt like a wet noodle and my typically strong leg was pitifully atrophied, it was pretty easy to regain strength and range of motion (which i think is a little more difficult with the patella graft).

If you are still reading at this point i would HIGHLY recommend the hamstring graft, i tore it in december, did about a month of "prehab" (got range of motion and shit back before surgery making the recovery easier) had surgery in february, and was playing football in september as good/ as strong as i ever was and had an awesome ski season after that (although i took it somewhat easier in the park that year). I still wear my don joy brace but feel great about my knees and am not scared to do all the tricks i used to do
 
I tore my ACL and meniscus back in December and had a patella graft done and 30% removal of my meniscus. Worst part is waiting the first 6-10 weeks for the meniscus to repair. I do SOMETIMES notice some patella tendon pain when I'm doing physical therapy but for the most part I cannot complain 3 months out. I have to wait for next ski season to ski unfortunately, you most likely will too. For the most part it doesn't matter which type of graft you get, but how dedicated you are to physical therapy. You gotta really get motivated to start physical therapy the day after surgery and stick with it. No matter how tired or worn out you may be (You will be bed ridden for 1-3 weeks after surgery, depending on severity of the injury).

Hope I could help! Good luck with the heeling man!!!

PS. Physical therapy, Don't slack.
 
It was recommende,and went with the Cadaver ACL replacement from one of the top docs with Steadman Group. It was partly due to my age that cadaver is preferred. I was skiing again after 5 months, and I always wear my Donjoy custom fit brace. Oh, and I was walking w/o crutches right away.
 
There is still a chance you are ok as well. I've now had 2 knee injuries where the docs felt my ACL could definitely be torn, but the MRI proved it just to be the MCL (and meniscus once).
 
I tore my ACl and my Meniscuis In March 2010. I got a Hammy Graft put in and cleaned up my meniscus 3 months after surgery. I have now made a full recovery, including competeing the the Freeride World Tour this year with no pain. The best way to mentally tackle this injury is to go look at a calender and flipp 7-8 months ahead and set a goal for yourslef. Mine was to do a standing back flip on the ground. I figured that would be a full recovery. In the mean time train towards that goal but do not try it untill you reach your spot on the calender. The only way this surgery really screws up if you try something dumb early. You have to think about the next 50years of skiing not just the next season.

PM me if you have any specific questions.
 
I had a hamstring graft, and i was skiing heavy park riding exactly 6 months and 4 days after surgery. You just have to stay diligent with working out, and bike as much as possible, that helps the most. I wear a donjoy brace all the time when i ski, just in case. The graft really depends on the doctor you go to, my doctor specialized in patella and hamstring grafts, which for action sports a hamstring is the way to go. It also depends on if you tore anything else in your knee. Mine was just straight ACL, which is why i had such a fast turnaround time after surgery.
 
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