ACL Surgery Tips

by Trent
(Kelso, WA, USA)

I had ACL surgery in 2008 and had a full recovery- glad I did it.

I found frustration in not finding enough info online so I did a survey to put all people's advice in one spot and it worked. Here's some of what people have shared...

Find a surgeon who focuses on athletes (my doc was a former team doctor for the Redskins). He specialized in knee surgery.
If you need ACL surgery, I recommend doing it right away to avoid further injury to knee. I chose my own hamstring and now wish that I had chosen a cadaver. Why? 1. The only study I found about types of grafts showed cadaver had higher fail rate for young athlete in contact sports, and I’m triathlete so less impact chances and more linear movement. 2. I do feel my age has been an issue in recovering/rebuilding my affected hamstring. Hope this helps.
Hamstring surgery has a faster recovery time, but you will loose some range of motion (knee fully bent) – Patellar surgery is more painful and longer recovery time but the result was better for me.
Do not hesitate and do it asap, in order to have his / hers normal life again
I would take more time getting healthy before and after surgery. The human body is amazing and no matter how much work you put into rehab, it really just takes time. Be patient and it will feel better.

The rest of the acl tips can be found here: http://www.aclsurgery.us/acl-surgery-tips/

Speedy recovery to all!