surgery or not at 50 in California

by patrick
(California)

Have a complete tear of the ACL from playing basketball in my left knee. What to do? Have about 4 weeks of therapy to improve range of motion,and then must decide on surgery or live with it and a brace. Still enjoy basketball,softball and golf.

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surgery or not at 50 in California

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Jun 11, 2009
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To surgery or not? that is the question
by: Rebecca

Patrick - If you are an active person, i would seriously consider weighing the good & bad. I am 8 weeks post op (I'm 36 yrs old) and was not given the choice for surgery. I am not saying I regret it - just make sure its the right thing for your life style. Dr told me it would take alot of rehab & dedication to rehab - at the time I didn't have a CLUE what he meant, but now I do. I am in the gym 2-3 times per weeks for 2-3 hours at each time. PT wasn't bad after the surgery. Pain was minimal until I started to ambulate. If your lifestyle allows for the time & dedication it takes to become back to pre-injury - go for it. What have you got to loose? Its making me stronger physically as well as mentally (that is after going insane on the couch for 2 months!! )

Best of luck - keep us posted please

Jun 13, 2009
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surgery
by: Bart - SII

If you enjoy sports and an active lifestyle, a reconstruction may be a good idea. Most people are not able to actively participate in these types of things ACL deficient. Some are, depending on their dynamic stabilizers, but the vast majority have pivot shift episodes when trying to cut or change directions, or with landing from a jump.

So, you have to decide on what you want to be able to do post injury - if recreational sports are important to you, and you have the motivation to recover from the surgery and go through the rehab, then surgery is likely a good choice.

The process is long, but much of it comes as dedicated strengthening - the first 6-8 weeks are the hard part - regaining motion, walking again, dealing with the pain, etc. After that, it is just diligent strengthening and being patient.

Bart