Ty's ACL snap, the second time around!

by Tyron Louw
(Grahamstown, South Africa)

Hi, I'm Ty, from South Africa. I'm a 24 year old university student doing M.S. in human kinetics, so I know what I should and should not do in terms of physical constraints! That said, I am and avid rugby player, and have been playing for the past 15 years. In the past 5 years I have developed bad patella tendinosis (aka tendinitis) and as a result my quads (VMO) have got weaker, which has put me at even more risk (its a downward spiral!).

Not surprisingly, during a university rugby match about 2 months ago I dislocated my knee and partially ruptured my ACL. Cursing and pain followed as I was devastated my season was over.

I had been doing rehab strengthening the structures around my knee, hopeful with the prospect that I may not need reconstruction. Two weeks ago I fell down a fairly steep set of stairs, and subsequently re-dislocated my knee, there was another "POP'. :(

I have only just regained full range of motion and saw the ortho surgeon today. He told me that the second dislocation completely ruptured the ACL and that I will need surgery in the coming weeks to reconstruct it. Apparently I do not have a choice as the other ligamentous structures are so lax that they would not be able to support my knee by themselves without an ACL (if I wanted to carry on playing rugby). I wait in anticipation, doing pre-op rehab, and waiting for the day that I can get back onto the field with my buddies!