OT---Knee Surgery

[duckfan78]

I have just had ACL reconstruction Surgery last friday. I was just wondering if anyone on here has gone threw this. I am still in alot of pain. My knee hurts, then my head and neck from being in bed so much and also my back.

Anyway, was just wondering if anyone could give me some sort of pep talk about how theirs went and what to expect and any tips on what you did.

thanks

 

[hidmickey:myantidrug]

Oh my! I was wondering about this myself since my mom will be getting the same exact procedure done soon. I was wondering how much pain, healing time, etc. so I cannot wait until you get answers! My little tip (which is not so much advice, more of a sarcastic comment...), have your daughter walk to the grocery store every third day because you can't drive! ::

I hope all your recovery goes well and the pains come to a screeching halt!

 

[erin1715]

I went through this procedure when I was 16 years old as a result of a soccer injury. I remember being in a lot of pain, but from what I recall the doctors and physical therapists want you up and moving around as soon as possible, like the next day. The don't want to have you laying in bed all day, it's important to start rehabbing as soon as you can to get your knee to bend and straighten again...at least that's the way they wanted it where I'm from. I believe they say it takes a year to fully recover, but I was back playing sports about 6-7 months later, of course it was a slow recovery, but I personally loved the experience of physical therapy. I think it's really important to start physical therapy as soon as you can....good luck!

 

[scoutmom41]

It is common for pain following knee surgery.

The ACL - is a long, thick ligament which is slow to heal.

It is important to do your Physical Therapy and keep moving
it helps with the healing proess.

Good luck!

 

[almacdonald]

My boyfriend had this done last summer. He was in a LOT of pain for about a week. Because they had to harvest part of another ligament to replace the ACL he was not able to use his hamstring to lift his leg even, he had to grab on to the immobilizer and lift his leg with his hands. Follow your Dr's instructions about icing and pain killers, even if they make you loopy. If you let the pain killers wear off it's hard to get the pain under control again. Try moving yourself to the couch with a few pillows under your leg to keep it elevated. This might help with the back and neck pain, change of scenery right? And see if someone will take you out for pity ice cream. Ice cream makes everything better! Hope you feel better soon. And keep up with the physio, the more you work at it the sooner you'll be back to normal!

 

[mickeysaver]

God Bless! I hope you feel better real soon. I did this about 9 years ago. They used a little piece of cadavar tendon to repair mine. I was in a lot of pain. I was strapped to this constant motion device in bed for about 10 days. There was also this nifty cooler thing that was attached with tubes to a bladder that was incorporated in the dressing around my leg. As long as there was ice in the chest, it was so much more comfortable. I did not get good drugs. I got drugs that didn't make me care that I was hurting, but I still hurt. No one tells you about the back pain that comes from spending so much time in bed and walking funny. No one tells you that the back pain will cause muscle spasms up your back and to your neck and cause major headaches. This is the stuff you find out about after the surgery. There is also a reason that they suggest a 6 week recovery period before attempting to go back to work. It's major surgery and most folks don't seem to understand that point, unless they have had it themselves.

I did rehab. I was very good about doing rehab. I am back to 100% function with the knee because I did the work. It wasn't easy.

Now, for the good part. About every 2-1/2 weeks, it felt like I would wake up and a switch would be flipped that would make me feel significantly better. At 4 months post-op, I was able to actually go down on my knees and get up again.....it still was not comfortable, but I could do it. By 6 months, I was able to do it mostly pain free. Due to the strain that was put on the other knee during the process of healing, it's now the bad knee and the repaired knee is the good knee.

I am not a big believer in the vitamin/suppliment, you can take a pill to cure anything kind of stuff, but.........Osteo Bi-Flex is a wonderful product! The knee pain that I do get at this point in my life is controlled better by using this stuff twice a day than it is by taking Motrin to kill the pain. If I take the Bi-Flex, I don't have to take the Motrin at all. Maggie

 

[tlev]

I went through it about a year and a half ago. Did mine skiing and they used the piece of the tendon from on top of my knee, not the cadaver. I was told this is a lot stronger in the long run, though the recooperation is harder and longer. I will say the first couple of nites were pretty rough. I don't like taking any kind of pain killers, (they really mess up my head for some reason), so I just sucked it up. I will also tell you that physical therapy is a total scam. Unless you have a lot of free time and good insurance, There is no need for it. My insurance would not cover it, so I only went twice. All they did was rub down my knee with some heat-oil, have me do a bunch of exercises and ride a stationary bike, and then ice me up and send me home. If you are reasonably self-disciplined and do not need someone else to push you to do the exercises, then there is no need to pay for a therapist. I will agree with a previous post that laying around all day is the worst thing you can do. You need to get up and get your leg bending as soon as possible. They probably gave you the brace with the hinges on the side, make sure you keep the brace on and undo the hinges and try to get your leg bending as far as possible. The longer you put off moving your leg the harder your recovery will be.
It is going to be awhile before you are back to normal, it took me about 5-6 months before I would say it felt fine, and I still were a brace to ski or go hiking. Remember to check with you doctor if you are unsure of anything, (don't just go by what I or anyone else tells you, every one's situation may be different), they are getting paid alot of money so the least they can do is answer your questions.

 

[asaj]

I have blown out both knees in the last 10 years, and had reconstructive surgery on the ACL, MCL, Meniscus, etc.

My advice is like most of the advice you have already received, don't lay around too much. Most good doctors these days will have you up and around almost immediately, otherwise it's much more painful later on. I had to go back after the first surgery to have arthroscopic surgery to clean up some scar tissue and what not, and after that it was fine. By the time I blew out the other knee, the procedure had been perfected a little more, and the scar was about an inch shorter (they harvested the ligament from below my need to replace the torn ligaments), and I never had to go back for follow up.

I do remember going through some intensive rehab, but now I am back to the point where I can lift weights, play sports, etc. If I play soccer, my knees swell up from the kicking and so forth, but other than that they are pretty well normal. Took a while for that to happen though (a year or more before they felt pain free).

Good news is, as much as it hurts now, and as ugly as it looks, you'll be back to normal if you work at it.

Andy