Most people who get an anterior cruciate ligament tear know that it has happened.
There will generally be swelling, excruciating pain and a sense of instability with the knee that is affected.
However, there are times when people think that the pain and swelling of the knee is just a normal side effect from hurting it and will not seek medical treatment.
If you have injured or traumatized your knee in any way, it is important to seek treatment from a doctor because leaving an ACL tear untreated can cause even more damage to the knee.
Anterior cruciate ligament tear repair surgery is an out-patient procedure – in other words, you arrive for surgery in the morning and you are usually back home by mid-afternoon.
The knee surgeon will make sure that there is no further damage involving the knee before going forward with the surgery.
The first thing the surgeon does once inside the knee is to scrape off the remaining anterior cruciate ligament from the knee.
Then, they will prepare some replacement tissue, usually from the hamstring muscles of the knee, and put it in place.
The surgeon will then make sure the knee is stable enough with the replacement tissue before closing up the knee incision.
The next step in treatment for an anterior cruciate ligament tear is to recover. While the surgery on the torn ligament itself is rather short, the recovery time is very long.
Anterior Cruciate Ligament Tear – You Need Time To Recover
If you are not an athlete, you can look at the recovery process to take as long as four to six months. If you are an athlete, the recovery process can take up to nine months until full recovery and full return to your sport.
Of course, everyone is different and your recovery time could be shorter or longer than that. Your physical therapist will assign you a recovery regimen with goals that need to be met before you move on to the next stage of recovery.
After you get one anterior cruciate ligament tear, you will want to make sure you do not get another one in the same knee.
This can be difficult if you are an athlete because sports-related injuries are just a given in that field.
One way to help make sure you do not re-injure the same anterior cruciate ligament is to wear a knee brace whenever possible.
This will help with your balance as well during recovery.
As long as you do everything you can in order to prevent anterior cruciate ligament injuries, you will most likely not have to go through this whole process again.
i was in an acccident on dec. 31st 2012. after the accident i could not walk for about a week without the knee giving way or buckling. when i was able to walk i wore a brace for acout 3 months but without it the knee would still give way,it was also very stiff and very painful. it is now june 5 2013 and the knee still pops out of socket or gives way if i walk on it in the wrong way, alo there are fluids in the oustide area of the knee. if i have to get surgury how long will it be before i can walk on it being that my job includes copias amounts of walking?? i could really use some advice due to the fact that im becoming very worried about the long term damages this may cause if i continue to go untreated. thankyou
Hey Grayson
Thanks for visiting
Okay, well first things first. You need to have your knee evaluated by a doctor.
You need to find out whats wrong (if in fact there is any damage) which is causing your pain and swelling.
You may not have any damage and your knee just never fully recovered.
Relying on a brace weakens the stabilizing musculature for your knee.
However, based on what you said it does sound like there is might be some damage.
To answer your question: It really depends on what is wrong and what surgery you have.
I would not go any longer without getting your knee evaluated.
Good luck
Keep me posted
Jim