Diary of a knee injury

Short term she may well be fine so long as her knee is stable. Will it remain so as she gets older is another matter as her leg strength diminishes with age?
Whilst ACL reconstructions have become relatively commonplace in sports injuries, there are some sportsmen/women who have been able to continue at top level without repairing them. One of the Underwood brothers, apparently played for much of his rugby career without ACLs. probably an exception.

The evidence for ACL reconstructions reducing long term arthritis is strongest where the knee is unstable, if it's stable then the current research doesn't suggest reconstruction makes a big impact on long term arthritis.

However some of the long term complications may not be felt until 20 or 30 years down the line so a stable knee in a fit 20 year old may not be quite the same in a few years so I'm sure she'll opt for repair sooner or later!

I am so impressed with all of you that are having surgury to allow you to ski again. The dedication required to get fit after it is something that at my age I cannot quite contemplate. The trouble is as one thing mends another breaks down and I would spend 99% of my time either under the knife or getting fit. Guess I will live with all the knocks I now get and learn to ski with a little more care to extend the time I have left on the slopes -)

I'm still processing all the information I've been reading/hearing. If I can 'get away' with not having it then great, but if my consultant advises me to have it then I probably will.

At the moment I'm seeing the physio once a week and getting 'surgery fit' doing at home exercises, which is basically getting my leg back to full ROM, straight and strong. Although not so much on the strong until its straight.

I just can't believe that such a ridiculous fall has done this to me!

NellyPS wrote:

I just can't believe that such a ridiculous fall has done this to me!

Its always those little things, those stupid moves that f' us up. I get issues with my back and its the silliest little movement that triggers it.

Nel look on the bright side at least you will make a recovery ..... my knees are just shot to bits :(

I think biggest problem with any joint and particularly knee is keeping supporting muscle mass. Between ages 30-60 average male loses 10-15% muscle per decade, with additional 10% in following years. Only way to combat this is weights in gym which is not most people's cup of tea. Depressing but unavoidable truth. Older you get more resistance training we should be doing.

I'm going to have to stop these hospital visits, every time I go they tell me something worse. I want good news!

I got a letter the other day from my consultant confirming what was discussed at my last appointment; it had additional information in it about the problem with my knee not straightening. If it isn't straight in the next week, then he's bringing forward the surgery (of which I will no longer have a choice about) because this then confirms that there is 'ACL stump entrapment'. Sounds lovely.

I saw the physio today who did a fabulous job of getting my leg from 16 degrees to 6 degrees in about 20 minutes, obviously this is a HUGE improvement, but she's also convinced that there is something stopping it going any further. Not so fabulous.

So in a week from now, I will know either way, I've got everything crossed that I can get my leg straight in the next week and there's nothing untoward stuck in my knee joint, because quite frankly it's going to screw up my whole summer.

I've been doing everything I can and more with regards to my exercises, I'm on the static bike every night for 20 minutes (or until my knee starts crunching), so I'm really going to be pushing myself this next week, and thinking positively :)

Best of luck with the knee Nelly :)
Let's hope you manage to get it straight without surgery.