Reply to thread

Message: [QUOTE="skmcbride, post: 183367, member: 23265"] The ACL's ability to repair is debated, but appears to be limited and dependent on the "intact" nature of the ligament and surrounding tissue itself. The decision for surgical treatment should therefore be determined by other means: 1) Is the injury isolated to your ACL or does it involve other structures, is it indeed a partial or complete tear (MRI or arthroscope), 2) how old and active are you and what are your goals, the ACL is only subjected to about 20% of its failure capacity in everyday activities, however this percent increases significantly in sports 3) is the knee unstable? If I were you I would have the knee scoped under anesthesia to confirm diagnosis. You should wait till you have full range of motion with little swelling. At this time the decision could be made to either reconstruct or not based on the findings. If only a partial tear with no other pathology a conservative rehab approach would be indicated to strengthen and retrain. You may want to consider a brace. If instabilty became a problem down the rode or the rehab didn't help you could always opt for surgery later. I can tell you chronically unstable knees can lead to problems down the rode with osteoarthritis, although not a blanket statement. Find a good ortho doc, preferably sports medicine. BTW, if you decide to have surgery and have the time, some presurgical rehab can greatly speed up recovery and rehab time. Average surgical outcomes are range from 75-90% of return to previous activity (complete tears mind you). I have actually lived this one from your side as well, I partially tore my ACL in 1987, elected not to have surgery after scope and have not had any problems (knock on wood). It is not a good idea to compare though as these injuries vary greatly between individuals. Good luck, Keith [/QUOTE]

Verification: Which ocean is California closest to?