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So, after coming off in September last year, today is the day I go in for acl reconstruction, and I'm bricking it.
Fill me with all your good stories of how you were back on your bikes in no time and how life is wonderful, and no kittens died. Ta!
Had both of mine done 6 years apart (first was 14y ago) Several friends have had them done as well.
Most have a blip/setback at some point in the first 3 months. Don't worry too much about it.
They say back to normal (twisty turny) sports in 6 months (took longer in my case to get back to football) but the knee doesn't tend to feel "right" for about another 6 months after that in my experience.
Having said that I have no regrets, knees are great.
Can take longer if you are have a cartilage tear repaired as well..doesn't sound like it on your case.
AFAIK it is a relatively high success, low risk op.
Ex had one and a good mate (also in here) had one/ The recovery is the important step. Make sure you have a good physio and make sure you can do the physio work (IE make the time for it)
Nothing to add but good luck.
I'm sitting here in a sling with 3 snapped ligaments in my shoulder, waiting on some answers from the consultant about an op.
My Missus had and a work friend had their ACL's reconstructed and they are running no problem now.
Cycling is best for the low impact on the cartilage.
Good luck and you'll be riding soon.
Had mine done 4 years ago but had a whole other load of work done at the same time as my knee imploded. The op and post op for me were completely pain free but the physio work had me swearing in front of ladies and nearly crying,that said my leg had not been stretched or done anything for 3 months so was utterly wasted.
My advice would be dont rush in to exercise and follow everything the physio asks of you and you will be back on the bike fully fit. Dont follow there advice and the delay in riding will only be longer.
Good luck! I narrowly avoided it, consultant had a big wobble about fix or wait so I decided we'd wait and it worked out alright. The recovery path was pretty similiar, reconstruction would have been slower starting before I got into physio but then my leg's all sorts of messed up anyway so that slowed things a lot, maybe it came out equal in the wash. I wasn't cycling at the time, ironically, but I was day-to-day normal after maybe 3 months. I wouldn't have wanted to push it too hard on the bike til further down the line, there can be a fair amount of twisting in mountain biking. Your aftermarket leg should be stronger than my oem one though.
Don't know if you've done the rehab thing but the most important thing is, make absolutely sure they understand your goals- different people want different strengths and levels of recovery. ACL is a fairly active-person injury so there's good rehab channels I think.
all the best
Best of luck!
Had mine operated on in December last year. The initial physio work was painful but if you keep pushing yourself it becomes easier quicker. The main goal is to try and avoid losing muscle and this is the hardest stuff to build back up. I was back on my bike in March/April time and after initial post-ride achiness its now as strong as its ever been on the bike.
I always seemed ahead of the rehab plan with the physio (ie I could do what I was meant to be doing after 12 weeks in about 8 weeks) but as I've gone further along the process that's now slowed down. Physio's confident I'll be back playing rugby in time for the new season though. I'm doing agility and quick stops/changes in direction at the moment and it's feeling really good. Really glad I had it done anyway.
Had mine done about 8yrs ago. They'll start you on physio the day after the OP, at least they did with me. The physio's had me on an exercise bike after about 3wks and I was doing sneaky short road rides soon after. Proper mtbing will be months away !! If your having the hamstring graft you've got to let it recover properly.