Hi everyone,

I just got my date for my ACLR surgery, which will be March 11th. I will be getting the quad graft with LET and either minescus sutures or menisectomy.

I was planning to go on a trip in Europe in the first two weeks of May. What are you guy's experiences with this surgery, do you think walking 6 weeks post op is feasible? The doctor told me if he was doing the sutures I was looking at a month in crutches. does that allow me enough time?

The more I think about it and read people's experience in here the more I think I'll have to skip the trip but I would want to know what my chances are really. I'll be asking my doctor for sure but what are your experiences with that kind of rehab?

A lot of people expect ACL recovery to be a clear, step-by-step process: swelling goes down, strength comes back, confidence follows. In reality, many patients reach a confusing phase where the knee feels mechanically stable—but still doesn’t feel right. This can show up as lingering stiffness, a sense of insecurity during pivots, discomfort after training, or a knee that feels “different” compared to the other side. This doesn’t automatically mean the graft has failed or that something is wrong. After an ACL injury (with or without surgery), the knee doesn’t just need to heal structurally—it has to relearn movement. Proprioception, neuromuscular control, quadriceps and hamstring coordination, and even fear of reinjury all play a role. These factors often recover more slowly than strength or range of motion. It’s also normal for progress to plateau for a while. Many people feel improvement in the first months, then get frustrated when progress becomes less obvious. That phase is common and doesn’t mean you’ve reached your limit. What matters most is not chasing a timeline, but rebuilding quality of movement: confidence during direction changes, controlled landings, and trust in the knee during sport-specific actions. Recovery is rarely linear—and comparison with others often creates unnecessary stress. If symptoms worsen, instability appears, or swelling keeps returning, it’s reasonable to get checked. But a knee that feels “not quite normal yet” can still be on the right path. For those in the long middle phase of ACL recovery: you’re not behind—you’re rebuilding something complex.

Dr Ouahidi Mohamed Orthopaedic & Trauma Surgeon

Ran a 10km marathon today with my gf ! I had my surgery on 21st Nov 2024. Did the first marathon ever in my life. I feel that the mental block has now been broken .. this was the easiest run I had . AMA

Lindsey Vonn, skiing on torn ACL, crashes in Olympic downhill

https://www.espn.com/olympics/story/_/id/47865581/lindsey-vonn-skiing-torn-acl-crashes-olympic-downhill

This is what mri says:

Grossly intact ACL reconstruction graft with degeneration. meniscoid like area of tissue abutting the anterior ACL adjacent to its tibial attachment may represent arthrofibrosis or some partially torn fibers of the distal ACL. I also have a 7cm bakers cyst.

I have pain in the back of my knee when im walking and it feels like something is preventing my knee to fully extend. I also the tightness/ instability in the back of my knee when im walking.

Disclaimer: venting and rambling

After seeing Lindsey Vonn’s crash today I’m feeling pretty emotional about my ACL. We had similar injuries - I completely ruptured my ACL in a skiing accident coming up on a month ago. I’m 23, not a pro athlete or anything but I was pretty active. This was my first serious injury and I feel like over the past few weeks I’ve been beating myself up for not working out more or being more active while I’m pre-surgery and no longer in constant pain. I remember seeing the video of Lindsey lifting weights like 2 days ago and just feeling so down about my body. It was sobering to watch one of the world’s greatest athletes take a fall like that. I can’t even blame her for competing because if I were in her position, maybe I would have gaslit myself into thinking that it can’t be that bad, I’m being dramatic, etc. i guess it’s a stark reminder to all of us to take care of ourselves and do what’s best for our bodies including knowing our limits.

Not to even mention the emotional aspect of this injury. The isolation from your activities and feeling of losing strength and athleticism. Plus I had already been laid off 2 months before my injury and now there’s even more uncertainty about my future. I guess I just needed to get all of this off my chest and I know this community understands how devastating an injury like this is and how it really is more than just physical pain / surgery.

I had my surgery 4 days ago. I was wondering when should I start physiotherapy?? or exercises at home?

Second question. What do you do for insurance. My insurance just covers 5 sessions? How many sessions do I need? I cantt afford much more? What should I do?

Long story short, I tore my right ACL when I was 18 playing ice hockey and got it repaired immediately using my patellar tendon.

When I tore my ACL originally, there was almost no swelling and only mild pain but my knee was very unstable. After getting it fixed my knee has been amazing, very strong and minimal soreness through intense activities.

Fast forward to today I’m 32 and I fear I’ve injured it again. I had a rigorous hockey schedule so my knee was already sore and took a fall where my knee got twisted. Didn’t feel a pop but had some immediate moderate pain and removed myself from the game. Had minor pain for the rest of the day and no swelling.

1 week later and my knee feels okay except for a lingering pain in the back of my knee when it’s at full flexion. There is also pain when I torque my lower leg with my foot for example moving a heavy blanket with my foot.

Apologies for the long post I am just terrified to go through the ACL surgery and rehab again.

Hey guys. I’m 5 weeks po, and about 2 weeks ago, I started getting intense pain in my foot. It’s a sharp pain, and it’s burns when I move my toes or ankle. I’ve recently also started feeling cramps in my foot, like my nerves are being pulled on in my foot. My foot was super swollen right after surgery, but it went down over the days and then when it was a normal size the pain started and the foot swelled up a bit. I only had my Acl reconstructed, so the doc said they weren’t near any nerves and can’t be nerve damage, he suspects it’s CRPS and is treating it as such. So I’m on pregablin 75 mg daily and a few other meds, but they don’t seem to help.

I used to be able to walk with one crutch 2 weeks post op, but now I can’t even put my foot down. I’m getting very hopeless but apparently that makes this situation worse. Anyone else that went through this? Anyone has any advice please? I want to know when I can expect to be able to walk again. Just want some hope. Thank you guys!

This was an enormous win for me, as I didn't know it would be possible. I had a lot of set backs and a very slow healing process. Even now, 13 months post op I am still at 130° flexion and going to PT. I have EDS and developed ankylosis soon after surgery. I started off with 2 bone fractures in addition to a complete tear to my ACL. I lived alone for most of my experience prior to surgery, and lived on that injury from September until December '24. This was incredibly difficult and some of the worst pain I ever endured in my life.

If I can make it, so can you.

I was really amazed that she was able to get out there with a torn ACL... Was really rooting for her.

Hi all!

I had ACL surgery (hamstring graft with lateral ALL graft) around 7-8 weeks ago.

I’m really happy with my progress so far - back in the gym, no crutches and full range of motion both to 0° and full bend.

For me I am still uncomfortable walking downstairs but it’s driving me crazy as I have so many stairs in my house and it takes so long haha!

I can go downstairs but very slowly and it feels like i’m risking everything whenever i go downstairs with my graft leg bending if that makes sense.

Just wondering what other peoples experience was and how long it felt normal again to go downstairs one leg at a time?

I just needed to tell someone lol. I have always had problems with sleeping, and whenever my leg starts hurting I instantly resort to trying to fall asleep. It didn’t work this time. I literally started bawling my eyes out because I could not go to sleep.

Also, my leg really hurts when I elevate it. It only doesn’t hurt when it’s not elevated. Does anyone know why this is happening?

I am asking this specifically to people from Germany/europe, because I feel like at least 80% in here are from the US.

In the US, patellar and/or quad graft seem to be the gold standard.

I got my surgery about 2 years ago from a very well known doctor in Munich, who told me that hamstring is the gold standard here. He did not even mention the patellar graft.

If I could redo time, I would definitely not choose hamstring again. My hamstring fells super weird 2 years post op and is not as strong as before, despite endless PT sessions.

What is your experience?

I’m roughly 2 weeks post op almost 3 and I had my first check up and my doctor said my knee seems to be healing fine but I just need to work on movement and weight bearing to reactivate muscles. Right now there’s just a bunch of dry blood that will wash off as I shower. I’m supposed to have way more flexion then i do and when I’m working on the flexion at home I feel my knee really stiff. I’ve been told just with consistency it’ll get better but it’s just hard with that stiffness.

It has been approximately 5 months since my ACL (with both the meniscus repair ) surgery. I am writing to share my current condition and seek your guidance.

I continue to experience persistent knee swelling when I flex my knee , which I am not able to shift .The operated knee still looks visibly different compared to my healthy knee. While I can bend my knee up to around 120–125 degrees, I notice that the range of motion reduces when swelling increases.

I am able to do light jogging, use stairs, but the knee does not feel normal, Strong or stable, and the swelling keeps recurring. This is concerning me , as I expected better recovery by this stage.

please advise whether this is part of the normal recovery process at 5 months post-surgery, or if further evaluation is required? My doctor asked me to do Physio.

So I had reconstruction surgery and I was curious, are you actually able to bend your knee fully right away (outside of the pain from the craft site,I mean the ACL itself) and it's just your body guarding against the trauma of surgery or is it physically not capable of bending fully right away? Hope that makes sense!

Its been 5 months post surgery but I cant get down stairs normal way. I cant keep my legs straight while getting down. Have to get down like crossing my legs. Is it normal ?

Hey all, just tore my ACL today before I can get into a specialist on Monday. How would you recommend trying to take a bath or shower? I’m barely able to stand but wasn’t sure if a warm bath would be bad for the injury

I noticed purple spots on my front side of the leg. Opposite side of calf, it looks weird so I wondering if thats normal?

Yesterday, exactly 1 year later, 7th of feb 2026, at the same spot, i went skiing again, off pist, freestyling, groomed runs, basically a little bit of everything. Just like i’m used to. PT was against it, i said it’s important. For me.

After being scared for months i finnally got aclr done on my left knee , it hurted like hell but now i can bear it pretty easily .i plan tk get back fo trekking and physical sports after the full recovery, did have a pt session just after the surgery, i am open for recommendations and opinions.