Physical therapy strengthens muscles using special exercises. Rehabilitation can repair the knee until it is close to its pre- injured condition. It lowers swelling and preserves mobility. Not everyone will be able to treat an ACL tear non-surgically. Patients who make good candidates for non-surgical treatment are:.
The recovery time is shorter when using rehabilitation and will need to be monitored by your orthopedist. The time it takes to recover is approximately 3 months. If you have an ACL tear, you will need to speak with an orthopedic surgeon to determine the best treatment for you surgical or non-surgical. He is committed to providing patients with quality care and an honest opinion.
Contact us today for a consultation. Rather than risk missing a second season, athletes frequently elect surgery as soon as recommended after their injury. Skip to primary navigation Skip to main content. Is it advisable to rehab your torn ACL without surgery? Two things to know: The research shows that a large number of people who initially attempt to rehab without surgery, especially those who want to continue active lifestyles, eventually decide on surgery.
Everyone is Different Five Decision Factors. Without surgery, after rehabilitation, you should be able to: Go up and down stairs Get in and out of a car Ride a bike Jog in a straight line Have minimal discomfort Some people decide against surgery and successfully return to activities or sports that normally do not involve twisting the knee.
Possible long-term downsides of not having ACL surgery: Knee instability. You may feel your leg giving way.
Regular exercises can reduce this. Reduced activities. Without an ACL, the knee is unlikely to support aggressive landing, cutting and pivoting. Living with a torn ACL may mean limiting participation in sports, work and activities that cause the knee to swell, give way or feel unstable.
Risk of other injuries. The ACL restrains the thigh and shinbone in the knee. Without it, the bones may move in unintended ways. This can injure your knee. There is no way to accurately predict which are among the tiny minority of knees that can return to desired more aggressive sports and activities without surgery.
You may have other injuries in addition to the ACL tear. Follow the prehabilitation guidelines for rest and icing. The longer you wait to prehab, the weaker you get. Do prehabilitation exercises to regain strength and function in your knee.
Research shows better results even two years after surgery with good leg strength and function before. But the recommendation for young athletes or active patients is have ACL repair surgery sooner rather than later to prevent damage to the cartilage and meniscus inside the knee and long-term consequences such as osteoarthritis.
A young athlete that returns to pivoting sports such as basketball, tennis, soccer, and football after only having undergone physical therapy rehab despite a confirmed ACL tear is at a very high risk for serious injury to the meniscus. This could result in a longer duration of time away from the game they love than if the ACL tear was surgically treated in the first place. Ronak Patel will perform an in-depth evaluation of your ACL injury and discuss your goals and expectations of treatment in detail before offering personalized options that are most likely to result in a positive outcome.
Ronak Patel is a Board-Certified Orthopedic Surgeon offering a full range of care for all problems of the knee and shoulder with a special interest in complex knee disorders.
And ICYMI, women are more likely to tear their ACL , due to various factors that include the biomechanics of landing due to differences in anatomy, muscle strength, and hormonal influences, says Dr. As a young athlete, going under the knife was the answer to continue competing. Popovitz explains that an ACL tear will never "heal" by itself and for younger, more active, patients surgery is almost always the best option to restore stability—and prevent cartilage damage that can cause severe pain, and potential premature degeneration of the joint and eventual arthritis.
For the first procedure, a piece of my hamstring was used as a graft to repair the torn ACL. It didn't work. Neither did the next one. Or the Achilles cadaver that followed. Each tear was more disheartening than the last. Finally, the fourth time I was starting from square one, I decided that since I was done playing basketball competitively which definitely takes a toll on your body , I wasn't going to go under the knife and put my body through any more trauma.
I decided to rehabilitate my body a more natural way, and—as an added bonus—I'd never have to worry about re-tearing it, ever again. In September, I experienced my fifth tear in the opposite leg and I treated the injury with the same natural, non-invasive process, without going under the knife.
The result? I actually feel stronger than ever. There are three grades of ACL injuries: Grade I a sprain that can cause the ligament to stretch, like taffy, but still remain intact , Grade II a partial tear in which some of the fibers within the ligament are torn and Grade III when the fibers are completely torn. For Grade III, surgery is often the best course of treatment. For older patients, who don't put as much strain on their knees, treating with physical therapy, wearing a brace, and modifying certain activities is probably the best way to go, says Dr.
Luckily, I was able to go the non-surgical route for my fifth tear. The first step was to decrease the inflammation and regain full range of motion; this was essential to reducing my pain. Acupuncture treatments were the key to this.
0コメント