ACL surgery and skydiving

[marcin 0]

Has anyone have experience with ACL (anterior cruciate ligament) reconstructive surgery and recovery time?

I recently tore my ACL completely and was told 6-8 months before safe to skydive.

Any suggestions re rehabilitation?

Thanks
Marcin

[skycat 0]

I have a good friend that tore that and a few others snowboarding, I'll ask her tonight how long it took to recover from surgery.

I do know though that she has to wear braces on every skydive for landing. She didn't for 1 jump a few weeks ago, slipped and really damaged it again. So a word of warning, you knee will probably never be 100% again and you should talk to your doctor about getting a brace for it as soon as you are ready for normal activities.

Fly it like you stole it!

[trilete312 0]

A lot of it depends on how hard you work in Rehab. I have a friend who has had the ACL in both knees torn and repaired. He was back playing recreational soccer in about 9 weeks with his brace on. He also rehabbed like a madman.

I have another friend who kinda cruised her rehab and stopped it early and she is still not back to 90% after about 9 months.

How was the reconstruction done? 1/3 of patella cut out? Hamstring cut for the donor? Cadaver? This could play a big factor in recovery time, is there a second cut that has to heal?

Get well quick.

-----------
Ready, Set, Gooooooo

[marcin 0]

Thanks, that really does not sound very well. I do a lot of other sports, including skiing and was hoping to "be better than new" after surgery and recovery period. I also currently fly @1.9 loading approx., so landing is an issue.

My friend tore his ACL skiing but he skis again and says his repared knee is stronger than the other.

How many month after surgery did your friend re-injured her?

[marcin 0]

I still need to have it done, its 8 weeks since the injury . Ligament will be harvested from my hamstring.

I do sports 5-6 times a week, so I will rehab as hard as they let me. 9 weeks sounds incredible! I was kinda preparing myself to not skydive this season and hoping to ski from November.

[dcgilbert 0]

I had my ACL reconstructed in 1992 after I got kicked in a soccer game. The graft came out of the middle of the patella tendon. I spent six months in the gym before the sugery working on my quads, hamstings, hip flexors, and ab/adductors (sp?). I spent about 6 months in therapy, another 6 rehabing on my own and never did make it back to play competitive soccer. But the knee is probably 95% today and I can do just about all recreational sports with a brace.

That said, this was 13 yaers ago. I had a conservative surgeon who made me wait six weeks to heal before starting rehab. There were 16-18 (I was 21) year olds with different surgeons that were rehabbing 1 or 2 days after their surgery. Nothing heavy, but range of motion exercises to prevent scar tissue growth. They were out of therapy before I was. I know one went on to play college hoops somewhere and another played lacrosse. The surgery has come so far since I had it done, that most people make it back.

Check with your surgeon, but go into the surgery as fit as possible and get into rehab as quick as you can. See the stories of Jerry Rice and Clint Mathis for two guys that came back pretty quick.

There's also a woman at my DZ that blew her ACL on landing and is back with no problems. She doesn't even wear a brace.

Hope this helps.
Dave

[skycat 0]

Quote

How many month after surgery did your friend re-injured her?

More like years later, it's been 3 or 4 years since her 1st surgery (she ended up having both knees done). This was the 1st time that she really messed it up again, but she has been back snowboarding(2 week later) and skydiving (3 weeks later) since it happends.

I have bad knees also, but it's not due to my ACL, rather the ligaments that hold my knee caps in place. My advice is wear your brace, an once of prevetion is worth even the chance of re-injuring it. I've managed to avoide surgery this way, I wear braces snowboarding, and skydiving I wear them if the ground is slippery (i.e. just rained, snow on the ground).

As for being better than new......well so far everyone I've talk to(including doctors) has said that while it is better than what it was before the surgery it is never as good as a knee that wasn't injured. On the other hand, if you keep in shape, (being over weight is the worst thing you can do to your knees) and listen to your body you should be able to do anything you could before you were injured, although you may want to take it easy on the jumps while skiing from now on. As for you canopy size...I really recommend upsizing to a 1.2-1.3 WL then working your way back to 1.9, listen to your body it will tell you if it can run that fast on those no wind days. Mine told me 1.2 in CO was the smallest for me.

Fly it like you stole it!

[clrarch 0]

I've had a lot of experience with knee surgeries, unforunately.....tore my ACL in half during a basketball game my senior year in high school (1990). I had arthroscopic surgery about six months after the initial injury, and was fitted with a special brace so that I could continue to play basketball and downhill ski. I ended up joining the crew team in college, so I rowed for years with the torn ligament and didn't have it reconstructed until 1997. My surgeon used my hamstring tendon to rebuild the ligament (said my knees were too small to use the patella tendon). It's common now to use cadaver ligaments, which I wish I had because even now my hamstring is still not 100% for range of motion and flexibility. I started physical therapy one week after my surgery and it was slow going at first (I spent about six hours a week at the physical therapy facility, in addition to doing "homework" I had to help with rehab). After three months of therapy, I was "functional" but limited athletically....Just to give you an idea of the intensity, my surgeon was the same guy who operated on the University of Michigan football team and I was doing the same type of therapy the athletes were doing. It took about six months to get to the point where I felt I was doing really well. I also worked out a lot before the surgery, and it probably did help, but the surgery is more or less turns your leg into jello and you have to put in a lot of time and effort into teaching your leg how to react, balance, etc in addition to rebuilding strength. It's been a little over five years since I had my reconstruction and my leg does fine as long as I workout and maintain my strength. I still notice a slight difference between my left and right leg in strength because my right leg still compensates for my left a little. I started skydiving last summer and always wore that special kneebrace I was fitted for back in 1991 "just in case". Never know when you might land hard or funny, and bust the ligament again....earned me the nickname "Robocop" at the dropzone

[ltdiver 3]

This is an accurate statement of recovery from clrarch, guys.

The only difference I would recommend is that you -do- have the hamstring graft. If you use a donor patellar tendon it doesn't react as well. And for gods sake, DON'T let them use -your- patellar tendon for the graft.

ltdiver

Don't tell me the sky's the limit when there are footprints on the moon

[ixlr82 7]

Quote

Any suggestions re rehabilitation?

----------------------------------------------

My suggestion. Do the rehab your doctors tell you to. In my experience so few do . They are good for a while then the knee gets better, they get lazy, do something stupid, the knee never gets back to 100%. It can be as strong as before but only with patience. If you are young, fit, dedicated and genetically lucky it might be a shorter rehab than what the doctors say. I wouldn't count on it though. By the way, I'm sitting here with a broken ankle, and I'm not sure I can even follow my own advice. I have to get back in the air!!!

__________________________________________

[crwmike 0]

I agree and once again recommend medical professionals specializing in Sports Medicine. My surgeon for my ruptured achilles tendon is the team surgeon for the Miami Heat and the Miami Dolphins (the guy the brought in to rebuild Dan Morino's ankle). My PT worked for the Heat.

Their whole emphasis is to get you back into the game.

Quote

This is an accurate statement of recovery from clrarch, guys.

The only difference I would recommend is that you -do- have the hamstring graft. If you use a donor patellar tendon it doesn't react as well. And for gods sake, DON'T let them use -your- patellar tendon for the graft.

ltdiver

[marcin 0]

Thanks people, this is very useful, although doesn't paint a bright picture.

I'am 33, but in a pretty good shape and will keep exercising until the surgery. It will be my own hamstring tendon, an the surgeon is a sports med. Sport is very important to me, and wearing braces isn't always an option (eg. contact martial arts).

Anyway, I'll make sure to do the rehab as hard as possible and perhaps consult several specialists.

Fortunately, the injury was very isolated and nothing else was damaged. I can still bike, run or even do squats with 170 pounds on my back, but I do feel that something is wrong with the knee, so I need to have the surgery done.

[eeneR 1]

I had my right knee done in 93'. I went thru 4 months of intense therapy, 3 days a week 2 hours a day. My Dr. gave me a custom built titanium kneebrace to use for the next few years. I still ski with it, however that is about it (saftey blanket). I play hockey, skydive, snowboard, gymnastics...just about everything else I can think of, and have had no problems. However It was about 2 years before I would start doing this stuff with out a knee brace. I gave my leg a fair amount of time to rebuild itself post surgical. My leg suffered quite a bit of atrophy.

I was 20 at the time, and am 29 now. Other then my knee becoming a better weather forecaster then the weather guys it has been a good thing having it fixed. I do have times when my knee's (yes both) will hurt like hell from too much activity, but that is more of an "out of shape" problem really

I had a clean snap of my Left ACL, no other damage. They used a graf of my Hamstring tendon instead of using the patella(sp?) tendon as I am very active in high impact sports.

2 main things I recommend you should be concerned with....

1. If your doctor has any intention of casting you go elsewhere. You should be put in a full length locking knee brace that allows controlled movement, or something similar.

2. You should be starting therepy almost directly after surgery.

I had my knee done at Vail Valley Medical Center in Vail, CO. I was a ski bum at the time. I had surgeory at like 10am, they had me down in a CPM machine the entire hospital stay, and had intended for me to start PT at 7pm that night, however I was very ill from the vicodine, so I started the next morning. They kept me inpatient for 3 days since I was moving back home (kinda hard to work a 3 floor B&B on crutches, no work, no place to live)

I had them take me off the CPM machine one night for 4 hours. Holy crap....my knee stiffend up.

I was scheduled to fly home 5 days after I was released from the hospital. So there was a 7 day laps in my PT sessions....I went from a 90 deg bend back to 30 deg bend. It sucked!!!

If you do what they tell you, and keep it moving with out over doing it...it will all be good.

People asked me what it was like having a torn acl. Its a lot like the same theory as having a chair with 3 legs...if you lean the wrong way over ya go...

Ok, done rambling.

She is not a "Dumb Blonde" - She is a "Light-Haired Detour Off The Information Superhighway."
eeneR
TF#72, FB#4130, Incauto

[cmnorris 0]

I had my PCL reconstructed a while ago. The procedure for this isn't nearly as good as an ACL surgery. Now, most of the ACL reconstruction can be done arthroscopically (ie. no more 5 inch scars down the front of your leg). I had a cadaver ligament placed in me and I didn't seem to have a problem.

Here are some tips:

1. Use crutches as little as possible even if you get around a lot slower without them. Weight bearing exercises are good for recovery.

2. Pay attention during your Physical Torture sessions and specificall ask what you can do at home if they don't tell you. And then...do them. It's painful and incredibly not fun, but you will heal that much faster. It's amazing how much muscle can be lost in such a short amount of time....you'll also be fighting inflexibility issues.

3. Let your doctor know of any unusual swelling even months after the surgery. It turns out that my body developed an allergic reaction to one of the screws in my knee about 7 months after they had been put in.

4. Be patient, but also be aggressive in your recovery.

5. You may have to avoid sports that causes your knee to rotate from side to side for a while (eg. basketball, football).

Good luck. I underwent surgery because the idea of having to wear a brace for the rest of my life was not something that I wanted to accept. I can still feel a little bit of difference between my knees after a few days of repetitive hard work outs, but I have no problem with running, snowboarding, skydiving, etc.

I was able to walk a few days after surgery with a brace on. I could pedal a bike about 4 weeks after and I would say that I had a full recovery after 7 months. Keep in mind that the ACL surgery is different.

[ltdiver 3]

Quote

Physical Torture sessions

Yep, that's what they call them!
Be prepared to sweat!

ltdiver

Don't tell me the sky's the limit when there are footprints on the moon

[78RATS 0]

As a recovered ACL patient (patella tendon type), I concur with the rehab your ass off comments. One thing I would point out is that even if your leg feels stronger than before in the 5-6 month range (and it will), your graft may not be fully attached to the bone.

Rip them screws out and you will be in big trouble. At a 1.9 wing loading it is something to seriously consider.

Good luck.

Rat for Life - Fly till I die
When them stupid ass bitches ask why

[Tasadin 0]

K i had acl reconstruction about 2 yrs ago for a rugby injury. I foolishly never did physio cos i wanted to get back to sea. However the point is i started jumping may last year for the first time and have had some hard landings and no problems to date touch wood.

"If everything seems under control, you're just not going fast enough."

[Amazon 7]

by all means... do as much rehab as you can on your knee.....

But beware... Phisio therapists are for the most part reincarnated from medieval INQUISITORS....


INQUISITOR: does this hurt?????? here.. let me bend that knee a little farther back to get rid of the ligatures....(read that tear the hell out of the scar tissue)

Amazon

[ltdiver 3]

Quote

INQUISITOR: does this hurt?????? here.. let me bend that knee a little farther back...

ltdiver

Don't tell me the sky's the limit when there are footprints on the moon

[marcin 0]

Hey guys, thanks for the"encouragement".

I don't mind pain (doing full contact fighting sports for 20 years) if it helps. What I am afraid most, is that I won't be 101% fit after the surgery.

Can the bolts come off? Would it take so much time (few years) for the ligament to grow into the bone? I thought that with the bolts the ACL can break in half perhaps, but not come loose from the attachement.

I should have the surgery within a week. Now I realize that climbing that 100+ steps to my apartament my not be fun after all.

[eeneR 1]

My screws are still there. Then used bone screws and titanium washers..The bone kinda just grew over it. You should be able to get back to 101% but it will take time, commitment and a bit of pain.

She is not a "Dumb Blonde" - She is a "Light-Haired Detour Off The Information Superhighway."
eeneR
TF#72, FB#4130, Incauto

[Amazon 7]

I did.. I did...just as soon as the full leg cast came off.....ahhhhh no more coat hanger to scratch. And they did a very good job... it just hurt like hell

I still think they enjoyed it far too much though.

Amazon

[Ally Mae 0]

On 4/15/2003 at 8:57 PM, dcgilbert said:

I had my ACL reconstructed in 1992 after I got kicked in a soccer game. The graft came out of the middle of the patella tendon. I spent six months in the gym before the sugery working on my quads, hamstings, hip flexors, and ab/adductors (sp?). I spent about 6 months in therapy, another 6 rehabing on my own and never did make it back to play competitive soccer. But the knee is probably 95% today and I can do just about all recreational sports with a brace.

That said, this was 13 yaers ago. I had a conservative surgeon who made me wait six weeks to heal before starting rehab. There were 16-18 (I was 21) year olds with different surgeons that were rehabbing 1 or 2 days after their surgery. Nothing heavy, but range of motion exercises to prevent scar tissue growth. They were out of therapy before I was. I know one went on to play college hoops somewhere and another played lacrosse. The surgery has come so far since I had it done, that most people make it back.

Check with your surgeon, but go into the surgery as fit as possible and get into rehab as quick as you can. See the stories of Jerry Rice and Clint Mathis for two guys that came back pretty quick.

There's also a woman at my DZ that blew her ACL on landing and is back with no problems. She doesn't even wear a brace.

Hope this helps.
Dave

Hello, Dave. I had acl and meniscus surgery in 2014. I was about 17. I started physical therapy THE DAY AFTER and he was BENDING MY KNEE! Oh, boy did that hurt! Anyways, I tore my acl and meniscus again in the same knee years ago. I would say at least 3-4 years ago it has been torn. I noticed it pops out and back in very, very easily and sometimes my knee locks or it just pops out and I have to pop it back into place. It doesn’t hurt anymore! It used to sting really bad. But I’m thinking if I just wear a nice knee brace, I can still go sky diving I’ll just inform the diver to give us a safe landing. 

[Ally Mae 0]

On 4/15/2003 at 8:57 PM, dcgilbert said:

I had my ACL reconstructed in 1992 after I got kicked in a soccer game. The graft came out of the middle of the patella tendon. I spent six months in the gym before the sugery working on my quads, hamstings, hip flexors, and ab/adductors (sp?). I spent about 6 months in therapy, another 6 rehabing on my own and never did make it back to play competitive soccer. But the knee is probably 95% today and I can do just about all recreational sports with a brace.

That said, this was 13 yaers ago. I had a conservative surgeon who made me wait six weeks to heal before starting rehab. There were 16-18 (I was 21) year olds with different surgeons that were rehabbing 1 or 2 days after their surgery. Nothing heavy, but range of motion exercises to prevent scar tissue growth. They were out of therapy before I was. I know one went on to play college hoops somewhere and another played lacrosse. The surgery has come so far since I had it done, that most people make it back.

Check with your surgeon, but go into the surgery as fit as possible and get into rehab as quick as you can. See the stories of Jerry Rice and Clint Mathis for two guys that came back pretty quick.

There's also a woman at my DZ that blew her ACL on landing and is back with no problems. She doesn't even wear a brace.

Hope this helps.
Dave

Hello, Dave. I had acl and meniscus surgery in 2014. I was about 17. I started physical therapy THE DAY AFTER and he was BENDING MY KNEE! Oh, boy did that hurt! Anyways, I tore my acl and meniscus again in the same knee years ago. I would say at least 3-4 years ago it has been torn. I noticed it pops out and back in very, very easily and sometimes my knee locks or it just pops out and I have to pop it back into place. It doesn’t hurt anymore! It used to sting really bad. But I’m thinking if I just wear a nice knee brace, I can still go sky diving I’ll just inform the diver to give us a safe landing.