Torn ACL

[Red card]

I have an appointment set up with PT for “prehab” on Monday so we are eager to get started with that. As I am doing more research I am reading about the BEAR method for ACL repairs. Did anyone consider this option? It’s a pretty new way of helping the ACL repair itself and there are 5 pediatric orthopedic surgeons in socal that do this. I’m not sure what type of procedure will be best for my son because he is still growing but will hopefully be able to speak to knee specialists next week.

I’m also wondering how did it is work out for your child to stay connected to the team? I’m wondering what to do as he is relatively new to this team and now he will miss all or most of the season. We plan to attend local games etc but not sure if there will be any point in going to practice?

It is encouraging to read everyone’s experiences because right now it feels like a mountain of losses between the start of the club season, missing surf cup and camps and then high school starting as well. We will try to take it one day at a time.

My daughter did the Pre surgery rehab as soon as she was able to get around. I think it helps. I don't know what method is best she just went the traditional route for surgery. She was doing post op rehab shortly after they really want them up and around when they can.

she was with her team for a few seasons so she had friends that checked in on her and with social media it was much easier. She just focused on the rehab and didn't go to practices but did attend a few games. she took some privates prior to going back to limited practices. she is still out for a couple of months.

it is devastating at first but when the dust settles and you have a plan I think it eases some anxiety and then he can focus on rehab. Follow a schedule and don't rush it. My daughter is going into senior year so the timing was really bad. She is missing all the tournaments where coaches are looking at kids. This too shall pass. good luck

 

[oh canada]

It is encouraging to read everyone’s experiences because right now it feels like a mountain of losses between the start of the club season, missing surf cup and camps and then high school starting as well. We will try to take it one day at a time.

College soccer recruiting is later for boys than girls, so you're timing is totally fine. He's 14...so, whether he's going into Fresh or Soph year, he'll still have Junior and Senior years to be recruited etc. That's the typical time for almost all boys college recruits to get started. No need to rush...just be back for next year's Surf Cup. Best to your son.

 

[supercell]

I’m also wondering how did it is work out for your child to stay connected to the team? I’m wondering what to do as he is relatively new to this team and now he will miss all or most of the season. We plan to attend local games etc but not sure if there will be any point in going to practice?

My DD was super motivated and attended alot of practices. She would do all her rehab exercises on the sidelines. I actually think it was motivating for the healthy players to see her working so hard. And vice versa.

 

[anita]

Thanks for the words of advice. Will keep you updated as we go through this process.

 

[Surf Zombie]

My DD was super motivated and attended alot of practices. She would do all her rehab exercises on the sidelines. I actually think it was motivating for the healthy players to see her working so hard. And vice versa.

Same. Mine has been with her team for 3 years and missed her entire club season after getting injured about 6 weeks prior to the start. She really wanted to remain connected, so she attended 90% of the practices, games and tournaments. Her coach was great, keeping her busy during practices. As soon as she came off her crutches she was helping organize drills, shagging balls and just helping out in general. We joked that it was a “coaching internship” for her this year.

 

[myself]

Curious, did anyone try a non-surgical route? E.g., rehab or stem cell treatment?

 

[supercell]

Curious, did anyone try a non-surgical route? E.g., rehab or stem cell treatment?

Our DD was a so-called "coper" who was still high functioning even with a torn ACL. Our ortho told us that she could likely live a normal life without surgery, but not as a college athlete and to try was risking a much more significant injury. Her ACL was fully ruptured, and there is no natural recovery from that, although the knee can certainly be strengthened with rehab. I am not sure if partial tears would benefit from stem cell or other treatments.

 

[anita]

We met two surgeons today and they each had very different recommendations which is a bit confusing. The issue is because he is just on the cusp of closing his growth plates but hasn’t yet. That means although a patellar tendon graft would be the best thing for his future ability to play and be active there is a tiny risk of interrupting growth. On the other hand a hamstring graft has a much higher risk of failing in the future and requiring a redo. I’m wondering if anyone considered a quad tendon repair?

 

[dk_b]

We met two surgeons today and they each had very different recommendations which is a bit confusing. The issue is because he is just on the cusp of closing his growth plates but hasn’t yet. That means although a patellar tendon graft would be the best thing for his future ability to play and be active there is a tiny risk of interrupting growth. On the other hand a hamstring graft has a much higher risk of failing in the future and requiring a redo. I’m wondering if anyone considered a quad tendon repair?

My identical twin girls tore their right ACLs w/in 8 weeks of each other. Twin 1 had patellar tendon and Twin 2 (whose growth plates were still slightly open) had quad tendon. Recovery has been pretty much the same for both. Hamstring was never considered and our surgeon would only do that in a 2d repair.

 

[Calikid]

After doing 2 months of research (I too read about the BEAR method for ACL repairs, but there is not enough data on long term results), and talking to many surgeons we decide to go with the quad tendon. It is a much stronger tendon and is also a good choice if the growth plates are still open. Studies show that the Patellar tendon often times leads to osteoarthritis down the line. Always keep in mind that a surgeon will not always recommend a tendon that is best for the child, but instead the one they are trained on.

My kid went to every game, both home and away(caught rides), and almost all of the practices. Helped the coach set up and did the PT exercises on the sidelines during practices and was an assistant to the coach during the games. It worked out well.

 

[anita]

Here in SoCal I am unable to find anyone who is routinely doing quad grafts in kids. We met with a pediatric ortho at UCLA yesterday who is strongly advising the hamstring graft with an IT band tenodesis which reduces the retear rate by 50%. We are going to go with her advice at this point and although I’m worried about the risk of rupture in the future I don’t think I can take a chance on damaging growth plates. We will likely do surgery in 3-4 weeks and will continue PT in the meantime so his knee is as strong as possible going into surgery.

 

[anita]

My son had surgery yesterday and so far things have been gnarly. Surgery went well but he is in a lot of pain. For those who have been through this which postop day did things start to improve? We are icing, elevating and doing CPM. I’m hoping tomorrow is a little better.

 

[anita]

This thread has been quiet for a while…wondering how people are doing. My son is almost 6 months postop and continues to work on strengthening and PT everyday. Like many said it has gone by pretty fast. Other than not playing soccer his life is pretty busy and normal. This last stretch before return to play is going to be challenging! It’s hard to know how cautious to be with him nowadays since he feels so good! Hope everyone else’s kid is doing well. I’m curious how long it took your son or daughter to get back into the groove after returning to play?

 

[dk_b]

This thread has been quiet for a while…wondering how people are doing. My son is almost 6 months postop and continues to work on strengthening and PT everyday. Like many said it has gone by pretty fast. Other than not playing soccer his life is pretty busy and normal. This last stretch before return to play is going to be challenging! It’s hard to know how cautious to be with him nowadays since he feels so good! Hope everyone else’s kid is doing well. I’m curious how long it took your son or daughter to get back into the groove after returning to play?

My twins returned to the pitch in spring and you could see some moments in those spring games. They did not play a ton in summer but they looked fully themselves in the fall club season and first half of HS. Then, and you are not going to believe this, in a span of 2.5 wks BOTH tore their OTHER ACLs (one will be 3 wks post surgery on Mon, the other one week on Tues). The good news: their surgically repaired right knees have been holding up just fine. (And, yes, they are identical)

 

[anita]

Wow that is unbelievably hard! I can only imagine what an ordeal this has been for you and your daughters. I guess the good news is the surgical knee has stayed strong. I hope they can once again recover fully. Did you guys do extensive return to sport testing? Our PT suggested we go to a special place in LA that only does return to play evaluations at the 9-10 month mark and only then make the decision to return. I feel like every time a kid gets re-injured they have been cleared by professionals and yet it still happens! How frustrating!

 

[crush]

My twins returned to the pitch in spring and you could see some moments in those spring games. They did not play a ton in summer but they looked fully themselves in the fall club season and first half of HS. Then, and you are not going to believe this, in a span of 2.5 wks BOTH tore their OTHER ACLs (one will be 3 wks post surgery on Mon, the other one week on Tues). The good news: their surgically repaired right knees have been holding up just fine. (And, yes, they are identical)

Sending the twins positive thoughts and a healthy recovery. I know a player that has had both acl's torn but are now saying the knees are better then the old ones

 

[Surf Zombie]

This thread has been quiet for a while…wondering how people are doing. My son is almost 6 months postop and continues to work on strengthening and PT everyday. Like many said it has gone by pretty fast. Other than not playing soccer his life is pretty busy and normal. This last stretch before return to play is going to be challenging! It’s hard to know how cautious to be with him nowadays since he feels so good! Hope everyone else’s kid is doing well. I’m curious how long it took your son or daughter to get back into the groove after returning to play?

My DD was at 9 months post surgery early September, which was also the start of her HS season. We limited her to 5-10 minutes for the first few weeks so she could get use to contact again. That built up to 10-15 minutes per half by the end of the HS season in mid-November.

The HS seasoned ended and she played about a dozen ECNL league and showcase games between Thanksgiving and mid January. She was playing 20 per half at that point. She has a showcase this coming weekend (15 months post surgery) and it will be her first games with no minute restrictions. She is playing with her brace on and continuing with her post surgery strengthening routine. So far so good.

Watching her, I feel like her ball skills looked like she hadn't missed a beat, but her game fitness and confidence had to be built back slowly. Long road for sure. We took a cautious return to play approach, as she is only a sophomore, so playing the long game. Good luck to you son!

 

[Surf Zombie]

My twins returned to the pitch in spring and you could see some moments in those spring games. They did not play a ton in summer but they looked fully themselves in the fall club season and first half of HS. Then, and you are not going to believe this, in a span of 2.5 wks BOTH tore their OTHER ACLs (one will be 3 wks post surgery on Mon, the other one week on Tues). The good news: their surgically repaired right knees have been holding up just fine. (And, yes, they are identical)

So sorry to hear this.

 

[NorCalUSN]

My twins returned to the pitch in spring and you could see some moments in those spring games. They did not play a ton in summer but they looked fully themselves in the fall club season and first half of HS. Then, and you are not going to believe this, in a span of 2.5 wks BOTH tore their OTHER ACLs (one will be 3 wks post surgery on Mon, the other one week on Tues). The good news: their surgically repaired right knees have been holding up just fine. (And, yes, they are identical)

It hurts my heart to see this. Everytime I think about my daughter on the pitch again I worry about reinjury the surgery, and post surgery journey to replay. I'm so sorry for what your twins have suffered. I wish you and your family luck.

 

[dk_b]

It hurts my heart to see this. Everytime I think about my daughter on the pitch again I worry about reinjury the surgery, and post surgery journey to replay. I'm so sorry for what your twins have suffered. I wish you and your family luck.

Thank you (and to @Surf Zombie @crush and @anita). They are amazingly resilient and I think the fact that their right knees (repaired in April and June 2021, respectively) have been good is something that is heartening to them. Further, they are so much stronger physically than at this point the first time. And the learning curve of rehab - such as when learning a specific exercise might take 20 mins the first time, it might take only 5 as a refresher this time - bodes well for them. And, Anita, part of their "clear to play" is to do a motion/strength analysis that is quite detailed (both failed the first assessment in 2021 but now that they know, they will have a better chance of passing (they were fine on the motion, it was the strength - in particular, the quad:hamstring strength ratio assessment) - that delayed their return).

What was tough was sectional playoffs this past week - one was able to attend the first game but neither went to the 2d game (first was home but second was a decent drive from our house and that was just too much for the one that was a couple of weeks post-surgery). They watched their big sister play when she was in HS and, in her Sr year, lead her team to the sectional final (something that had never happened in program history) and really wanted to help make a run. The team showed a lot of heart in losing 2-1 to a sectional power but I am not sure they could even watch the live stream.

I don't think theirs is a cautionary tale but more of a combination of the reality of the risk associated with girls' soccer combined with an absolute fluke. I trust the rehab process for getting them back and then just hope they have the psychological reserves to get them to where they were in, say, October (full confidence, full skill) a bit faster this go around. (when they missed their club season in fall 2021, we were able to get to most of my older daughter's college games so we will try to make the most of this coming fall and maybe couple that w/college visits (looking at small schools w/D3 programs that, perhaps, will take a flyer on them, though we have a longer trip with their big sis having transferred across the country so not sure how often they can join us))

 

[socalkdg]

I pray of no injuries for all the kids out there. Sadly it still happens. Big props to all the kids that get hurt and work their way back.

I've heard people talk about the importance of wearing turf cleats when playing on turf. Is this something kids are doing? Are they getting hurt on turf or grass?