Torn ACL

[Surf Zombie]

My 2007 9th grader just tore her ACL in a game. Essentially half way through her HS season. Cleared a ball with her right foot and as she was bringing it back down slipped on the wet turf and her knee twisted awkwardly.

We are In the process of scheduling surgery. Will miss the rest of her HS season and probably all (most?) of her ECNL season which is early December-late May.

Anyone else been through it and have any tips on the recovery process? She made it from U8 until now without ever being injured, so it’s going to be a big adjustment I’m sure.

My DD is 3 weeks post surgery today. First two weeks were really tough. Lot of pain.

Her team had their first two post high school games this weekend. Was great for her to get out to the games and get to feel like part of the team. Hope everyone else who has a kid going through this is heading in the right direction.

 

[Red card]

This thread will never run its course, unfortunately. It is one of the most important threads of this forum. Tell your daughter this teacher thinks her writing is great work! Do you mind sharing...which game/day of her three did it happen?

i wasn't there. i think it was the second game. Thank you, I thought it was a good essay too. I suggested to her to blog her experiences maybe help other girls or even herself.

 

[NorCalUSN]

i wasn't there. i think it was the second game. Thank you, I thought it was a good essay too. I suggested to her to blog her experiences maybe help other girls or even herself.

My wife, my daughter's best friend/motivator/trainer/coach keeps a journal as well. In addition to coordinating her Physical Therapy, taxi service and homework completion they take a photo of her knees almost every day to show her progression.

 

[Surf Zombie]

Not interested in rushing my DD back onto the field, but have a return to play question.

Her ECNL season ends late May (which will be 6 months post surgery) and her sophomore HS season starts early September (10 months post surgery). I don't expect her to play (meaning without restriction in a real game) until the HS season 10 month post surgery mark (if everything goes well).

That said my question is at what point post surgery did your DD's start jogging/running/doing non-contact ball work? My DD's surgeon said she will likely be cleared to do those things at the 3 month post surgery mark. Just curious if that is a typical or atypical timeline. Thanks in advance.

 

[supercell]

Not interested in rushing my DD back onto the field, but have a return to play question.

Her ECNL season ends late May (which will be 6 months post surgery) and her sophomore HS season starts early September (10 months post surgery). I don't expect her to play (meaning without restriction in a real game) until the HS season 10 month post surgery mark (if everything goes well).

That said my question is at what point post surgery did your DD's start jogging/running/doing non-contact ball work? My DD's surgeon said she will likely be cleared to do those things at the 3 month post surgery mark. Just curious if that is a typical or atypical timeline. Thanks in advance.

That's pretty similar to my dd's timeline. She was running in the aquatic treadmill at 2 months and on the regular treadmill at 3 months. She didn't do anything with a ball until 4 mos though.
The timing of your daughter's seasons sounds pretty fortunate with first game possible at 10 mos or more.

 

[NorCalUSN]

Not interested in rushing my DD back onto the field, but have a return to play question.

Her ECNL season ends late May (which will be 6 months post surgery) and her sophomore HS season starts early September (10 months post surgery). I don't expect her to play (meaning without restriction in a real game) until the HS season 10 month post surgery mark (if everything goes well).

That said my question is at what point post surgery did your DD's start jogging/running/doing non-contact ball work? My DD's surgeon said she will likely be cleared to do those things at the 3 month post surgery mark. Just curious if that is a typical or atypical timeline. Thanks in advance.

My daughter is at about 3.5 months post-op. Her Physical Therapist has her on the "no weight" treadmill and light linear running back and forth in the PT room. At night she does light ball touches with my wife in addition to her other PT homework. We are still wait/see on when she can return to a outside less controlled training environment. However, our PT is very optimistic she can return sooner rather than later. Not sure my daughter is typical or atypical, she is definitely putting in the extra work and her PT and Ortho have remarked on her progress.

 

[Dubs]

Not interested in rushing my DD back onto the field, but have a return to play question.

Her ECNL season ends late May (which will be 6 months post surgery) and her sophomore HS season starts early September (10 months post surgery). I don't expect her to play (meaning without restriction in a real game) until the HS season 10 month post surgery mark (if everything goes well).

That said my question is at what point post surgery did your DD's start jogging/running/doing non-contact ball work? My DD's surgeon said she will likely be cleared to do those things at the 3 month post surgery mark. Just curious if that is a typical or atypical timeline. Thanks in advance.

For my daughter, she was running at 3 months, which really helped her mental state. She stayed away from ball work untl about 4.5 months just because we knew should would push the envelope. For her first run she ran 5 miles and was pretty sore. She ran on the track and only ran in one direction and that's probably what caused the discomfort. That was a mistake. If your dd is going to run on the track have her do an equal amount of laps the other direction. She rejoined her club practices at the 11 month mark, but all along the way was religiously in the gym strengthening. Once she rejoined, she felt pretty good, but make sure your DD is honest with herself about how she feels and be willing to scale back whatever if need be. It's a process, but she'll come through. As you've stated... don't rush anything. That glue is not dry until 12 months.

 

[Surf Zombie]

Not interested in rushing my DD back onto the field, but have a return to play question.

Her ECNL season ends late May (which will be 6 months post surgery) and her sophomore HS season starts early September (10 months post surgery). I don't expect her to play (meaning without restriction in a real game) until the HS season 10 month post surgery mark (if everything goes well).

That said my question is at what point post surgery did your DD's start jogging/running/doing non-contact ball work? My DD's surgeon said she will likely be cleared to do those things at the 3 month post surgery mark. Just curious if that is a typical or atypical timeline. Thanks in advance.

Sage advice. Thanks.

 

[Surf Zombie]

For my daughter, she was running at 3 months, which really helped her mental state. She stayed away from ball work untl about 4.5 months just because we knew should would push the envelope. For her first run she ran 5 miles and was pretty sore. She ran on the track and only ran in one direction and that's probably what caused the discomfort. That was a mistake. If your dd is going to run on the track have her do an equal amount of laps the other direction. She rejoined her club practices at the 11 month mark, but all along the way was religiously in the gym strengthening. Once she rejoined, she felt pretty good, but make sure your DD is honest with herself about how she feels and be willing to scale back whatever if need be. It's a process, but she'll come through. As you've stated... don't rush anything. That glue is not dry until 12 months.

Sage advice. Thanks.

 

[VegasParent]

My daughter is at about 3.5 months post-op. Her Physical Therapist has her on the "no weight" treadmill and light linear running back and forth in the PT room. At night she does light ball touches with my wife in addition to her other PT homework. We are still wait/see on when she can return to a outside less controlled training environment. However, our PT is very optimistic she can return sooner rather than later. Not sure my daughter is typical or atypical, she is definitely putting in the extra work and her PT and Ortho have remarked on her progress.

My kid just crossed 4 months post-op. She was cleared by the Ortho to start running at 3 months but her physical therapist held her off until about 3 and a half to keep working on the strength of her quads and hamstrings. She is now doing 5 minutes of running and a minute walking without the brace for about an hour at team practice and the first 30 minutes of physical therapy. She has also been cleared to do light passing. Her coach has her (and 2 other injured teammates) as the outside bumper in certain drills. Both the Ortho and PT say she's doing great and on target. She has her first major strength test where they hook up sensors to her in 3 weeks.

 

[dk_b]

My kid just crossed 4 months post-op. She was cleared by the Ortho to start running at 3 months but her physical therapist held her off until about 3 and a half to keep working on the strength of her quads and hamstrings. She is now doing 5 minutes of running and a minute walking without the brace for about an hour at team practice and the first 30 minutes of physical therapy. She has also been cleared to do light passing. Her coach has her (and 2 other injured teammates) as the outside bumper in certain drills. Both the Ortho and PT say she's doing great and on target. She has her first major strength test where they hook up sensors to her in 3 weeks.

Can I stand up and cheer that your child will be doing the strength test so early? My twins had their injuries 8 weeks apart last spring and their surgeries about 5 weeks apart. Thing 1 is getting close to the end and they did a motion/strength assessment a week or so ago. Having that information earlier would have been really helpful b/c you are going to get a baseline of data that can help tailor your kid's rehab over the next stretch. For my kid, she was terribly disappointed, thinking that she was closer to the end than she likely is and then seeing the #s and the areas of deficiency. I explained to her that the information is so helpful - that was then repeated by her PT. We are applying some of those findings to Thing 2's rehab as well since they are genetically identical and their injuries are the same.

Similar to the expanding of cardiac checks for athletes and the use of tools like the IMPACT for brain baselines (helpful in concussion recovery), having this strength assessment in HEALTHY athletes would be amazing since some variables that heighten ACL injury risk can be identified through that tool - weak hamstrings or imbalance between quad and hamstring strength being two key variables.

 

[Surf Zombie]

My 2007 9th grader just tore her ACL in a game. Essentially half way through her HS season. Cleared a ball with her right foot and as she was bringing it back down slipped on the wet turf and her knee twisted awkwardly.

We are In the process of scheduling surgery. Will miss the rest of her HS season and probably all (most?) of her ECNL season which is early December-late May.

Anyone else been through it and have any tips on the recovery process? She made it from U8 until now without ever being injured, so it’s going to be a big adjustment I’m sure.

So my DD is approaching the 4 month post surgery mark and has been cleared by her surgeon & PT to start jogging next week. Can any of you share your experience with that stage of recovery? I'm not sure if its jogging v. running or how long/often she should be going. I

'll speak with her PT next week, but figured someone on here could share some good insight. Thanks in advance.

 

[VegasParent]

So my DD is approaching the 4 month post surgery mark and has been cleared by her surgeon & PT to start jogging next week. Can any of you share your experience with that stage of recovery? I'm not sure if its jogging v. running or how long/often she should be going. I

'll speak with her PT next week, but figured someone on here could share some good insight. Thanks in advance.

Mine started jogging at 3 and half months. Very light pace that increased week after week. On the treadmill the speed was 5. We just hit 6 months post op and now she is up to 6.5 for 10 minutes, walk for 1 minute and then 10 minutes again. She was just cleared by the ortho to return to full training with no restrictions but slowly last Friday. We see the PT today to work out the schedule for what she should do at practice. My plan is to still not play until 9 months post op which will be June.

 

[dk_b]

It's really interesting how different orthopedists can approach recovery and clearing so differently. It makes it hard or confusing in sharing information since it is so dependent on provider and everyone is going to feel pretty confident in what their "experts" are saying. My twins tore their ACLs w/in 8 weeks of each other last spring (surgeries were 5 weeks apart). Their dr (his clinical/surgical is entirely pediatric orthopedics though he does advise on adult injuries as well but more as a consultant) will not clear any player for return to full contact until 9 months and, only then, if they "pass" their strength/motion assessment. My twins have been diligent in their rehab and the first one - I will call her Thing 1 - will be having her first full-contact practice today, 10 months + 1 week post-surgery. She will be on limited minutes but structured to increase and cannot play any back-to-back games this spring. The fatigue is when form breaks down and when form breaks down + muscles are tired is when the risk of reinjury increases (as he puts it, if she's at 30 mins, he wants her to feel like she can do 30 more as opposed to hitting a wall at 25). When she's out there, there is no limitation (other than time). Thing 2 has her final strength/motion assessment in about a month and I assume a similar schedule. Unfortunately for both girls, the spring season for their team is light and the games are mostly concentrated at the beginning so Thing 1 will get a few games and Thing 2 maybe only 1 at the back end. But we know they are stronger and we know they have been taught improved dynamics.

 

[VegasParent]

It's really interesting how different orthopedists can approach recovery and clearing so differently. It makes it hard or confusing in sharing information since it is so dependent on provider and everyone is going to feel pretty confident in what their "experts" are saying. My twins tore their ACLs w/in 8 weeks of each other last spring (surgeries were 5 weeks apart). Their dr (his clinical/surgical is entirely pediatric orthopedics though he does advise on adult injuries as well but more as a consultant) will not clear any player for return to full contact until 9 months and, only then, if they "pass" their strength/motion assessment. My twins have been diligent in their rehab and the first one - I will call her Thing 1 - will be having her first full-contact practice today, 10 months + 1 week post-surgery. She will be on limited minutes but structured to increase and cannot play any back-to-back games this spring. The fatigue is when form breaks down and when form breaks down + muscles are tired is when the risk of reinjury increases (as he puts it, if she's at 30 mins, he wants her to feel like she can do 30 more as opposed to hitting a wall at 25). When she's out there, there is no limitation (other than time). Thing 2 has her final strength/motion assessment in about a month and I assume a similar schedule. Unfortunately for both girls, the spring season for their team is light and the games are mostly concentrated at the beginning so Thing 1 will get a few games and Thing 2 maybe only 1 at the back end. But we know they are stronger and we know they have been taught improved dynamics.

I agree that the different approaches makes it confusing. My kids ortho also specializes with children. He says her strength and knee stability is excellent. While I trust his decision, I'm going to see what the PT says today and go with the most cautious approach possible. She has her second strength test next week. My kid has club mates who returned at 6 months and had no reinjury and others who did reinjure the same ACL or tore the other. The GA showcase in June will be 9 and half months, Surf Cup will be 10 and a half months. The goal is to hopefully play a few minutes in each of those events.

 

[dk_b]

I agree that the different approaches makes it confusing. My kids ortho also specializes with children. He says her strength and knee stability is excellent. While I trust his decision, I'm going to see what the PT says today and go with the most cautious approach possible. She has her second strength test next week. My kid has club mates who returned at 6 months and had no reinjury and others who did reinjure the same ACL or tore the other. The GA showcase in June will be 9 and half months, Surf Cup will be 10 and a half months. The goal is to hopefully play a few minutes in each of those events.

I hear what you are saying and the rate of reinjury that seems consistent is about 30% for players who return prior to 9 months so 70% don't reinjure while the rate of reinjury drops to about 10% after 9 months (and stays there). In my kids' clearance process, they are including assessment of the non-injured leg so that the quad:hamstring ratio is in the "low risk" category for both legs. I know kids who have reinjured the same leg (on in her first game back and right in front of the coach at the school to which she had committed (still verbal at that time) - he stood by her through both injuries/rehabs and she seems to be doing great) and kids who have torn the other. And I now all of this is about risk mitigation since there is no such thing as "zero risk" and, ultimately, the risk profile that is acceptable to a given provider and that provider's patient (or patient's parents in the case of pediatrics) is variable. My hope for all these girls - the ones who are rehabbing and the ones who never have had to - is that they don't have to go through it in the future.

(as I write this, I am on hold with insurance since the situation for both Thing 1 and Thing 2 is all jacked up as one was injured in a club training (US Club Soccer as 2dry insurance), one in a HS game (w/the HS's provider in 2dry) and, for both, their primary ins changed on July 1. What a shitshow)

 

[Simisoccerfan]

I didn't make any decisions in my daughter's recovery process. She turned 18 shortly after her surgery and all of the decisions were hers along with her doctor, PT Staff and college trainers and doctors once she reported to training camp. She played her first collegiate minutes at 6 1/2 months which sounds crazy but everyone recovers differently. I just paid the bills and did the worrying. It's been 3 years now and I think it is just in the last few months that I have stopped worrying.

 

[VegasParent]

I didn't make any decisions in my daughter's recovery process. She turned 18 shortly after her surgery and all of the decisions were hers along with her doctor, PT Staff and college trainers and doctors once she reported to training camp. She played her first collegiate minutes at 6 1/2 months which sounds crazy but everyone recovers differently. I just paid the bills and did the worrying. It's been 3 years now and I think it is just in the last few months that I have stopped worrying.

I envy you. I'm worried every time she comes down the stairs. But I stay positive and don't let her see me worried. She had a slight breakdown about a month ago. One of her friends in SoCal tore her ACL again in a high school game after just returning to play and another friend tore hers in a practice. Then watching the Super Bowl she saw Odell Beckham Jr tear his ACL again. I had just told her after he caught the first TD how he came back from the injury this season. Luckily she bounced back quickly and is looking forward to practicing. But she will be taking it slow.

 

[Surf Zombie]

Thank you guys for the input. I’m in the parking lot at the PT office right now! Ugh.

Mine will be at the 6 month mark in May and then will have about 4 months over the late spring/summer to get ready for her sophomore HS season. From that perspective the timing is good. Will be about 3 weeks short of a year from the injury until her first game back (didn’t have surgery for 50 days after the injury).

 

[Dubs]

Bottom line is... the longer they can wait the better. Outcomes are definitely better if it's possible to wait til the one-year mark.