| As an avid soccer player, I've seen my share of | | | | While I would see others who would achieve full |
| sprains and bruises over the many years that I've | | | | range of motion in weeks, I seemed to always be |
| played the sport. Luckily, recovery time was always | | | | struggling and would get easily frustrated at first. I |
| minimal so I didn't have to experience the extremely | | | | finally accepted that each of us is different and that |
| hard physical and mental work of recovering from a | | | | there is no standard time frame for each phase in |
| more serious injury. That was true until a few years | | | | the recovery process. So I kept working and |
| ago when I had my 1st of two complete ACL tears | | | | although it was painful at times, I was determined to |
| in my left knee. | | | | achieve full range of motion. Eventually, I did. |
| When I look back and compare the two ACL injuries, | | | | Depending on your progress, at some point you'll get |
| I have to admit that the 2nd was the hardest to | | | | the go ahead to start with some light jogging during |
| cope with mentally when it happened but, at the | | | | your rehab sessions. This is always a major milestone |
| same time was much easier to cope with the | | | | and really is a cause for celebration. I was so happy |
| rehabilitation process. | | | | to be able to jog again (even though the tread mill |
| For those of you that don't know, the basic rehab | | | | was on a speed of 4), it really makes you appreciate |
| process of a typical ACL injury is as follows: | | | | the gift of running. |
| The first few days after surgery are all about | | | | As you are working on increasing your range of |
| preventing infection of the wound and trying to | | | | motion, start jogging and as your ACL completes it's |
| control swelling. You'll come back from outpatient | | | | healing, you'll start to concentrate on building that |
| surgery with the wound properly covered, and plenty | | | | muscle mass back. You'll do plenty of leg weight |
| of antibiotics and anti-inflammatory meds in your | | | | exercises like squats, using the bike machine, leg |
| system. I didn't have any problems during either | | | | extensions, flexes and some balancing exercises. |
| surgery and was feeling pretty good within a few | | | | You'll start with almost no weight and gradually |
| hours of having come back home. | | | | increase to the serious stuff as you near completion |
| The next phase of recovering from an ACL injury | | | | of the rehab process. |
| includes doing basic exercises that are designed to | | | | You will finally reach a point where the only thing |
| limit atrophy (the losing of muscle mass) and to keep | | | | you're waiting on to get a clean bill of health from |
| the blood flowing in an effort to help reduce the | | | | the doctor is for you to gain enough strength in your |
| swelling. It's pretty amazing, but in both cases I was | | | | injured leg so that it is equal to your other leg. And |
| doing basic exercises within a day of having surgery. | | | | then one day the magical results come in from your |
| When I say basic, I mean really basic. We're talking | | | | leg weight tests, you're within 10% of your strong |
| about doing 3 sets of straight leg raises with no | | | | leg. That's it. It's time to be let free of the rehab |
| weight. 3 sets for the quads, 3 for the inner thighs, 3 | | | | process and head back out on the courts, fields or |
| for outer thighs and 3 for the hamstring. Keep in | | | | whatever you're pleasure may be. |
| mind that no matter what basic exercises you do, it's | | | | Once you've had an ACL injury, it's normal to be a |
| impossible to avoid muscle atrophy. After both ACL | | | | little hesitant the first few times you get back to |
| surgeries, my leg started looking more like a | | | | playing sports. You've spent anywhere from 7 |
| toothpick than a soccer player's leg . It's no big deal | | | | months to a year recovering from your ACL injury |
| though, you just have to work harder at building | | | | and, at first, you tend to want to favor your leg and |
| muscle mass later on in the rehab process. | | | | protect it from another injury. But don't worry, it |
| The next phase of the ACL rehab process will be | | | | won't last long. You'll soon be running around like |
| trying to recover your range of motion back to | | | | nothing ever happened to you and like nothing ever |
| levels from before your ACL injury. This will be a | | | | will. Just one more thing, make sure to keep up the |
| gradual effort as you'll be given different exercises | | | | work in the weight room to help keep the muscles |
| focusing on straightening and bending your knee. This | | | | strong and minimize the possibility of any future |
| is where I really struggled with both ACL injuries. | | | | injuries. I've been injury free for 10 years that way! |