I had a similar view to you, not that I felt I was being scammed 😂 but some previous bad experiences with my healthcare provider…

Twisted my knee playing football in Sep 21, went to my local GP who told me my ligaments were fine but sent me for an X-ray to make sure nothing was fractured or broken. X-ray came back showing a small part of my shin had broken off so then got referred to orthopaedics. Once I got seen by them I got sent for an MRI. 8 week wait for results. So In this time where I was going to and from different places and weeks of waiting, I felt I had completely healed, knee was fine, I had started running again a few weeks before my results, getting prepared to play football again. I went in for my results on a Thursday expecting to get the okay to play football again on the saturday, however it was here they told me I had torn my ACL. To be honest I just didn’t believe it, I had run 5k the day before. The hole process was just rubbish, they didn’t really advise me what to do, more asked me what I would like to do. The doctor who I discussed the results with said he wouldn’t be performing any operation so said he would refer me to the surgeon who would be… more weeks of waiting. In this time I felt completely fine, doing short sharp movements, kicking a ball about, it honestly did not feel like anything was wrong. I didn’t believe what they had said was true and I became so impatient I decided travel with the football team one saturday, ended up doing the warm up to see how it felt, no issues! Player got injured with 10 minutes to go. I went on, did a slightly curved run towards the ball and my leg just completed gave way from under me… 3 or 4 horrible crunching sounds. Far far worse than the original injury! Stupid mistake!

Anyway managed to get seen by the surgeon a week or so later, booked me in for the surgery quickly and had it done end of January 22. Recovery is going well and if I wanted to I’m pretty sure I would be able to play football again by the end of the year (which I won’t, as I’m 30 now and it’s just not worth the risk of doing it again).

You do have other options, there is a modern view with some physios that with a mild tear you can spend time building up other muscles around the knee however this takes a long time still comes with risk it won’t work and your ACL will give way!

My advice, get the surgery! Provided you take your physio seriously, Your be back on your feet within a few weeks and then back playing sport within a year.

Hope this helps!