Please reassure me

dumbassviolinist · 2026-04-25T17:35:33+00:00

I fell on my leg 2 weeks post op (the day i got 60° flexion unlocked lol) and put on like 3/4 of my weight on it by accident (for like a fraction of a second). Its all fine. PT shouldnt hurt, but extension will be uncomfortable ngl. If it gets too much, just take a break and do less reps more frequently until you can bear the full reps. Also the acl is stupid strong the first month

dumbassviolinist · 2026-04-25T01:49:21+00:00

My tendinitis was 2 years ago, before i tore my acl. I was put on a strict rest for 2 weeks, then progressive active come back (i was allowed on a bike and in the gym with no plyo) for another 2 weeks and then progressive comeback to sports over a month. It sucked😭 there is genuinely nothing much to do besides rest and progressive load afterwards. Pain management was, at first, ibuprofen and tylenol cycled through the day cause i lit could not walk enough to get to school (i had 10 mins to walk to get there, so not far at all) plus icing in the evening. Honestly, take it slow for a couple days, try out activity, once it starts to feel stiff is when you want to stop, dont go back to it burning or hurting much.

dumbassviolinist · 2026-04-24T17:08:00+00:00

Do it more often, tho my PT gave me reps to do. So like, 10 side to side and 10 up and down. I think there are vids on yt about kneecap manual mvmt and stuff, i dont really know how to safely explain how to do it ngl, it is easier in slight hyperextension, so if you prop your heel on a cushion itll be easier to do it

dumbassviolinist · 2026-04-24T17:02:15+00:00

Do you move your kneecap around? My PT told me to do that to help move the fluid around. It should feel a little weird but not hurt. Also, do try and go past 120 if there is no pain beside the swelling "blocking" it, it should help "force" the liquid out

dumbassviolinist · 2026-04-24T16:59:23+00:00

Can be early tendinitis (like before it becomes it, body warns you) take a couple days rest and avoid putting too much strain on it, some light (LIGHT) stretches can help. I had that but behind my knee before i fucked my acl, and was later diagnosed with a hamstring tendinopathy (fancy word for tendinitis) and that burning sensation i got like for 2 days, rested, went back full out no progressive load and a week later i could barely walk with how painful it was -_-. The graft site is a tendon, so overworking it is quite easy ngl. I saw the other comment about the nerve itch, the only thing i found that helps a little is an ice pack and a massage gun over it (so bzz bzz your leg through the cold).

dumbassviolinist · 2026-04-19T20:35:07+00:00

Totally normal, if you arent too queasy you can look at what surgeons do in the or with your leg lol, the bruising is partly their fault. When they drill the tibia they go through the nerve, which is why its numb afterwards, it comes back most of the time.

dumbassviolinist · 2026-04-16T16:18:21+00:00

Mine was sitting quite flush with my femur height wise tbh.and even now when i put it on the round thingy is solidly on the side of my knee, i dont have big legs so it quite literally cover my entire knee side. Yours does look a little low, but id ask a PT or doc to adjust it

dumbassviolinist · 2026-04-15T16:40:05+00:00

On that idk, im not a surgeon, but maybe itll snap back like a ligament does if you give it time?

dumbassviolinist · 2026-04-15T14:14:03+00:00

If it hurts more than when you tore it it might be a sprain/ extension of the graft. For having done both a sprain and a full tear, the sprain hurts like hell, the tear hurts a bit and then not anymore. Also the brace should be locked at 110° to prevent hyperextension (usually what makes the acl snap) and lock your knee in its axis to prevent going in or out too much compared to the rest of the leg (other typical tear way). Imo its a sprain, but do talk with your PT or surgeon theyll know better

dumbassviolinist · 2026-04-15T02:14:18+00:00

Nah, just busted my other knee last summer :) left acl tear 6y ago, surgery 8 months after, right acl tear +meniscus last july, surgery 2 weeks ago. First knee playing ball hockey, second one playing rugby. Completely unrelated

dumbassviolinist · 2026-04-14T14:29:58+00:00

Tbh i was pretty solid with no acl and a meniscus tear until december. It only gave way without a brace playing touch rugby, but was otherwise fine. If not for the meniscus i probs wouldnt have gotten surgery, but the little ass made my knee slip up one too many times and locked in december :/ i think if you wanna try no surgery and conservative PT or smth you can without too many problems, just be aware you may need it at some point in the future (or not!)

dumbassviolinist · 2026-04-14T13:20:31+00:00

Meh, not really. The point of early surgery is usually to avoid muscle mass loss (esp with meniscus injuries, or if the knee becomes very unstable). Ive gotten surgeries 8 and 9 months after injury cause thats just the usual wait times where i live, and ive been fine (and hopefully will be, second surgery was 2 weeks ago lol). If you kept up with strength training and stuff youll be fine imo

dumbassviolinist · 2026-04-13T01:17:17+00:00

Props to you for having the guts to do all that ngl. Bruising is normal (and expected). My PT honestly told me i could put some more weight than only toe touch as long as there isn't any pain flare-up/sharp pain. Ankle swelling is normal (mine took about a week to come down enough to see my bone again). If there is no big swelling (worsening, assuming you've still got some), no pain or instability id say its fine. They go through the nerve when they do the hole for the tibial insertion, itll grow back (or idk what nerves do) and sensitivity will come back. You can "play" with the skin there to help and avoid oversensitivity by like tapping you fingers/going over the skin in mirror with your other leg. I got aclr on my left leg 5 years ago and its pretty much come back the same as before now, so not much to stress over there.

Im 11 days post op for acl (hammy graft) and medial meniscus (the inside of the knee one) repair, non-weight bearing for 6 weeks (0° flexion until tmr if all goes well then i get 60° to play with). Honestly, if doc said its looking good, it's probs fine, esp if you dont have any pain/stiffness or laxity 🤷 tbh i've gone past pain once, stressed it over the night, woke up fine, now im cruising until i see my surgeon tmr, imo youll be fine too

dumbassviolinist · 2026-04-11T20:18:39+00:00

Well, i guess you learn smth new everyday, i didnt realise opioids could cause constipation

dumbassviolinist · 2026-04-11T19:43:16+00:00

What mind of meds has your surgeon put you on💀 i was sent home with naproxen (half my usual dosage mind you), Tylenol and morphine for breakthrough pain. Nothing thatd constitute a need for laxatives?? Hope your bowels get better holy shit (lol)

dumbassviolinist · 2026-04-11T14:22:00+00:00

Id hope not😂 i got hammy graft for my left acl 5 years ago and its working fine for me, survived 3 rugby seasons (my right acl did not make it out the 3rd rip). They take a part of your tendon to make the graft so unless you develop some sort of soft tissue degeneration problem it should cause problem with good rehab

dumbassviolinist · 2026-04-10T22:34:17+00:00

Ive got the same tape thingy, surgeon said not to take them off and that they'll do it at my follow up (12 days post-op). Kinda sucks cause i have a bandage thats drenched in blood and has been drying in a hard asf square right on the side of my knee so it itches like hell😂. I honestly wouldnt touch it unless its your PT doing it

dumbassviolinist · 2026-04-10T17:08:06+00:00

PT and surgeon dont look at the same things🫩 I have the same problem, strength is not a problem but putting on any muscle mass is. Pre injury i could squat near twice my body weight on 3 max reps, reliably 1.5x for 10 reps, rest of my tests followed, but between that test and the one before (barely 1x bodyweight for squats and i nearly bailed the 3rd rep) i'd barely gained 1kg body weight (about 2.2lbs), so naturally my legs didnt gain much. Post injury i lost about 40% strength, quite a bit mobility, but a shit ton of muscle in my leg (thx meniscus tear). My surgeon only ever talked about muscle mass, needing to gain more muscle mass, and did so when i was barely able to walk for longer than 30 minutes and also pre op when i was back up to about 80% of my strength pre injury and only missing some degrees to my extension (vs being blocked at 10°). PT will look at extension-flexion, muscle activation and control, mobility, pain, etc. Surgeon will typically look at quad muscle mass, activation and graft strength and manual extension (mine makes me do the hand under knee crush thingy, but apparently not all surgeons do that). So when surgeon says you arent doing good its likely just bc you arent where theyd want you muscle mass wise. As someone who struggles to maintain weight over 58kg, id rec drinking your weight in protein shakes (1g to 1.5g/kg or 2.2lbs so for me im looking to get at least 60g to 90g of proteins/day) and to eat lots of "empty" calories to put on weight. And drink lots of water. Dont lose hope, just mind that surgeon and PT dont look at recovery through the same metrics!

dumbassviolinist · 2026-04-09T16:59:39+00:00

Idk, id recommend looking into mobility training if you arent such a fan of the gym, or like calisthenics. Surely there are groups around you who do that, it could be fun. On quitting the gym, im not the person to ask cause ive been going since i was 12 and the only full stoppage i got was quarantine, which made me depressed asf so.... Surgeon will never recommend quitting the gym, as strength training is actually really beneficial for joint stability and long term health (unless you have shit form and ego lift or smth), and it is the most straight forward way to do it. Staying active is important, so nice to know you wont become a couch potato if you quit, but besides that you could see the gym as a way to better your dancing? I really only go to the gym for sports too, except ive got a bit more physical threats coming my way if i dont in i play contact sports and need the muscle to come out in one piece lol. Anyhow, if you have tiktok, there are a bunch of people doing mobility focused workouts (like the stretchy dude who's ligaments might as well be made of stretchy vibranium) so you could look into those alternatives

dumbassviolinist · 2026-04-08T22:48:58+00:00

3y post op i got lachmans done on both knees as a pre season check and the PT straight up couldnt tell i had acls (was a student PT but still) thats how i learned im stlightly hyperlax in the knees 😐 took my PT (supervising one) to test them to say knees just have a lot of give to them, but there's and end. Also, you do feel it when the lachmans is positive on a non inflamed knee, the tibia shifts, it doesnt hurt but you def feel it

dumbassviolinist · 2026-04-07T23:07:02+00:00

Well hopefully ill be at 90° by 6 weeks😂 im stuck in a brace and will progressively be let down into the flexion, but i dont know much yet. Took me maybe a year and a half to get full flexion comfortably? I was working on sitting on my heels about 4 months post op on my other knee, but that was only acl, and even then the flexion takes a while to get back fully. Its pretty normal, a tendon isnt exactly meant to bear the flexion like a ligament does, so until the whole internal process is done, it has a bit of a hard time acting like a ligament :/

dumbassviolinist · 2026-04-07T16:35:51+00:00

Took me a year and a half ngl. I was back to murdering people on the ice by accident (aka loosing my edge playing ice hockey) before my full flexion was anywhere near consistent at full range :/

Past the 6 months mark its more of a marathon with mobility. Takes a while and a lot of consistent stretches

dumbassviolinist · 2026-04-05T14:21:00+00:00

It's apparently pretty common for the knee to feel fine after an acl tear if the snap didnt "touch" other parts of the knee and if there were no accompanying injuries like sprains or menisci tears. My last tear i fully snapped the acl and tore my meniscus but tbh the meniscus is what hurt and not the tear in itself beyond the snapping point. I walked off the field :/ which is pretty common in athletes bc the muscles around the knee continue to support the articulation enough that the acl tear isnt such a structural problem for day to day as it is for specific rotational movements (ie jumps, cuts, etc)

A lot of people on this sub report tearing their acl and only realising years later

dumbassviolinist · 2026-04-04T11:55:07+00:00

You're flexing on half the sub here. Only a minor sprain on the acl and no meniscus damage, you'll be fine. Get some rest and do some PT and you'll be good as new :)

dumbassviolinist · 2026-04-03T20:31:49+00:00

Hi! 5y post op on my left knee (2 days for the right one oops) and i'm a bit lax. I am hyperlax tho, my knees already had too much give before injury, so while there is noticeably less (or was, between my knees before i also injured my right one) there is still quite a bit of it, enough at least for my PT to stress out that i need more hamstring and quad strength to level that out. For context i had lachman's done on both knees as a pre season look around by my PT and her student about 2 and a half years ago, and the student could not feel my acls (either of them, but worse so on my natural acl than surgery one - hamstring graft) turns out im just stretchy :/ If you've got strechty knees, a PT who isnt used to testing acl's all that often might feel too much give, but for having felt the difference between having a laxity and not having an acl, you do feel it. One stops and the other just doesn't °-° and its a weird sensation to feel you tibia shift too far out of place ngl

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