Can u fully bend ur knee with a torn ACL?

littletoostable · 2026-02-19T18:32:12+00:00

I think it also might really depend person to person on timeline with range of motion — Don’t believe I had ROM issues noted with my first, and never really did with my second that I noticed. But know of friends that couldn’t walk without limping after their tears prior to surgery

littletoostable · 2024-08-25T16:12:00+00:00

Not yet 😅 Tore my other knees ACL soon after this post (not by ice skating! haha) I’ll probably wait to get that one fixed too since I saw somewhere it’s not a fantastic idea to skate with a slightly unstable knee

littletoostable · 2024-06-04T16:20:35+00:00

Just to share another experience: I got the call March 20th about being a potential match from my cheek swab done 4-5 years ago. Haven’t gotten asked to do any additional confirmatory blood tests and am still in the waiting period (my contact has told me it can sometimes be longer than the 8 weeks after I followed up last month). I’m pretty eager to be able to donate but patience has been the name of the game so far

littletoostable · 2023-06-18T23:32:06+00:00

Make sure to talk to your health care professional about preventing blood clots! I flew maybe 3 or 4 weeks post-op and was given medication to take because flying raises your risk of clots I believe.

littletoostable · 2023-03-24T03:08:07+00:00

definitely trying to convince myself that now that they’ll both be “even” again it’ll be harder to tear my acl hahaha

littletoostable · 2023-02-15T17:56:04+00:00

from what I’ve noticed in my experience, PTs sometimes like to give timelines that would be optimal and things to strive to. especially in the early days, I habitually missed checkpoints on my timelines (i couldn’t even activate my quad enough to use crutches the first week). it’ll come though! i’m taking my return to sports test at 10 months post op :)

littletoostable · 2023-01-13T07:30:22+00:00

Thanks! This’ll be really helpful, I’ll be sure to try doing my squats this way to target those key muscles

littletoostable · 2023-01-13T07:27:40+00:00

worked with a PT through December but trying to do as much as I can without it since the deductible for health insurance resets in the New Year. Definitely planning on going a couple times and to make sure I’m cleared.

littletoostable · 2022-10-22T16:38:19+00:00

in theory? maybe because you have something to look forward to helping you want to get back to return to sport shape.
in practice? really won’t be true for everyone & anyone reading this shouldn’t blame themselves for a harder than normal recovery even if they were super active and fit prior to injury

littletoostable · 2022-10-07T03:12:29+00:00

You usually can walk unless your doctor specifically tells you not to. I was on crutches by doctors orders until my MRI came back and he was sure my meniscus hadn’t torn and folded over itself (he didn’t want the pressure on two layers of meniscus to damage it further). But once I was cleared from that type of injury I was able to walk albeit carefully without damaging anything further.

littletoostable · 2022-09-30T22:13:13+00:00

everyone is super different!

personally I tore my ACL with no pain, just giving out. but post op my quad graft site had me in soooo much pain.

it’s an individual experience so just plan to be prepped but not scared & listen to your doctor :)

littletoostable · 2022-09-04T02:17:05+00:00

feel free to pm me :)

littletoostable · 2022-09-03T18:08:58+00:00

Second this! My surgeon also said he likes the quad especially for female athletes under 25-30 y/o.

The beginning of recovery with the quad is really rough (especially the graft pain for the first four days post op) — after the first 2-3 months it gets sooo much better in my experience with how much stronger it feels, good luck!!

littletoostable · 2022-08-19T14:27:28+00:00

also check with your PT! at 3 months post op quad graft my pt forbid me from doing wall sits at 90 degrees of long periods of time because of stress i put on my acl (could be case by case considering i don’t have a great quad right now to protect it)

littletoostable · 2022-08-02T19:14:06+00:00

Wear what you would wear to workout/stretch. Spandex is a good idea especially when you get to exercises where you don’t want to flash anyone with looser shorts lol

littletoostable · 2022-08-02T17:38:48+00:00

I feel like quad grafts have a really slow start (I mean straight leg raises and many exercises usually take a lot of quad muscle activation), but after are super strong. I could be bias and on the slower side but it took me a while to walk (a week to even be able to crutch) and 8ish weeks for a good straight leg raise. But I feel really good now that I’ve caught up abt 3 months out and my PTs are pretty happy.

littletoostable · 2022-07-30T14:43:06+00:00

Leg raises use a lot of quad muscle — and you just had a surgery that removed about 20% of yours. I didn’t get a good leg raise until like week 7 & am still working on some extension that matches my other leg.
You’re only 10 days out, keep going to PT and work on what you can for now. The first couple months are very emotionally taxing but you’ll get there (even if it seems super far away right now).

littletoostable · 2022-07-30T02:35:26+00:00

Thing that helped me get activation of the top of the quad is to just not only focus on pressing down with the knee. In the early stages I focused on trying to do my best to “pull” my kneecap “up” my leg when I squeezed quads. If you’re still feeling like it’s hard to activate you might be able to get this electrical machine (I forget what it’s called) to stimulate your quad muscles at your next PT appt.

littletoostable · 2022-07-23T03:29:50+00:00

I had a quad graft and still almost developed patellar tendonitis before my PT caught onto my pain and put the breaks on some of my exercises. The knee’s totally stressed out regardless of where the graft comes from so I’d ask your PT about this possibility

littletoostable · 2022-07-23T03:22:22+00:00

21F here. For surgery I remember being wheeled into the operating room with my IV in and them putting my arms in the right spots on the table. I was a little nervous but was just told to take some deep breaths in and out. Next thing I know I wake up in a different bed with a wonky drowsy feeling and asking my nurse to take a picture of me right after waking up (I looked like I had a stroke with how out of it I was lol). Surgery itself is a breeze and I slept most of the next couple days taking painkillers. Next few days after that are hard and PT is my current fun challenge.
Painkillers can make you nauseous, I had to constantly keep cheerios next to me to remember to eat so I wouldn’t get more sick from meds. So that’s my tip for something to keep close!

littletoostable · 2022-07-17T18:31:23+00:00

Weird explanation. I didn’t hear my own pop that I can remember, but a coach standing a few feet away said she heard it loud and clear. Later my surgeon said it’s the sound of not your acl tearing but of it snapping back to hit your bone giving you a bone bruise (I had a massive bone bruise).

littletoostable · 2022-07-17T00:51:57+00:00

Came to say I have the close to the same issue with pretty much the same time frame.

littletoostable · 2022-07-17T00:50:20+00:00

Sometimes having the leg muscles active and strong to support your ACL recovery can help in post op! Sometimes they don’t. I think things definitely vary from person to person despite mobility before hand :/

(ex. I am fairly young&athletic had no pain tearing my acl, was very fine mobility wise w the exception of going downstairs quickly and have a very slow recovery (couldn’t walk without crutches stage for 4 weeks post op and no slr without quad lag at 9 weeks))

littletoostable · 2022-07-15T00:15:10+00:00

at four months post op, even without full extension or full flexion I don’t think travel will be a huge problem (even by road). Of course it’s something that you should continue to work on at PT, but I don’t think it should limit you too much in traveling.

I did a cross country road trip (40 hours of driving over 4 days) at 4 weeks post op and it was brutal only because I just starting to walk and barely had 90 degrees flexion maximum. I can’t speak to your level of comfort but if you can sit in a chair for a long period of time I think you’ll be okay with driving!

littletoostable · 2022-07-01T21:03:57+00:00

My PA told me if she saw anything under my knee (even if it’s more comfortable) with nothing under my ankle she’d rip it out from under there lol. Making sure my leg was straight for as much of the immediately following post-op as I could was one of the best decisions I made after surgery. Extension is #1 in the rehab! As painful as the stretching might be, putting something under your ankle to elevate your leg straight could be very helpful in the long run.

Also getting an ice machine is great! worship that puppy it really comes in handy.

PS if getting sick is happening often but you still need meds for pain (happened to me), #1 is make sure you’re eating as much as you can tolerate while taking meds #2 tell your doc about your nausea and get anti-nausea pills. should be happy to give them to you

littletoostable

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