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My ACL Tear and Recovery

The ACL Recovery Timeline and Other Miscellaneous Bits

By Adam ⋅ September 10, 2007 ⋅ Email this post Email this post ⋅ Print this post Print this post ⋅ Post a comment

My physiotherapist handed me a chart today that detailed the life of an ACL graft, and provided some very interesting nuggets of information:

  • The graft strength early in day one is still 100%. That’s before the graft goes, “oh shit, I’ve been taken out of the hamstring and put in the knee.”
  • The graft is apparently most vulnerable to injury between weeks 6 and 12.
  • By week 20, the graft has been completely revascularized. It’s fully come back to life!
  • By week 24 the ACL has reached the “collagen mature” stage, which means all the tissue and other good stuff has re-formed. This is about where I am now.
  • The ACL is 50% functional by week 31 or so, which is a hell of a lot better than where I was snowboarding with a torn ACL last year.

I also received my Donjoy knee brace today, which coincided with my last physiotherapy session. During the session, I told my physiotherapist I was running on a treadmill despite not getting clearance from anyone but it didn’t seem to be a big deal. In fact, he told me to run as much as I want at this point; so, I’m going to start working on my stamina and hopefully I can hit 5k and then 10k in the next few weeks. I also really need to start hitting my quads hard. My left quad is still not ready for snowboarding yet.

My last physiotherapy session! It was so sad; I kind of felt like me and my physiotherapist were breaking up.

Discussion

6 comments for “The ACL Recovery Timeline and Other Miscellaneous Bits”

  1. hey i cut me knee boardin and i dont have any quads watchu doing to get better?

    Posted by Anonymous | September 18, 2007, 11:41 pm

  2. A LOT of leg presses! That’s pretty much all I do in an effort to get my quads ready to ride. :)
    –adam

    Posted by Anonymous | September 19, 2007, 8:35 am

  3. Glad to hear you’re back on the road to recovery. I’m also glad to hear you’re wearing a Donjoy Knee Brace. I have a special interest in this brand as I wear one as well. Not because I injured myself, but because I’d like to PREVENT any potential knee problem. “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure”. I came across a site that specializes in sports med products and injury info that I highy recommend for educational purposes on prevention and rehabilitation. Check it out at http://www.betterbraces.com – the A-Z Injury Guide.
    Ditto on strengthening the quads. Here’s to great snow fall this winter.

    Posted by Anonymous | September 20, 2007, 2:43 pm

  4. hey there, I am doing an assignment on a torn acl. would it be possible for you to post full timeline on this site?? kind regards. hazza (New Zealand)

    Posted by rich dog | October 28, 2007, 11:08 pm

  5. I am a stunt woman and i play soccer in the UK.
    The usual stuff i have been physical all my life and worked around any injuries, until i snap my acl. I have just had my reconstruction and i still can’t believe the timeline in front of me. you said you started running on a teadmil, exactly when can you start this. Did you do road cycling. Can you swim, i just can’t believe i can’t do anything for months. Please tell me its not as bad as they say
    Eunice

    Posted by Eunice Huthart | December 2, 2008, 7:16 pm

  6. Eunice, it’s not as bad as they say. :)

    I was cycling in two months and running in six. You can read my whole timeline here:

    http://www.highlyobsessed.com/2008/03/28/acl-recovery-one-year-out-and-my-final-post-on-the-topic/

    Good luck!

    –adam

    Posted by Adam | December 2, 2008, 7:29 pm

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