ACL Rehab

[physiofi]

Hi Sarah,

I understand you're impatient and frustrated with a lack of information/advice regarding outcomes. I would say (in my limited exp) that it's very difficult to answer this - particularly over the internet and without having assessed you myself. It sounds like you're highly motivated and committed to rehabbing your knee as best you can, which sets you in good stead. You're aiming to get back to jogging, not high intensity/impact level sports, which again is more realistic to obtain/aim for.

Are you taking any painkillers? Regular analgesia will help control your pain while you're working on rehab.

I can only speak from experience, as I have treated several ACL injuries, but only one was conservatively managed. He was an 80 year old male who ruptured his ACL 2 years previously but was misdiagnosed. Obviously, it is very difficult to draw similiarities...but 2 years on after initially having no physio/rehab whatsoever, he got to the stage where he had minimal pain, his knee didn't give way any more and he was walking without a limp.

I'm sorry that there's no concrete answer for you, but as you can see - it all depends, everyone is different. I recently saw a 35 year old male who had an ACL reconstruction 2 years ago and had been fine since although had not returned to playing football. He came in complaining of some discomfort/pain and generally feeling the knee "wasn't right" although he had no limp. He did have considerable quads weakness, decreased proprioception and poor core stability. I think his lapse in symptoms were due to not following through his rehab fully and continuing with his return to exercise afterwards.

Generally, I will discharge patients when they are a) asymptomatic or b) symptoms have reduced, they are able to self-manage and continue progressing their rehab on their own / at home / in a gym etc. This evidently varies depending on your patient and their age/goals/ability.

I hope this helps you. Please focus on yourself and working on your recovery and I'm sure you will reap the rewards in time. No study or list of outcomes will definitively give you an answer as to how you personally will progress.