Partial ACL tear - no surgery

[physiobob]

Yep, basically consider a lot more agility training and plyometric type work. You'll need a trainer or PT to work out a plan for you locally. If the brain is not sure about things it simple won't give more power to the muscles so you are weak through inhibition and that's something that strength training can only assist a little with. It is 'neural connection strength' you need. Best of luck in the coming month and let us know how you get on.

[Dolores]

Thanks a lot for the advise!
I stopped seeing the Physical Therapist because her approach seemed a bit too aggressive for me considering the extent of my injury and because my insurance stopped covering the sessions. I can't explain how much I've been struggling with this injury, it has affected all aspects of my life. I had to stop my career, lost my job, got evicted and haven't been able to get another job because I can barely walk with a cane, and the truth is that nobody wants to hire a crippled person. I'm actually in the process of filing a Disability claim because I'm afraid this is going to be permanent and I'm kinda worried about my future.

Luckily my one and only friend offered me shelter and has been helping me tremendously. I feel very fortunate in that regard but the situation is still frustrating because I used to be a self sufficient independent person and now I can't even handle my own grocery bags. However, I've been trying to remain positive just pushing trough the pain and doing mainly the leg raises that the PT showed me to strengthen the muscles but without overdoing it and I feel more comfortable going at my own pace. Unfortunately I can only do so much physical therapy because too many repetitions start producing an excruciating sharp pain directly on the ACL area, sometimes in the front of the patella tendon as well, so I have to stop myself and its been hard to work the quad muscles.
It's also very difficult to bear total weight on the knee, it just feels mushy and "very unstable" like its going to give out anytime. I can't even walk without a cane or a crutch, can't go up and/or down the stairs without holding on to the rail and the cane, I can't jump nor run....I have seen 3 orthopedist surgeons so far and have gotten an MRI which surprisingly showed all ligaments and cartilage to be "intact" but I still was diagnosed with a "Knee Joint Derangement" and "Patellofemoral syndrome" and was simply advised to continue with physical therapy.
I am very confused and beginning to question the accuracy of MRIs. Perhaps they are not good at detecting partial ruptures, so I am wondering if there are other ways of determining what exactly is wrong with my knee joint, and if its going to need to be repaired in order to be fully functional again. It's been 11 months since the accident and I don't see much progress,,could it be a slow healer or something more serious that is going to require surgery? From what I've read about ligaments, they don't heal on their own, so I don't know but there is definitely something wrong with my mine...I'm probably just going to get another MRI, it's been 3 months since the last one...any suggestions will be greatly appreciated....Good Luck to all of you and Dont give up.
This support systems are definitely what keep the faith alive!

[Dolores]

Yep, basically consider a lot more agility training and plyometric type work. You'll need a trainer or PT to work out a plan for you locally. If the brain is not sure about things it simple won't give more power to the muscles so you are weak through inhibition and that's something that strength training can only assist a little with. It is 'neural connection strength' you need. Best of luck in the coming month and let us know how you get on.

Thanks Physiobob!

I truly appreciate your suggestions but I'm not sure if inhibition is what's causing my painful knee joint derangement symptoms although I really hope that's the case because it means that there's a chance I won't be needing an ACL reconstruction...and that it's simply up to me to regain full functionality of the joint.
However, I was looking at some lower body Plyometric exercises and the ones I saw require "Jumping" (even w/Low Intensity) which is one of the activities I have not been able to do since the day I injured the knee joint from running (11 months ago, almost a year) I just started to bear some weight in the knee about 3 months ago but I have to use a cane to walk because the knee still feels very unstable and it really hurts, in other words I cant stand on the injured leg for more than 20 seconds without some sort of support,,,otherwise I start getting a sharp shooting pain...
I'm also wearing a hinged knee brace for extra support because the joint feels kinda loose inside,,,,
so I don't think the jumping exercises are going to work for me because even if I try, I'm afraid that whatever is left of the ACL and patella tendon,
will fully rupture when I land....but I could be wrong,,,
I guess there's only one way to find out but it sounds way too risky....
Do you think its because I have some significant missing fibers in the acl and patella tendon and that's why my brain is getting mixed signals... hence the sensation of pain? I just don't understand why the pain? Is it a good sign or a bad sign?
that's what I'm not sure about,,,
does it mean that it's healing or that it's getting worse?
I guess that what I'm trying to understand is if the pain is part of the recovery process or if the reason for the pain is because am I injuring the ligaments even more by forcing myself to walk and work out. I know its a lot of questions ,,,its just so confusing.....any feedback would be highly appreciated!

Best regards,
Dolores

[Dolores]

Yep, basically consider a lot more agility training and plyometric type work. You'll need a trainer or PT to work out a plan for you locally. If the brain is not sure about things it simple won't give more power to the muscles so you are weak through inhibition and that's something that strength training can only assist a little with. It is 'neural connection strength' you need. Best of luck in the coming month and let us know how you get on.

The more I think about the partial ACL tear the more I realize that I'm wasting my life away by waiting for it to heal,,,
Surgeons will not try to repair it if its not fully torn they only suggest "Physical Therapy" which is totally useless because it's like a dead end road,,,
Perhaps the only alternative for this cases is to tear it completely in order to get it fixed,,,
what is the use of having a piece of useless tissue constantly sending pain signals to the brain? If I could at least walk on it, it would make sense but if it's making it impossible to move on and it's going to break eventually then why even hold on to it?
I know how radical this sounds but if that is the only way to get it reconstructed then it does make sense,,otherwise its just going to continue being a HUGE bump on the road...I can't even get a job and since the ligament is not fully torn it's not really considered a "disability" as disabling as it really is,,,
This is not about pain,,,its more about a tiny rupture that has ruptured my life completely,,,its starting to look like I'm just going to end up homeless living in the streets and unable to walk,,,