ACL reco. hamstring graft results is hamstring tendonitis?

[wozzie]

I have had an ultrasound - do you think I should be pushing for an MRI too? (Although I'm not liking my chances)

Was it only surgery that finally solved the unknown in your case?

I am just desperate to know what is going on and then work to get it fixed, but the system is just not getting me anywhere fast.

[arniar]

I gave up on the public health care and went for a private hospital to find the best known orthopedist surgeon in Denmark. In just few minutes he found out that the muscle was ruptured from the upside, without looking at the MRI at all.

I did not have a surgery to find this out. However, a knee surgery revealed that the acl was wrongly inserted.

In your case, you should really demand MRI.

If there is a tendon rupture, the muscle is loose at the other end.

If you can consult a respected orthopedist who works mostly with sports people, you should definitely do that even though it will cost you some money, that is if you can afford it.

Best of luck

[arniar]

I have got yet another diagnosis and now it is confirmed. My semitendinosus tendon did not grow back. I blame it on hamstring exercises that my physio made me do only one week postoperatively and onwards. It involved hamstring curls with weights.

This came as a shock to me even though the doctors tell me that I will be able to run without this muscle. I really want the muscle fixed. I wonder if prolotherapy can help. Otherwise I may consider tendon reconstruction with an allograft.

I need to work on the hamstring now since it is very weak. I experience spasms in the semitendinosus in hamstring curls even when only using minimum possible weight.

All advices and information about my considerations are well appreciated. Also some tips on hamstring exercises. I dont know whether I should work more on the weak hamstring than the healthy one, or keep it balance. Should I do training everyday, or more intensive training 3-4 times a week?

[utahacl]

It's incredible to read that others have gone through exactly what I have! Thank you for your post arniar. I thought I was the only one that has had this rare complication. I have the exact same problem with my hamstring and I've been dealing with it for 14 years! I had an ACL reconstruction in 1996 where the surgeon harvested the gracilis and semitendinosus muscles, and a month after the surgery I had extremely painful cramping in the back of my leg. There was and still is a bulge closer to the knee, and the doctors could never figure out why the bulge wasn't up near my pelvis. They figured if the problem was that the tendon of the hamstring never regenerated, then when the hamstring contracts it should pull upwards and form a bulge there, not down by the knee.

I went through 3 different MRI's to figure out what was going on, and it was obvious that my injured leg was very different from my normal leg, but none of the doctors had a clear idea why. They proposed various ideas, and suggested different treatments including just cutting open the back of my leg and having a look. One of the surgeons said he thought it would make a great paper in a journal because he was certain nobody else had gone through what I have.

In the end, I tried lots of physical therapy and while the pain is not as bad as it was, it's never gone away and my leg has never been the same. If I do dead lifts or squats, the hamstring in the back of my right leg immediately cramps up. I decided not to do another surgery because none of the orthopedic surgeons had a clear idea of what was best to do. One doctor thought the problem was due to the release of the fascia covering the hamstrings during the operation, and another thought I actually ruptured my semimembranosus training after the surgery. The doctors said they didn't think it could be the semitendinosus muscle causing the problem because how could it rupture near the pelvis when the lower tendon was cut by the surgery? It's interesting that the doctors say that's what's happened to you arniar.

Has anyone ever been able to figure out a treatment for this problem that was successful? I would love to finally feel normal again after all this time.

[arniar]

My semitendinosus muscle ruptured from the pelvis due to massive degeneration of the muscle in the following of the harvesting. The doctors say it is probably caused by either too aggressive harvesting or physical therapy after training. I described my physical therapy that I got and they agree that the training was way too harsh.

A good doctor should be able to diagnose muscle semitendinosus rupture by using his fingers and ultrasound sonography. If the muscle is ruptured from the pelvis then it should be little loose there when you stretch the muscle and also some atrophy should be visible at that place.

Later on my gracilis muscle ruptured, first from the pelvis and then from knee. I have had a total of 5 successful operations to correct the mistakes from the first surgery. My doctors are Uffe Jorgensen, Parkens Privathospital, Copenhagen , Denmark and Sakari Orava, Mehilainen, Turku, Finland.

I advise you to find a world class doctor who can help you.