<p>My son completely recovered from the ACL surgery and it doesn’t limit anything. However, he had ITB release surgery prior to that which did not work as well and that has limited his distance running. A good surgeon for the ACL and no worries, in my opinion.</p>
<p>Apologies for the typo in my previous post, jazzy. Started to say good luck at the outset-- decided to reword it, and thought I’d backspaced but apparently did not. Oops 
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<p>As an aside, when my DH had his ankle surgery a few years ago, he really found the PT very helpful, but selected one with specific focus on rehabbing athletes. He was a marathon runner. Still runs, but not as much or as far. But he felt that finding the right “fit” with a PT was a good idea.</p>
<p>DH completely tore his ACL about 20 years back at 32. He was very athletic and wanted to be able to play competitive tennis, hit the slopes and play in whatever pickup game (basketball, football, etc.) that came his way. He chose to have the reconstruction surgery and used his patellar tendon. </p>
<p>Fast forward to now, the knee (and sacrificed patellar tendon) are doing fine. He still plays competitive tennis and mostly snowboards – easier on the knees and what the kids are doing. Ironically the other knee – and back, and shoulder – gives him problems. Ah, the joys of getting old(er).</p>
<p>I am having PT now for knee issues…pain in the tendons/ligaments around the kneecap. Fortunately it was only in one knee (no idea why) so I could put most of my weight on the non-painful one and get around just fine. I also have “loose” kneecaps!</p>
<p>The specific exercises seem to be long, slow (boring) hamstring stretches and leg lifts. Next week he’ll show me which gym equipment I can use. The idea is to strengthen the muscles and structures around the kneecap. I can already see much improvement in pain and am almost able to completely straighten the leg.</p>
<p>Worrywart, i had acl surgery and part of my hamstrings were used. </p>
<p>The surgery was a success. I was 38 at the time.</p>
<p>Just find a good surgeon.</p>
<p>DS had it done two years ago - and was back playing college baseball the following summer. He’ll be out there again this spring. </p>
<p>Key is two things:</p>
<p>1) find the best surgeon - not simply a good one but the best one in your area. Ask at your local college, professional sports team, even high school. Trainers at all of those places will happily tell you who they recommend. Look for someone who has done hundreds of these. </p>
<p>2) Find the best physical therapist - not the one that is the closest to your home or office but the one who will do the best job for you in the long months of rehab ahead. You will be seeing a lot of this person - make sure you know who is going to be working with you day to day. </p>
<p>It is not an easy recovery - but your knee will thank you for going through the process and the rehab that follows.</p>
<p>Thank you scualum for such meaty advice and dstark for the encouragement.</p>
<p>I had knee surgery about 12 years ago and since I break out in hives from infections and was very worried about getting a infection I told the doctor about it and he put me on an IV with antibiotics for the first twenty-four hours after the surgery.</p>
<p>Worrywart:</p>
<p>In re reading my note I think I was a bit dark - my apologies. </p>
<p>No its not fun to have the knee redone - and the rehab is 4-5 months - but my son is as good as new- even claims to have a higher vertical jump now. </p>
<p>I’ve posted more about his process earlier in the thread. He had the transplant option - where a new ACL from a cadaver is put into the knee. From the research I have done, all three options work fine - the key is really finding the right surgeon. He or she will have an approach they like best - and that is what you should go with.</p>
<p>One other bit of advice. My son’s doctor and I were able to talk the insurance company into buying him a game ready machine for the post op cooling. It is much better than the typical icing device - it does both icing and compression at once - which really keeps the swelling down. Most icing devices only chill the knee - they don’t also do compression. </p>
<p>You will see them at your PT as well as in many training rooms. Red boxes- about 2 feet long and 10 inches wide and tall.</p>