torn ACL, help!

In mid October my friend had torn his ACL, on his left leg. He had surgery shortly after, but failed to continue his therapy. However, he continues to weight lift on the upper body, but does no maintaince work on either of his legs. He has regained about 75% of his previous level of activity, but at the moment playing a full-contact sport is out of the question. He is even not able to perform simple quadratic stretches. My friend is a very good football player, and I am afraid that him neglecting to rehab his knee will end any possibility for him to continue his football career. It has been 5 months since he has been to a physical therapist, and going to therapy is definately out of the question. What are some effective ways of rehabing at “home”? Can you explain some knee exercises, training ideas, weightlifting methods, aerobic workouts, or any other trainging that would allow him to regain his strength and be able to play, and be competative in football. :help:

i’ve had 2 surgeries on my left knee. first one was slight pcl repair. 8 months later had my ACL replaced. 4 months later i was playing touch football with a brace on.

so if you’e motivated it’s clearly possible to make a come back. sounds like he’s not motivated though.

staying flexible is a big thing, i find my calf on the left side is always tighter than my right. also make sure to strengthen the hamstring as much as possible. it took me a year to get into a full squat position but it’s as strong as ever now.

why do you say therapy is out of the question? get him back in.

I agree with t-bone, your friend has to continue therapy.
If you want some good exercises for at home, try all kind of proprioceptive exercises (wobble boards ect.). it’s also very important to strengthen your whole leg ,particulary the vastus medialis. stay with exercises in a closed kinetic chain. squats, one legged squats and lunges are a good choice for example.

How do you know that it was a PCL injury? How did you feel when you initially did squats postinjury? What did your recovery/physio entail? What types of exercises? Any ART or Deep-Friction Massage? Any and all details would greatly help me thanks.

The knee surgeon told me it was the PCL! (i’ve only ever met one other guy who’s had a PCL injury seems to be very rare)

This happened in highscool, many moons ago. Playing football. I can’t remember exactly what i was going through, except i was in pain! This was before the CF forum. I had never heard of ART and other regenerative techniques, unfortunately!

I didn’t do deep squats for a while, mostly because i had an ACL replacement within a year of the first operation.

Have you had your knee looked at?

Had X-rays done and will see a surgeon soon for further info. In football and rugby the injury does occur more frequently than any other sport. The reason for this is that when you land on your knee with all of your bodywt in football this causes the PCL injury along with car accidents with the knee hitting the dashboard.

Mine occured from a hit to the knee as i was pushing off on it. It could have been a much worse injury.