Playing Sport Again After Tearing Knee

Knee injuries are tough under the best of circumstances, only an injury to your anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) requires a higher standard of care to avert serious long-term consequences. In other words, if yous're an athlete who's champing at the bit to go dorsum into the game afterwards an ACL injury, go on with care.

Here at Orthopedic & Wellness Center, nether the experienced guidance of Drs. Ojedapo Ojeyemi and Matthew Roh, our squad of orthopedic specialists has one master goal — to restore pain-gratis motility to our patients. And when information technology comes to ACL injuries, the route to recovery varies from one person to the next.

Here's a look at what you can expect when y'all render to sports after an ACL injury.

When tin can I get dorsum in the game?

Ane of the offset questions our more than active patients typically ask is, "When can I go back to (insert your athletic try of choice hither)?" And this is 1 tough question to answer. Offset, the respond depends upon the extent of the ACL injury and whether we performed surgery.

For nonsurgical ACL injuries, our first goal is to reduce the pain and swelling and allow ample time for your ligament to repair itself on its own, as with a strain or fractional tear. Yous can do your office to speed this process by following your at-home instructions to the letter, which usually include staying off your knee, attending physical therapy, and regularly icing the injury.

With a little TLC, physical therapy, and time, we typically greenlight a return to sports once you're able to become more active with your knee without whatever hurting or swelling.

If nosotros've performed ACL reconstruction surgery to repair a large or consummate tear, the road to recovery takes much longer — anywhere from 4-eight weeks to 4-8 months or more. Once more, it'due south nearly incommunicable to predict a timeline for your return to sports since it depends upon the extent of the reconstruction and how your body responds to the surgery (not to mention which sport you want to render to!).

In full general, nosotros want to encounter that full range of motion is restored to your genu, that it's stable, and information technology doesn't show any signs of swelling after use.

The great news is that because we use the latest arthroscopic techniques, your recovery time is greatly reduced over more traditional techniques.

The return

One time we requite you the get-ahead to return to your sport of selection after your ACL injury, nosotros ask that y'all continue to follow our recommendations in order to protect yourself confronting reinjury, which is a clear and nowadays danger when it comes to ACL injuries.

Whether we ask that you limit your participation, wear a caryatid, or any other precautionary measure, you'd exercise well to pay heed. Non only is reinjury a threat, but your odds of developing osteoarthritis in a knee that doesn't heal properly are fairly high.

You should also pay close attention to your affected knee and heed anytime it objects. Your trunk does a great job of letting you know when you're pushing it past its limits, but you lot need to register the warning.

Rest assured, we're with you lot every step of the way during your recovery, and nosotros want nothing more to return you to your sport of choice. But we're as well looking out for your future wellness and quality of life, and growing old with a bum knee tin can be miserable.

If y'all accept more questions almost returning to sports after an ACL injury, please call one of our three locations in Germantown, Frederick, and Waldorf, Maryland, or you tin can use the online scheduling tool to ready upwardly an appointment.