ACL reconstruction 2016-07-22 Person 4 5 0

I tore my ACL during a netball match aged 16, and this wasn't initially picked up in A&E. After a few weeks of hobbling around on crutches and some painful 'slips' (where my knee was unstable and it slipped during exercise/ daily activities,) which only made it worse, I went to a local physio who referred me directly to an orthopaedic surgeon - who was brilliant. The operation was fine, as was the recovery. However, at sixteen I didn't quite appreciate the importance of doing the physio afterwards - which I now couldn't emphasise enough. This has contributed to another injury a few years down the line (torn meniscus), for which I also had an operation. However, after the ACL reconstruction, I returned to competitive sport (rowing), at which I competed at a high level with only some complications. Running is still a no-go unless I keep my weight right down, and I did have to be careful when playing sports such as netball, tennis and basketball - although I'm sure with a dedicated and focused recovery to re-build strength in the affected knee then this would be fine. I've never got back up to former standard with skiing - but again this would depend how dedicated you are in your recovery, and I have started to snowboard instead as this limits lateral twisting through the knee. Advice would be to DO YOUR PHYSIO and to keep your weight down.