Anterior Cruciate Ligament or ACLI have been rehabilitating repaired, reconstructed and injured acl or anterior cruciate ligament injuries for as long as I can remember. I have to say that they are some of the most satisfying albeit often sticky and patience testing of all conditiions to work with. If you are unsure, the ANTERIOR CRUCIATE LIGAMENT or acl as we call it is a commonly injured ligament inside the human knee and plays a major role in knee stability, particularly in sporting activities. This past week I have been asked to help a semi-professional soccer player complete his final rehabilitation after having his anterior cruciate ligament (acl) reconstructed twice in two years. Twenty years ago it used to take nine to twelve months from surgery to get back to playing contact sport. This has decreased slightly but surgeons still like to leave participation in contact sports for as long as possible. The guy I am treating is currently five months down the line after his second operation. The knee is stable and prior to my input he was already playing soccer at a non contact, training session level. However there is a problem. The player is getting pain at the site of a screw in the bone of the lower leg. Unfortunately he has attempted for a few weeks to push on with this and has had no improvement in his pain. The knee is stable, he is as strong as an ox but it is my opinion that this irritation at the site of the screw is likely to hold him back. I would think that the screw will have to be removed (if the pain does not settle). This will be satisfactory in the long run but will add two or three weeks to his recovery. In addition he will be unable to work up to his final rehabilitation until this problem is resolved anyway. Rehabilitation of this particular injury is often a long, hard road that has no shortcuts. The message is that too much too soon is probably the cause of this. The correct and patient route would have won out in the end. Once again ladies and gentleman in life it's the hare and the tortoise. And we know who always gets home first, don't we.
|
