ACL Tear & Knee Ligament Injury

Other knee ligaments can be injured too, most commonly the medial collateral ligament, usually from a blow to the outside of the knee.

What it feels like

Often a pop or a sense of something giving way at the moment of injury, followed by rapid swelling within hours. Difficulty continuing to play. Later, a feeling that the knee is unstable or gives way on turning.

Surgery or not

This is the question most people arrive with, and the honest answer is that it depends on your knee, your sport and your goals, and it is a decision for a surgeon, not for us.

What we can say is that not everyone with an ACL tear needs reconstruction. Some people do very well without it, particularly if their activities do not involve frequent pivoting. Others, particularly in cutting and pivoting sports, generally do better with reconstruction.

What is consistent either way is that rehabilitation determines the outcome more than the surgical decision does.

How we treat it

Whether or not you have surgery, rehabilitation runs in stages with objective criteria between them: restoring movement, rebuilding strength, then power, landing and change of direction, then testing before return.

What to expect

If you are pre-surgery, we can work on strength and movement beforehand, going into surgery stronger generally means recovering better.

Post-surgery, we work to your surgeon’s protocol. Expect testing rather than timelines, and expect to be told honestly when you are not yet ready.

How long it takes

ACL rehabilitation is long: many months, and return to pivoting sport later than most people expect. Returning before meeting strength and function criteria raises reinjury risk substantially, which is why criteria matter more than dates.