Women ACL and MCL tear

[All Chalked Up]

Has anyone (or their gymnasts or children) ever experienced tear(s)/partial tear(s) of the ACL and/or MCL knee ligaments? How long did it take to recover to full strength, and what was rehab like? I'm terrified that I will never return to gymnastics, or if I do return it will never be at full potential. I am SO not ready to let gymnastics go.

 

[ivyagogo]

I feel your pain. I tore my ACL and badly sprained both my MCL and LCL ligaments. I'm sure I'm a lot older than you though so my recovery will be very different to yours. I tore mine doing a full 4 years ago when I was 41. I tore it in May, had surgery in July and did my first front tuck on the tumbltrak in December. It still hurts sometimes and I don't do much gymnastics, but again, I'm an old fuddy duddy. You don't have to let your gymnastics go. Look at Mustafina. Just make sure you do all your PT. It's really important.

 

[LizzieLac]

I tore my ACL and strained my MCL several years ago in September. I was trying to avoid reconstruction, hoping to be what the physical therapy world calls "a coper." Well, it didn't too many times of my knee giving out when exercising to realize that was not likely!!

MCL healed on its own. Had ACL replaced with cadaver ligament (they can take a piece of your own hamstring tendon for example), but given I was in my 40s using my own tissue was less important. This was done in January. Rehab was tough at first but I was diligent with it and was cleared to run by April. Afterwards I was able to play tennis, run, hike, etc.

If you are nervous, there is nothing wrong with wearing some knee support when you train to give you confidence

 

[2gymnastand1soccerplayer]

A couple years ago my brother tore his ACL and meniscus in one knee playing soccer and then in the other day playing basketball. It requires to knee surgeries, and about 6 months rehab for each knee, because he did his physio exercises and kept in shape is now back to playing soccer, not at the intensity that he was but, still playing

 

[raenndrops]

I know someone who tore her ACL playing soccer in high school (a former gymnast who still comes back and coaches as her schedule permits)... had replacement done her senior year of HS and has played on her college soccer team all 4 years!

My own sister had her ACL replaced, but being older, recovery took longer. She also has meniscus and MCL damage at the same time. She is back to 99%, but she wears a knee brace on occasion just for additional support.

There is a team that we compete against, one of their L8s wears 2 of the BIG knee braces - the ones that you can't buy over the counter whenever she does gymnastics. Her coach said that she has had a few knee surgeries over the years, including ACL replacement in one knee and repair in the other - which is why she is "only" a Level 8.

Follow your rehab to the letter, and it is possible to come back from it! Good luck.

 

[Vivianflips]

A girl in my Sunday school class tore her acl (not sure how badly) playing soccer, I'm pretty sure she didn't need surgery. Again I have no idea how badly she tore it.

 

[flips123]

I tore my ACL in Jan. 2012 with surgery in March 2012. I was back to full training in Oct. 2012. My PT's said that 6-9 month is normal (and because it is you MCL too it probably will be a little longer)

I'm not going to lie, after surgery is painful and PT is HARD. After surgery I had a nerve block (which really helped, let me tell you) and a continuous motion machine. I was bedridden for about 1 1/2- 2 weeks. Then, I was on crutches for about a month and had my leg in a giant brace for another month. I did pool therapy along with regular physical therapy (the water makes it so you can be up "on your feet" sooner and provides natural resistance). PT was hard and frustrating (after losing 15 pounds of muscle in 2 weeks), but I got through it, and you can too.

Coming back to gymnastics also wasn't easy. PT helped gain my strength back (this finally got back to 100% after 2 years) but I needed to gain my confidence back. A giant knee brace makes things different and suddenly a full turn on beam is the scariest skill ever. But just like PT you can work through these. My knee got tired and ached quite a bit after returning full time (for obvious reasons), but that gradually went away as I regained my "gymnasts strength".

My knee still pains me from time to time, and coming back to gymnastics was not easy by any means. Pushing through everything has taught me not just how physically strong I have become, but how mentally strong I am as well. I'm still doing gymnastics almost 3 years later and doing better than ever! Wearing a knee brace gives me oodles more confidence and I don't even notice it anymore. (plus, I'm told that I look really hardcore in it). Best of wishes to you and your knee in this journey. You've got a great community of people here to support you along the way.

Sorry about the long winded post, I just had a lot to say! Feel free to PM me if you want to know anything else!

 

[LucyTRA]

One of my former coaches completely ruptured several of the ligaments in his knee (can't remember which specific ones though) when he was 11 landing badly in a double back dismount from rings. He has a huge scar running from midway down his shin to 1/3 of his thigh from the surgery, but he continued to do artistic and trampoline gymnastics after his recovery from surgery and is still competing (and pretty much always winning!) tramp comps now 12 years later.

It is possible and it will get better!

 

[Dka]

I coach a different sport but I have seen a lot of very high level athletes tear those ligaments, get surgery and come back in 6-9 months. There will be a lot of rehab but It can be done, I see it in high school athletes a lot...( not a lot but not uncommon) that being said, gymnastics is the toughest sport on the injured patient that I have ever witnessed. But where there is a will there is away! Hugs and good luck to you..

 

[Gymnast@<3]

id say aobut a year for full recovery

 

[Deleted member D3987]

I feel your pain. I tore my ACL and badly sprained both my MCL and LCL ligaments. I'm sure I'm a lot older than you though so my recovery will be very different to yours. I tore mine doing a full 4 years ago when I was 41. I tore it in May, had surgery in July and did my first front tuck on the tumbltrak in December. It still hurts sometimes and I don't do much gymnastics, but again, I'm an old fuddy duddy. You don't have to let your gymnastics go. Look at Mustafina. Just make sure you do all your PT. It's really important.

i remember that like it was yesterday.

 

[ivyagogo]

Dunno - I still never did a full again.

 

[Deleted member D3987]

but you did do some...which 360 million other Americans can not say they did.

 

[Deleted member 14190]

Has anyone (or their gymnasts or children) ever experienced tear(s)/partial tear(s) of the ACL and/or MCL knee ligaments? How long did it take to recover to full strength, and what was rehab like? I'm terrified that I will never return to gymnastics, or if I do return it will never be at full potential. I am SO not ready to let gymnastics go.

Yes I had a gymnast go on to D1 after surgery to repair acl. Buy a bike!