can i resume normal activities with a good functional knee brace for a complete tear of my acl and lat menecus

Question

I do not want surgery. I have very little pain in the knee and very little to no instability when i walk. sometimes i can feel some movement when i twist. The dr. said the mri may have looked worse than they are. because of my range of motion and lack of pain and little instability. also Im not very active nor take part in sports just work and play around the house. Im 36 yrs w/m

Answer 1

I severed my ACL (and tore my MCL and meniscus) when I was 30. I was involved in competitive sports... so I opted for the surgery. But the older you get, the more difficult it is to recover from surgery. And because you aren't athletic, it will be much much harder for you.
I would recommend that you DO NOT do the surgery. Since you don't play sports, as long as you are careful and listen to your doctor's advice, you should be OK.
Your knee will not repair itself. So you need to be careful now and for the rest of your life.
For now, be sure not to walk on uneven or slippery surfaces.
For the rest of your life...
Be sure to wear a brace that limits lateral movement. Be careful not to twist. Don't over extend your knee or do any deep knee bends. Keep the muscles on either side of you knee as strong as possible to prevent re-injury. (Hamstrings, quads and calf muscles.)
Good luck.

Answer 2

Meniscus and acl tears must be surgically repaired or removed. There is not enough blood supply to the area for it to heal itself.But if your doc finds surgery too invasive and would like to use the wait and see approach ,or is waiting for the swelling to go down before attempting surgery... Either way, I would suggest you take it easy for several 3-6 weeks before resuming any strenuous activity. The movement and the minor instability you talk about of course is common with the injury.But, in my experience with patients they instability gets worse through time without surgery and will eventually get a painful popping and or catching sensation in the knee. First and foremost you should ask your doctor about what limits should be set on your R.A.M (aka range of motion).Good Luck !! I hope your knee feels better!

Answer 3

My father tore his MCL, not ACL and opted not to have surgery. He wears a brace when he plays sports and does exercises every day. And he swears by his choice, but he has to work on it everyday. I on the other hand, went the surgery route for my knee. At first I was pleased with my choice, but as I get older I have more knee problems and more surgeries and with more surgeries comes more complications. It is a choice that you and your doctor need to make. If you are in good health and physically fit you should recover quite well from surgery. My concern for you is that if you don't have surgery now and you end up needing it later in your life, will you have damaged your knee more and will you be able to recover as well as you could now? There are pros and cons to each option. I would listen to your doctor. I am sure he/she has seen a lot of patients like you. Good luck.

Answer 4

IF you have a complete ACL tear, I would opt for the surgery. If it's a partial-use your own judgement. Personally I would opt for the surgery to repair it now while you are relatively young. The older that you get the harder the PT and recovery time will be.

Answer 5

no, if your anterior cruciate ligament is completely torn, you are only going to risk tearring the LCL and your MCL and even your PCL, i have seen plenty of high school athletes try to play with a torn ACL and all they do is hurt themselves more. DO NOT RISK IT. and it your have torn your LAT men. then you wil be putting your femur and tibia bones in a higher risk of fracturing.
And if you have no instability then it is probably not your ACL because that is the stabalizing ligament in your knee. there are less invasive surgeries for acl repair and you should seriously consider it. if you have anymore questions you can email me.