How Long Does ACL Recovery Take?
Approximately over 250,000 people tear their ACL every year, with the most at-risk population being young female athletes.1 Despite being a common injury, every ACL reconstruction rehabilitation is different. Protocols depend on graft type, concomitant injuries like meniscus or MCL, and surgeon preference. For this reason, ACL protocols need to be a combination of both criteria-based and time-based. From a criteria-based perspective, physical therapists need to make sure athletes can get back to squatting, jumping, landing, cutting, and all other sport-related tasks with good mechanics to set them up for success as they return to sports. From a time-based perspective, physical therapists need to consider tissue healing time and appropriate tissue loading. Each athlete achieves their objective criteria at different times. It can take anywhere from 6 months to 24 months post op for athletes to get back to full participation, with a majority of athletes returning to sport between the 9- and 12-month mark.
6 Tips to Prepare for an Upcoming Hand or Arm Surgery
Have you ever broken your wrist slipping on ice or possibly jammed a finger playing sports? Maybe you have cut yourself while cooking an amazing meal. Unfortunately these things happen and in some cases you may require surgery to fix it. Having surgery on your hand or upper extremity can be very overwhelming and nerve wracking, however there are things that you can do to prepare yourself to make the recovery process easier. Below is a list of tips and tricks to keep in mind in the days before your surgery:
Be Proactive…Prehab!
For most of us, undergoing surgery is a big deal. Not only do we have to consider the cost and potential risk factors, but we have personal questions about the efficacy and the outcomes we can expect. Elective surgery is a big decision because it is an invasive procedure; so we want assurances that we will be coming out of it better than we were going into it. Though there are no absolute guarantees, you will want to have some open dialogue with your physician of choice to get your questions answered. In many instances, you may even want to get a second or third opinion to not only confirm that surgery is indeed necessary but to make sure you entrust your care to someone you deem both competent and knowledgeable. (more…)
