Torn ACl (Knee injury)

[Turk6482]

OK, torn my ACL and pulled a few things along the way when I was teaching a RAD (Rape defense) course. Yes, yes a got beat up by a girl. please, they have not given up on me at the station since then.

I was wondering. It's been 8 weeks since the incident happened and I have lost most of the summer for diving. Doing PT to get around the surgery (Which by the way has 6 months of recovery).

My knee feels good, has it's days when it acts up but for the most part it's good. I'm thinking of getting a few dives in before the end of the season and am wondering if anyone has thoughts on this.

Am I pushing it just to get wet, or should easy beach entries be OK?

Thanks............
Stephen

 

[Spectre]

I can't tell if you are saying you did, or did not have surgery?

Of course everyone is going to be different, so I'll just tell you my timeline.

March 1st... blew ACL & MCL, some damage to LCL. PT until surgery April 11th. PT straight out of surgery. There was one pool dive pre-surgery, I think March 20th or so, but the knee brace dug into my leg from drysuit squeeze.

First dive. Shore dive May 17th. Got yelled at by my therapists, but we debated and debated and they finally agreed with no flutter kicks, and using drysuit for redundancy.
I was supposed to also have the brace on, but that just didn't work after that pool dive so I wrapped with an ace bandage.

May 31st, 7 weeks after, I was in full diving mode and off to scubaboard's Wreckmania II Boat Diving in Key Largo.

August 5th, 16 weeks and 32 dives out of surgery I was in double tanks.

By the time I got my custom brace and cleared for activity [ski racing], I had over 60 dives in and hanging up the fins after a great season.

Obviously, I'm not a doctor... and I'm a tad nuts... so your milage may vary [I think chickdiver was back cave diving in doubles only a few weeks post surgery].

 

[SubMariner]

OK, torn my ACL and pulled a few things along the way when I was teaching a RAD (Rape defense) course. Yes, yes a got beat up by a girl. please, they have not given up on me at the station since then.

I was wondering. It's been 8 weeks since the incident happened and I have lost most of the summer for diving. Doing PT to get around the surgery (Which by the way has 6 months of recovery).

My knee feels good, has it's days when it acts up but for the most part it's good. I'm thinking of getting a few dives in before the end of the season and am wondering if anyone has thoughts on this.

Am I pushing it just to get wet, or should easy beach entries be OK?

Thanks............
Stephen

Stephen, there are quite a few of us here on SB with knee problems, so you're not alone, buddy!

That being said, have you been at a pool at all? Even just mask/fins/snorkel doing a few laps & surface dives should be able to give you some indication about how your knee is faring.

Or, if you can take it one step further, doing some confined water dives in full gear will also help you determine whether or not it will properly support the weight of your gear while you are on land.

Take care,

 

[CaptSaaz]

With a torn ACL I would be talking to my orthopedist before attempting anything.

I tore my ACL and had some cartilage damage back in 1992. I could walk all day on it and not a problem. Once I did anything strenuous which shocked or even twisted the knee, I was down for the count. Thinking back, I would not want this to happen 40ft down as it was quite painful and my knee was useless for about 1/2 hour. I wound up with reconstructive surgery and 6 month rehab. My knee is 98% of what it was. I ski, scuba, hike, etc with no problem. Stiffens up on a long plane ride but I have managed 7 hours straight on a flight without being crippled.

If you are going to test it, make sure you have someone with you in case you become incapacitated, and in a pool first. Have you seen your orthopedist yet? The doctor make any recommendations?

 

[MN Lakeman]

First of all, I think 6 months is pretty conservative for recovery time. Are you able to get a consult with various surgeons? I had an arthoscopic procedure done on my torn ACL 8 years ago (ski crash) which involved utilizing a donor ligament, which meant much less trauma (as opposed to the conventional method of hacking a piece of your own patella ligament for repair!). Rehab & recovery was remarkably quick. I was racing 3 or 4 triathlons every summer that time in my life, & though I missed the races that summer (March surgery), I was back on my bike training for some bike races in June, & starting running in August. I was in the pool 4 weeks after surgery w/ PT's blessings. Flutter kick got strong again w/i a few weeks - but avoid frog/whip kick for a couple months. But THE BEST therapy is the bike, whether it's stationary or on the road. Incidently, my 18 year old daughter tore hers last year, & the same surgeon performed the exact procedure, & she too was back to near full activity in 3 months (ah, youth). I wonder if maybe you would want to wear a knee brace on the outside of your wetsuit (?) for added stability pre & post surgery.

 

[TropicalDiver]

I HAVE NO ACL and still dive (cut out totally rather than repaired when severed after car accident in 80s - don't ask, if I only knew now what I know then, that MD would have been in court!)

I DO do straight/flexed heel leg lifts with ankle weights (heel pointed away toes pointed to me) to address inside and outside muscles around knee to stabilize. I feel strongly that this helps both my running (which I'm really not supposed to do, but heck how does one keep in shape?) and any other activity involving placing stress on knees (getting up with tanks, kicking, etc.) You might want to look into some PT exercises.

 

[SubMariner]

If you are going to test it, make sure you have someone with you in case you become incapacitated, and in a pool first. Have you seen your orthopedist yet? The doctor make any recommendations?

VERY good advice. This should be 1st & foremost!

Take care, eh?!

 

[Turk6482]

Everyone,

Thanks for the replies, it's nice (Well not for you) to know that other divers had to overcome the same thing. I guess we all heal at our own pace, and get back into the swing on our own ways.

Think I'll get a dive in this weekend and see how it goes.

Take care......................