Torn acl & buckethandle tear to meniscus, 1yr 1m post op and still having problems.. why?

back in may of 06, i tore my acl & meniscus during a soccer game. after getting wheeled off the field and sent to the ER, an mri showed that i tore all that. i got arthroscopic surgery & my surgeon also did 'thermal shrinking' to my acl in june of that year. physical therapy is the most painful thing i've ever been through in my life, and now more than a year later my knee is not feeling great. it's still pretty swollen, although there has definitely been an improvement to it. i can walk, and jog, but i cant sprint like i used to since i used to be a sprinter for my track team. whats the deal? should i wait a few more months? i heard this rehabilitation can go anywhere from a few months to two years. please tell me if you, or someone you know, had a similar experience.

Awww man...i had the same thing happen during a skiing accident......It took a loooong time to run ...After a year I was joggin and walking comfortable.....running took a year and a half and tennis took almost 2 years....it's a slow recovery....and differnt for everyone....and yeah physical therapy sucked....I was still taking vicodin before therapy for almost 8 monthstalk to your doc to reassure that you are doing ok.....but really...it takes a long time....if all else fails get a second opinion

My boyfriend will be one year out next month and he still gets swollen and stiff. I am an athletic training student so he's been my little experiment (lucky him). He isn't nearly as good at lacrosse as he used to be. It's sad how an injuries like that happen. But keep taking your time and strive to get fully better! People just heal at different paces.

Thermal shrinkage has an extremely poor long term prognosis. Your ACL might be failing again if not good chance it will. What happens when the surgeon does the thermal shrinkage the tissue that makes up the ACL is damaged in the process of being "shrunk" and deteriorates over time. You should see a different orthopedic surgeon to have reconstructive surgery done on the ACL. The rehab usually goes like this...2-3 months of strengthening, then 4-6 more weeks of plyometric training (jumping, cutting, etc). After that you should be able to do most activities without much pain and should be back into sports in 6 months. It will take about 2 yrs to be 100% but you should be 80-90% in 6-8 months. Make sure you do your rehab with a sports medicine PT.

Most people return to full function after one year. If you are having significant pain and weakness, there is a possibility you could have further damage. Also, remember that after arthroscopic debridement of a mensicus, that the mechanics change in the knee...some people are never able to regain that "normal" feeling in the knee anymore.

If you are not getting any better at this point, I would definetely go back to the surgeon...and if he/she writes you off...go get another opinion. If your ACL needs reconstuction, better to do it sooner than later.