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devastating acl and meniscus tear

oldschool1967

oldschool1967

VIP Member
Aug 6, 2011
1,649
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hello bros, i was wondering how many of you have had a similar injury and how you coped with it. I was 39 years old, and for once in my life on top of my lifting game! i was on my 3rd month of 5x5 and at 5'9'', i weighed a fairly respectable 240lbs. I grew out of all my clothes, luckily I had plenty of sweats on hand!one day at work,POP,i landed on the floor. after 8 months of intensive therapy, i was able to squat an olympic bar. IM now 44 and still not there yet, i fluctuate between 225-230, after all this time, i have managed to get the big 3 into a respectable weight range, however, i feel i may have reach a kind of threshold in reguards to my knee. they also used 3 strips of my hamstring to make an acl and cut the bad part of my meniscus out. thank-you guys for any stories you may have for me! lift safe brothers!
 
AllTheWay

AllTheWay

TID Lady Member
Mar 17, 2011
4,240
411
at 39 you should have had a cadaver graft. as we age our own tissues start to lose some of the integrity that holds them together, if you will. essentially they have a tendency to become weaker. most cadaver grafts are taken from young cadavers, mine was from a 19yo. it was a lig from the foot. the cadaver grafts are generally recommend for people as they approach the age of 40 which is where they think things start going the opposite direction. (this is what my orthopeadic surgeon told me, i have no papers, it is what i was told by the doctor :) ) most ACL tears happen when the hams and the quads dont fire at the same time. often times because the hammys are weaker and it allows the tibia to go forward hard and pop goes the ACL. often times it results in a fracture of the tibial plateau because the femoral condyle crashes down on the front of the tibia. the condyle then ends up ripping the meniscus because of the pressure exerted on it.

techinically people dont need and ACL. non active people can do rehab and strengthen the hammies and quads to try and stabilize the joint. anyone active, this isnt going to work. i can say that 2 years after my ACL replacement with medial meniscus removed and lateral meniscus repaired, i have good strength in the leg and it has almost completely caught up to the opposite leg. it does hurt to achieve full flexion with it so i dont do it very often. it bothers it to do lying leg curls so i dont do them heavy. leg extensions dont bother me and i dont feel any pain with them even though i know a lot of docs recommend that their clients dont do them. squats i dont go heavy on but i will say that since switching to sumo style, it doesnt bother my knee much at all. deads i try and pull heavy on them and it doesnt affect me at all on them. i know im only a girl but i pulled 335# a few weeks ago and it was not even sore. often time the first few pulls will hurt and sometimes i will feel it pop over the meniscus and then it is fine.

if yours is still bothering you 5 years later, i would go get another opinion. keep in mind that MRIs and such are terrible diagnostics for knees. there is so much going on in there and things are so tight that it is hard for them to be read correctly. my MRI read that there was only a 30% tear and no meniscal damage at all. the dr knew the ACL was gone because of the extensive draw motion. the surgery took an hour and a half longer than expected because the ACL was completely destroyed and as stated above the both meniscus were badly damaged and the patella was very arthritic and they had to scrape it clean. so find a good ortho. :)
 
luvthetest

luvthetest

Senior Member
Jan 27, 2011
135
10
not a knee bro but i had shoulder surgery in july of "09" and was in a brace that held my arm at 70* for 16wks then 2 diff size pillow braces 2 wks each...i tore all 4 tendons loose and tore the R-cuff almost in half like a clam shell....i started back in febuary of 2010 benching a 5' wood dowel....i was scared to bench heavy then in november 2010 i thought to myself(and this may be wrong to some but i really dont care)fuck it if it breaks it breaks...they fixed it once they can fix it again + im 47yrs old and dont have a lotta good yrs left so i got after it that day...i warmed up set the pins and put on 315....FUCKIN FAILED BIG TIME and hurt my shoulder a little....30 days later stacked it on again and got 2...they were not pretty but they went up.....about a month ago i put up 345 for 2 and just couldnt lock out 365 and plan on being back up to 405 for reps by the new yr...i can do seated military presses behind the neck with 275 on the smith for 4 reps....now IMHO as far as your knee and the threshold you have reached you have to ask yourself is it mental or physical and are you willing to push yourself to the point of tearing your knee apart again because thats what its going to take to get to where you were before your injury bro....if your scared to use that knee then your stuck...but you can still be big and strong just not as strong and you will have to go about it a different way...your old like me bro so you need to make the decision soon because like me you only have a few good yrs left before age will force you/us to slow down....there really is no such thing as lifting safe because if you are your not doing it right...you know as well as i do that you have to push yourself RIGHT TO THE EDGE AND PAST to achieve your goals!!!
 
Halo

Halo

MuscleHead
Jul 5, 2011
3,666
487
Same injury bro, with hamstring graft, and 3/4'rs of my meniscus removed, I was 34 when mine was done and I'm doing really well since the injury PM me if you have any specific questions.
 
AllTheWay

AllTheWay

TID Lady Member
Mar 17, 2011
4,240
411
Same injury bro, with hamstring graft, and 3/4'rs of my meniscus removed, I was 34 when mine was done and I'm doing really well since the injury PM me if you have any specific questions.
how about if he puts them in here and then you answer in here and that way we will have a very thorough thread on ACL repairs and such. im sure this is a very common injury and it would be great to have a good thread about it!
 
B

BikerTrash

Rottens cookie dealer
Mar 19, 2011
269
51
In 2009 I had this surgery on my right Knee ,I had blown the side out during a squat in the gym and tore all that shit and crushed bones together.It was my time I reckon .anyhow I did the recoop therapy and now my squats are back up to 505lb for reps .Today I can do more with that knee than I evern could before .Im mid 30's now .
Also Had my shoulder done in 2010 due to tearing muscles and crushing bones together,,we wont get into how fukn painful shoulder surgery is and the therapy is horrible ...worst surgery of my life was my shoulder repair ......hands down ,
The knee surgery was the best thing ever for me ,although mine wasnt optional as it was all jacked up but its 110% now .
 
luvthetest

luvthetest

Senior Member
Jan 27, 2011
135
10
In 2009 I had this surgery on my right Knee ,I had blown the side out during a squat in the gym and tore all that shit and crushed bones together.It was my time I reckon .anyhow I did the recoop therapy and now my squats are back up to 505lb for reps .Today I can do more with that knee than I evern could before .Im mid 30's now .
Also Had my shoulder done in 2010 due to tearing muscles and crushing bones together,,we wont get into how fukn painful shoulder surgery is and the therapy is horrible ...worst surgery of my life was my shoulder repair ......hands down ,
The knee surgery was the best thing ever for me ,although mine wasnt optional as it was all jacked up but its 110% now .

agreed...i wouldnt wish shoulder surgery on my worst enemy....i slept sitting up on the couch for 17wks and my shit still hurts.
 
Halo

Halo

MuscleHead
Jul 5, 2011
3,666
487
Got it ATW, I posted it for Some in my log when he asked here it is for Old and anyone who is interested, any other questions please feel free, again this was my experience and everyone is different.

My deal was I had it blown out playing football overseas, the docs sucked and said aaaahhh nothings wrong ride the stationary bike and get the sinovial fluids moving. Fuck them they were idiots. I had some buddies that are insane runners one with a hundred plus marathons and the other with a 2:39 Boston, they said come run with us... I was like dude No Way, my leg keeps folding up like a fucking lawn chair whenever I hit something uneven. They finally talked me into it they said LSD brother (Long Slow Distance) we'll run your pace, don't sweat it. I can't really mentally roll like that so I started off slow but I am mentally wrong about pushing myself and I started to up the distance. What I was thinking was strengthen the muscles and the leg will hold up as best it can. I ran my first marathon without the ACL. Meantime the meniscus and ACL are floating around grinding the shit out of the inside of my joint. Three years later I get to a new place and go straight to the Orthopods, the guy manipulates it a little and says yup you don't have an ACL. Now mind you my leg is pretty strong from running 100 mi a week for a couple of years. So I get a surgery date +3 months, I come up with the brilliant idea to make my injured leg GIANT LOL... seriously I lifted any exercise I could to make the quads and hams and calf and stabilizers strong and big. I went into the surgery with an abnormal imbalance. I was awake for the whole thing I read up on it and started immediately taking Glucosamine Sulfate and MSM and the toughest part was the ROM. They said ohhhh don't worry the hammy we harvest won't hurt. REALLY... LIE!!!! I would lay flat on my stomach with a beach towel around my foot and I would pull it up from behind and fucking cry like a little baby... MF'r hurt like hell. Then I started walking slow and scared, but quickly. Then I would do leg flexing clenches with my leg straight about 5,000 a day LOL... see not quite right in the head. Then I got some new running shoes all cushion and started walking faster and doing some weights super light but a ton of reps pushing the ROM daily but making sure to massage the knee and hammy all day. I was off work for a few weeks it helped big time. I used DMSO gel rubbed on the knee and Ibuprofen to try and get rid of the swelling tough thing to do right there. Then I started surfing again right away the ocean was awesome on it but still scary there are some pressures on the knee in directions not too safe. I pushed it allot I have to say and sometimes not smartly but the weights came up quickly and I got 1Rep at 1,000 at the month mark then I backed away from the big weights and focused on flexibility and strength. I have had a couple of scares since mind you it's been 12'ish years, year and a half ago squatting 315 on an uneven surface I felt a little hitch. Put that shit away and did a ton of walking, no problems since and I've really turned up the volume and weights since then. I'm always a little nervous and wrap on heavy weight squats. I watch how deep I go and am mindful at all times. I know everyone is different but this was my experience. If you have any questions fire away.
 
oldschool1967

oldschool1967

VIP Member
Aug 6, 2011
1,649
172
thank you alltheway! i was never given the option for a cadaver. however, my knee does clink and clank, and, like you, my lying leg curls are horrible! i can do 315lb stiff deads, but 20lb leg curls, with a slight pull. the insurance is done with me, luckily it was comp since it happened at work.
 
oldschool1967

oldschool1967

VIP Member
Aug 6, 2011
1,649
172
thanks halo! your therapy sounds like mine, the towel behind the head crap, and a machine they put me on to bend my knee backwards as much as possible. uggg.i do get a little carried away with the weight, but sometimes my sensibility is derailed by my desire to 'get back' what i had lost.no questions as of now bro, but i love you guys quick replies!! thank you!
 
oldschool1967

oldschool1967

VIP Member
Aug 6, 2011
1,649
172
bikertrash, iv'e heard delt surgeries are the worst. im sorry to hear about that! i guess better my knee than delt. no insult intended, but you know!
 
AllTheWay

AllTheWay

TID Lady Member
Mar 17, 2011
4,240
411
thank you alltheway! i was never given the option for a cadaver. however, my knee does clink and clank, and, like you, my lying leg curls are horrible! i can do 315lb stiff deads, but 20lb leg curls, with a slight pull. the insurance is done with me, luckily it was comp since it happened at work.

that sucks that they didnt give you that option. i was all the way on that wagon. why do more damage to my leg and weaken the hammies (yes, i know they say it doesnt but i dont believe it) to use them when i can have a very nice and strong young ligament to hold it altogether.

i wish i had had them clean out the left knee while i was there as it grinds and crackles really bad.

i didnt go to physical therapy so im afraid i know nothing about how one is supposed to rehap it. i just went to work 3 days after surgery and then started in the gym about 4 weeks after. it is what got me back to the gym after about a 16 year hiatus. the doc got me in a brace at 2 weeks because he figured i was going to blow it out before it healed :D
 
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