Not mine thankfully, but just been having a long conversation with a friend who has just snapped hers for a second time and has just seen a consultant about it…

His response has been that she should go away and change her lifestyle (runner, mountain biker, snowboarder)which you can probably imagine hasn’t gone down too well, undergo an initial 3 month physio period to strengthen it and has identified early onset of arthritis.

It seems he is reluctant to operate for a second time, stating their is only a 70% success rate (Now that’s still good in opinion) as it would require specialist medical equipment to be brought in to the hospital and an artificial ACL…

It all strikes me as NHS and cost cutting and a surgeon under pressure to push the easy and cheapest option?? Surely if lifestyle is so important to someone (friends, stress release, work etc) then this should have to be the last change?? Or is it just a test to see how much she wants the surgery…

Any advice be appreciated on how she tackles this as she wants surgery as soon as possible…

i saw Jonathan Webb privately in Bristol, superb surgeon who asked what I wanted to do – rather than don’t do anything which is what I had been told before.

Highly recomend, although the total bill was rather scary – 8 years later it is superb so done begrudge the payments (that my company paid ) 😀

I changed my consultant mid-way through the investigation I was having on a dodgy ankle as I didn’t think he cared about my treatment, everything was a fight to get done, his attitude was that I was just another number.

The new one could not of been better, treated me like a human being, knew my name, explained the tests/scans to me, asked me what I wanted out of the treatment, and what sort of things I got up to, so he could adjust the treatment accordingly. He took me step by step through surgery, and post-operative care, and was generally fantastic.

If the consultant your friend has, isn’t being that great, and it sounds like he/she isn’t ask for a 2nd opinion, and see what someone else has to say, and see if their attitude is any better.

You sure it not the ALL needs sorting instead?

*Disclaimer – no medical expertise here, just became intrigued by the article as my mates has had his ACL operated on a few times now so I had passed it onto him.