Got my op date on the 23rd of june and was just wondering who else has had it and how long before you were back on the bike, cheers. 🙂
Depending on the type of op and any meniscus issues
2 weeks - very gentle exercise bike, in pain
4 weeks - starting to be able to do wee intervals
8 weeks - doing decent sessions on exercise bike
12 weeks - doing easy rides on a normal bikes
24 weeks - starting to work up to riding "as normal"
You can make pretty good progress if you do the gym rehab and look after it well. I know people who have been back on the bike a lot sooner but the graft is vulnerable if you do this.
Cheers shandy but 6 months!!! 😯 😥 Having the graft taken from my patellar tendon don't know if there's any meniscus issues, all he said was that the acl is torn, have you had the same and if so is it a lot stronger now? Cheers.
I snapped the ACL on my left leg skiing and then a year later snapped on my right leg in a (road) bike accident.
On both occassions I have chosen not to have surgery (with the advice of the consultant) and instead used physio / weights and specific bike exercises to overcome th injury. That was about 3 years ago, and have no problems since. I can always have surgery in the future if I need to.....fingers crossed that won't be necessary 😯
I had an ACL reconstruction a few years ago and was away from moutain biking for about 6-8 months, as Shandy said can do light exercise bike work fairly quickly but i am afraid it is a fairly long road to full recovery.
I have since ruptured both ACLs again but have not had them reconstructed and have had no problems cycling or skiing without them, all my injuries were from rugby.
Hope all goes well with the op
I had the hamstring graft which has slightly different implications for the rehab - I needed to do a lot of work on the hamstring. As I understand it the patellar tendon is very painful at first, but avoids some of the problems which come with slicing a lump off your hamstring.
As a few other posters have said, the key to any recovery is the rehab you do. Mine was gone for a couple of years before the op, I did plenty of work in the gym, and it was definitely worth it for me getting it fixed - it is much more solid.
There is a big stigma on here about gyms being boring but they really aren't. If you get the right physio and learn about developing good functional strength, core strength, and flexibility, you can take a lot of positive out of a 6-month stint in the gym. Try and find the right physio and get them to build you up to some free weights and kettlebells. The bikejames website has a lot of good exercises and there is a good core workout with liam killeen on Youtube, which somebody else posted up before. Everybody has physical limiters on the bike that they can improve dramatically in the gym.
Had my right knee done twice. First op they used the patella tendon and hamstring for the 2nd. For me, the latter was the more successful of the two. I was back on the exercise bike after 10 days (little or no resistance) and on mtb after a couple of months, however, that was mainly on the road. Offroad was about 6 months and I was extremely conscious of the graft being vulnerable. Maybe a bit late but I'd suggest getting those quads and hamstrings built up as you will lose them to an extent. Attend physio, do your exercises religously post op and DON'T rush to get back to what you were doing beforehand as it will take time.
I've had the ACL treatment.Hamstring was the donor for me.
They did the meniscus while they were in there too.
I was told do nothing for 2 weeks - literally lay there for 2 weeks!
After 4 weeks I spun around a cricket field
12 weeks I was off road - spinning v low gears.
With hindsight this was a little too early.
After 6 months I was doing everything I would normally ride , but
to be honest the graft area felt a little tender/strange on the odd occassion.
Like Shandy said the hamstring was the most difficult to rehabilitate.
Best of luck with the op. Do the physio and you'll be right.
I'm so glad I had mine done as I was sick of the ligament giving away.
ouch.
Ok, cheers guys for that! Looks like i'm guna miss the most of summer riding then 🙁 but just like you say senor j, i'm so fed up of riding On tenter hooks being scared of coming off bike or having to dab hard and knee giving way! 😮 never felt so much pain!!!