Comments on: Considerations for Returning to Soccer after ACL Surgery

By: Marcos jauregui

Marcos jauregui — Sun, 19 Mar 2023 14:43:05 +0000

Greetings from Fresno, Ca. I’m 4 months into my ACL and Meniscus reconstruction surgery and I just started to run and do many of these drills you listed and let me say things have never felt better. I play D1 soccer as well and for a full year I played with a fully torn ACL and and no meniscus in my left Knee. Still managed to play a full season and score 18 goals. My coaches and teammates never new until I went to the doctor and got my MRI. After the winter season. I never new my ACL was gone at the time. But my mind wasn’t going to except it. I breath , live and will die playing soccer. If you love the sport in the same way, keep on fighting. Many pro athletes have suffered multiple ACL injuries and go on to have Hall of fame careers. Why can’t we?
– Marcos jauregui

By: Kunal Nand

Kunal Nand — Sun, 01 Jan 2023 12:25:35 +0000

Kunal football player from New Zealand
Bit of a rundown on my journey so far 6months post op.
Did 2months prehab with my physio and PT .
Complete acl rapture ,medical/lateral miniscus and cartilage chip on femur bone. Graft used was a combination of hamstring and quad tendon.
Started rehab within 24hours after my surgery I had 2 sessions a week with my physio, 3x a day everyday with my basic rehab exercises to regain ROM.
Cleared to use the gym 2weeks post op
PT introduced week 2 3x a week together with 2x physio sessions within 12weeks I had full ROM. Heat and cold therapy helped with inflammation . Had little bit of laxcity in the knee when my surgeon checked 3months visit but nothing concerning.
3months post op Started stationery bike from 2mins all the way up to 45mins 5x a week as I got better.
3.5months post op chiropractor 3x a week and sports massager 2x a week Introduced in the rehab now these 2 is a real booster in my rehab they both helped me perform better in my rehab in my opinion.
On my low weeks I have minimum of 6 session and as I progress over the week each month on my high rehab week I have minimum of 10 session with proper rest days and active recovery and that’s excluding the chrio, physio and sports massager.
6months check up surgeon is very happy 9months mark I’ll be doing return to sport test.
6months post op I’ve done the hop test with my physio to see where I’m sitting currently on 78/84% on operated leg, 95% needed to pass.
Physiologically I was bit scared in my first 3months but as I progressed and did some challenging sessions I got over it really quickly. Now I don’t even think about it at which helps me do single leg work alot, knee is very stable and can do pistol squats on operated leg.
Few keys points I got told was:
Hot and cold therapy
Eccentric , concentric and fatigue training of muscle groups
Lose unnecessary fat around core area and quads and transform to muscle.
Healthy eating habits.
Do not neglect all other muscle groups work/train them all for a better/healthy outcome.
Don’t rush to get back but instead perfect your form and techniques first than all will fall in place.

So far these things are helping me so I’m looking at fully competing again in 4/5 months.
Wish everyone the best in their journey.
Aim to be better than you were before for good and don’t dwell on negative thoughts.

By: John

John — Fri, 22 Apr 2022 16:35:04 +0000

Hi doctor,

I sustained an ACL tear in 2018 and within six months, I under went a supposed Reconstructive surgery. However, during the operation, the surgeon performed stability tests concluding that the knee was stable: Thus, he could not justify reconstruction because it spontaneously healed. He proceeded to remove cyclops and trimmed the meniscus that was also torn. He then cleared me to return to play in about a month of rehabilitation. However, I was apprehensive and just did a bit of running, at one point running 5 kms in 21 minutes. I’m now thinking of returning to soccer, and I was wondering what’s the probability of a re-rupture. The Knee is stable and I have played a basketball scrimmage at about 60% of effort pivoting sparingly over the last 6 months. I have scheduled an MRI but I don’t know if that will be of any help in the decision. By the way my surgeon is well respected and regarded one of the very best in Australia, he was a leading surgeon for a national team sport as well as professional sports clubs. But he’s now working in private practice. Thank you for your time.

By: Lewis Fowle

Lewis Fowle — Thu, 13 Jan 2022 20:23:32 +0000

I had surgery on ACL 11 months ago and I am back training in my football team but not with any contact from my teammates, I feel good but I feel like I can’t go into a tackle or put my foot in as I’m scared I might re tear or injure it, is there any way I can improve this?

By: Josue Sa

Josue Sa — Fri, 07 Jan 2022 16:07:30 +0000

I got surgery last year on March 15 2021 and it’s been almost 10 months and I feel like right now I’m at 73% recover from my acl surgery , I want to know , how many months more I need to be at 100% on the knee , so I can be able to play soccer at 100% without no problem , the sport that I love so much 🙂

By: Mez

Mez — Thu, 25 Feb 2021 08:33:52 +0000

I’m 4 months into my surgery and cleared by my surgeon to run after 3.5 month. Still no confident but emotionally up there. 3 gym sessions a week and 3 runs of 2.5km. I’m hoping after 8 months but after my surgeon’s clearance. that time. He initially said 12 months but was happy with 4 month progression. Is that correct ACL becomes mature after 10 months not earlier?
And Yes I can smell the grass. Thanks 🙂

By: mark

mark — Wed, 23 Sep 2020 03:13:41 +0000

My daughter had acl surgery 15 months ago. She plays Div 1 soccer and is struggling to get back into form. She worked out all summer running, weight lifting, stretching and just generally working on getting soccer fit. Still many physiological connections being made on the return trail. Getting the mind and movements back in the game, speed, agility and endurance specifically. Pushing the knee a bit now after 15 months, really adding stress to it with mile sprints, full field scrimmages etc… Still experiencing numbness from the hamstring removal and then pain in the knee after stressful workouts.
To all parents and players after seeing this all first hand if you’re playing a high level sport remember those muscles will need to be used again at the highest levels. Pushing them is a painful remedy but asking the tendons to do 100% during a game when they are only worked 50% in practice is not going to work. It will hurt sometimes, it will swell sometimes, it will be numb sometimes.

It will be interesting to see how she does after a 1 season of college sports training.

By: Athletico

Athletico — Thu, 26 Sep 2019 14:56:30 +0000

In reply to David Martin. David - Congratulations to your daughter on her comeback after her long journey! Mild swelling and some soreness or mild pain is within the scope of normal after new activities like games, even 16 months out. This should resolve within 24 hours. If swelling is significant, pain lingers, or there is any clicking/locking/instability, follow-up with surgeon is recommended.

By: David Martin

David Martin — Wed, 25 Sep 2019 21:50:15 +0000

My daughter is nearly 16 months out from her ACL reconstruction, and then 5 months ago required a surgery for a Cyclops Lesion to be removed. She continued her strength and conditioning and played her first game last night – today there is swelling and pain….is this normal?

By: Veronica

Veronica — Tue, 13 Aug 2019 01:27:54 +0000

Just read ur article, my daughter had surgery 1 month ago, going through physical therapy. Going to try everything you said. And good luck to previous person who left comment, wish you the very best and hope you will be the best soccer player of the world, which I constantly mention to my daughter whenever she feels down. It’s a difficult process, but not impossible!