# Tore my ACL: Think I can still ride?



## mothahucker (Feb 6, 2006)

So I've been inspired by the collarbone thread to ask if any of you guys have experience with ACL tears. I have a pretty severe, but not complete ACL tear in my left knee. I asked my doc if I could still ride downhill, and he kept saying "sure, cycling is just fine", making me think he has absolutely no idea what downhill is. I've been pedaling around in the woods on my hardtail to test it out with pretty good results: I just can't hammer the pedals or squat super low. I'm planning on going to Winter Park tomorrow and testing things out on the big bike. I'll just have to force myself to ignore the jumps and not get too aggressive.

Not sure if I need surgery or not. I have to go talk to a knee-specific guy next week to find that out. I assume I will though considering that downhill and snowboarding are basically my life.

As for how I did it, it's a pretty freaking lame story. I was trying to teach a friend of mine who is new to mountain biking how to jump at a line of super mellow tables. It was a tad breezy, but still safe, especially considering how tame the jumps were. Needless to say, I managed to hit one of the jumps at the exact same moment a freak gust slammed me from the side. By stupid freaking instinct, I stuck my foot out in the air, then landed straight-legged. Felt great. Ironically, for how much of a crappy injury it is, I never even fell off the bike. I would give anything to go back to that moment and keep my foot on the pedal and take a body slam to the dirt. Ugh.


----------



## illnotsick (Mar 28, 2011)

Tore mine last year, just got back to riding in march. It's not worth riding without it, or you risk tearing your PCL which can't be repaired (aka you're f*cked for life.) 
Tips: Make sure you stretch your knee, you should still have almost full range of motion. My surgery was delayed 3months because I didn't know that. After surgery, you'll be back on the DH bike in 6 months and your knee will feel like nothing ever happened. Sh*tty injury, but you'll get through it. Let me know if you have any other questions, I was in the exact same situation 10 months ago.


----------



## chillindrdude (Jan 21, 2004)

i recommend a quality moto knee brace. you can ride dh without an ACL, Fairclough is doing it for the remainder of the World Cup season. However, I would get it surgically repaired.


----------



## Zacdos (Oct 29, 2006)

Sorry about your injury-I tore mine while riding over an icy log and stuck my leg out while I was going down. I would not ride without - it's not worth it. Some doctors don't think cyclists need their ACL but they don't have a clue about what we do. The doctor who did my surgery told me if I just wanted to do road riding I wouldn't need surgery but if I wanted to mountain bike then I would need surgery. The hardest part about being injured is not being able to ride.


----------



## T174M (Feb 9, 2008)

You can ride, but may worsen your injury. I had a crash racing moto where I tore my acl. It was swollen and I couldn't walk for about a week. It got better and I started forgetting about it. My knee would give out on occasion, and it became more and more frequently a year later. Got it checked out and I had done a ton more damage since I didn't get it checked and repaired initially. My opinion is get it fixed while its only your acl, or else you'll most likely damage other ligaments in the region.

and illnotsick, don't know who your doctor is, but you can most definitely repair a pcl. I had mine reconstructed along with my acl and mcl. Ligaments were taken from my hamstring and screwed to the bones initially. After 8 months they attached themselves back to the bones. It's a slow process and by month four you will feel fine. The fact of the matter is although you feel ok, the ligaments aren't actually attached to the bone and it is super important not to disturb this process.


----------



## kenbentit (Jan 2, 2003)

Ditto what everyone already said. I rode with my 1st tear for about 3 years. It did OK but was easily injured if I had a get-off. All that extra abuse really wrecked the meniscus for me, my Dr had to sew up as much as he could but I still have a good portion missing (and some loose pieces floating around now...). I just scheduled surgery for my other knee which I've been in denial about for close to a year. I'm still riding now but being very cautious (as in ZERO downhill riding). Road and mellow XC is all I'm doing and I just picked up a mag-trainer so I can start spinning again after surgery. I tried riding too soon after the 1st surgery and very nearly destroyed all the repairs (dumb luck was all that saved me then).
BTW; My original injury was almost exactly what you did, minus having somebody else there. I regret that day every time I kneel down...


----------



## chauzie (Mar 8, 2010)

Tore my acl, pcl, mcl back in 03. Complete tear, all 3. Had no insurance at the time. So I didn't get the surgery. To make matter worse, I didn't seek any doctor advice during the 1st month after the accident, basically just sat at home with an off-the-shelf knee brace! Result was that scar tissue formed, major scar, and the scarring ended up limiting my knee motion to this day, can only bend my knee up to about 90 degrees. I did not have the surgery until 6 months later! The surgery did fix the knee to about 60-70% of what it was. It's still weak compared to the other knee. I can't do many things that I could before. But I've accepted the limitations and lived with it just fine.

Before the surgery, I actually could do some light jogging on the knee if I used a hard brace. Walking around the house did not require me to use any brace. It also helped that I was light weight, 130 lbs.

I have to workout on the legs to keep them strong though. Strong muscles do help with stability. Frankly the knee hasn't kept me from doing most things as long as I know its limitations, for example, I won't do any drop > 5ft. I don't think I ever want to go under the knife again!


----------



## mothahucker (Feb 6, 2006)

Illnotsick, how do you go about stretching your knee? I have completely free mobility from nearly full extension to about ninety degrees, and then i can usually coax another thirty degrees or so if I work it slowly. 

Holy cow, after hearing some of these stories, I definitely feel lucky that all I have is a partial tear on one ligament, and that I have health insurance (although I can't wait to deal with them for this). Chauzie, you take the cake as far as that goes.....damn. How did you manage such a blowout? I can't believe you could even walk without 3 ligaments!

I'm definitely going to take it super easy tomorrow. Greens only, and I don't plan on letting my tires leave the ground. I just have to be on the bike for a while, as I'm sure you guys understand. Especially if I'm gonna have surgery that will cancel the rest of my season. Six months wouldn't be the end of the world, I guess. I could even salvage my snowboard season! I'll do whatever it takes to get my knee back to normal. Sitting on the couch while all my buddies are out shredding is gonna darn-near kill me though.

The kicker here is that, only three days before I did my knee, I bought a new MRP G2 guide, Gravity lite cranks, race face atlas bar, XO short cage derailleur, tires, custom boxxer world cup, and did some serious tuning on my cane creek double barrel for my Demo. My bike is the sickest it's ever been, and I only got to ride it for about 30 minutes with the new goodies.


----------



## wormvine (Oct 27, 2005)

chauzie said:


> Tore my acl, pcl, mcl back in 03. Complete tear, all 3. Had no insurance at the time. So I didn't get the surgery. To make matter worse, I didn't seek any doctor advice during the 1st month after the accident, basically just sat at home with an off-the-shelf knee brace! Result was that scar tissue formed, major scar, and the scarring ended up limiting my knee motion to this day, can only bend my knee up to about 90 degrees. I did not have the surgery until 6 months later! The surgery did fix the knee to about 60-70% of what it was. It's still weak compared to the other knee. I can't do many things that I could before. But I've accepted the limitations and lived with it just fine.


I did the same thing in 96'. ACL, PCL, MCL. Terrible triad I think they call it.
I was backcountry snowboarding and hit a big tree airborne. 
No Insurance. Paid the doctors monthly. 
I did seek treatment right away. Had 2 surgeries in about 5 months time. The second one was to break up the scar tissue which limited the movement of my knee to 90 degrees.
I don't know if I am 100% or not but I do not wear a brace anymore and do everything I did before.


----------



## chauzie (Mar 8, 2010)

Blew my knee out in a motorcycle accident. Front brakes malfunction while on the freeway. Bike wrapped around a light pole. Nasty accident. Cop said I was extremely lucky. I didn't have insurance at the time because I was laid off and decided I was not going to extend the insurance figuring that I would get another job soon. Murphy's Law at work, of course!!

I had lots of scar tissue. Doctor told me that another surgery to remove the scar won't help much because of the extensive scarring of my knee. He said it's not worth going under the knife if I'm not a professional athlete who's livelihood depends on it. So I opted not to have the 2nd surgery.

Motha,
you can walk around without ACL and PCL. In fact, I used to even jog lightly if I put on a hard brace (those with big metal hinges). Strong leg muscles help big time in stability. You should just take it easy. Going under the knife and putting up with the effects of general anesthesia is just not a pleasant experience; it'll make your "sitting at home not riding with the homies with your bling Demo" looks like nothing! If you have a partial tear, my belief is that your ortho doc will tell you to let it heal on its own and not do the surgery. I would let it heal on its own, and then workout to build some leg muscles. That should fix it.


----------



## Iceman2058 (Mar 1, 2007)

I have a friend who ignored his messed up knee for years after a moto accident. he was *fine* for years, doing everything he wanted to basically, riding MTB, playing tennis etc...but he was getting more and more pain, and less and less stability...then had a couple of wrecks on the MTB, tweaked the by now weakened knee a bit too much, a couple more partial tears...followed by even more DIY "healing" (aka hoping it'll all just go away). FF to present day, knee is completely ruined, docs don't even know where to begin, meniscus, ACLs, PCLs...he needs a freakin bionic knee is what he needs....boy does he wish he'd gotten off with 6 months at home staring at his bike.


----------



## edubfromktown (Sep 7, 2010)

I shredded my R ACL and strained my MCL playing soccer 7 years ago. The orthopedist made it plain and simple. He said you can build up strength in the surrounding muscles w/o surgery but if you want to resume all activites and greatly reduce complications down the road, surgery was the best option.

I opted for surgery and had a patellar allograft and the doc had to do a bunch of meniscal repair work. Rehab sucked (took me ~1 year to recover 90% and almost 2 years to get to 100%) but my R leg is stronger than before I messed it up in the first place. I recommend you talk to a couple orthopedists and see what they have to say.


----------



## Guest (Jun 26, 2011)

It is my understanding that ACL's and PCL's do not receive blood flow and therefore partial tears will not heal on their own. Surgery would be required. MCL's and LCL's do, and can repair a partial tear on their own.

I had an isolated complete tear of my PCL almost 10 years ago. I dealt with a US ski team doctor and the orthopedic surgeon of the Utah Jazz. Both agreed that I should try to go without the ligament as the surgery to repair the PCL is very invasive to the knee joint and they generally only work on PCL's if they're already going into the knee to repair other things as well. Building and maintaining quad and hamstring strength is super important if you're gonna try to go without an ACL or PCL. If you've lost muscle mass since your injury, use a brace until you've got it back. 

I'm able to do all the things I was before with no pain. While the knee doesn't hurt, it does feel "different" and allows me to exhibit some pretty creepy party ticks with it.

I've seen videos of Matt Hoffman manipulating his knee joint in some unhuman ways as well.


----------



## illnotsick (Mar 28, 2011)

mothahucker said:


> Illnotsick, how do you go about stretching your knee? I have completely free mobility from nearly full extension to about ninety degrees, and then i can usually coax another thirty degrees or so if I work it slowly.
> 
> Holy cow, after hearing some of these stories, I definitely feel lucky that all I have is a partial tear on one ligament, and that I have health insurance (although I can't wait to deal with them for this). Chauzie, you take the cake as far as that goes.....damn. How did you manage such a blowout? I can't believe you could even walk without 3 ligaments!
> 
> ...


When I say stretch I just mean try to maintain your full range of motion. Sit on the ground and extend it, make sure you can set it as flat as your other leg. Then flex it and pull it in as far as the other one. Also, get used to stretching your hamstring and quad. The more flexible your whole leg is the faster you will be able to start your recovery after surgery.

The day before I tore mine I got new hope brakes and a helmet camera. At least it was on the hardest feature on the mountain
http://www.pinkbike.com/video/154242/
I don't clip-in anymore, since my foot stayed in the pedal the next breakaway point was my knee. Sitting out is the worst, especially driving the shuttle truck back down the mtn after leaving everyone up top to ride. BUT the riding is so much sweeter when you get back after not having done it for so long haha.


----------



## madridg (Apr 17, 2006)

Yes you can. I tore my acl a year ago. My doc said with good leg/knee strength, i would be able to bike or run straight, but everyone is different.
I was able to walk normally 2 weeks after the tear, some people can't even stand up. I can't plant my foot and turn, but I don't really feel it riding trails or dh, and I do keep a close eye on it- no problem even after a whistler trip.
That said, he did say given my activity level, I should fix it asap.. I am just a wuss, I don't want to be out for 4 months when I can still run and ride, my two favorite things.
I may be causing more damage, although no pain, and I do plan on trying to get it fixed- but waiting until aftter this year's whistler trip


----------



## ddfuji (Feb 26, 2011)

mothahucker said:


> So I've been inspired by the collarbone thread to ask if any of you guys have experience with ACL tears. I have a pretty severe, but not complete ACL tear in my left knee. I asked my doc if I could still ride downhill, and he kept saying "sure, cycling is just fine", making me think he has absolutely no idea what downhill is. I've been pedaling around in the woods on my hardtail to test it out with pretty good results: I just can't hammer the pedals or squat super low. I'm planning on going to Winter Park tomorrow and testing things out on the big bike. I'll just have to force myself to ignore the jumps and not get too aggressive.
> 
> Not sure if I need surgery or not. I have to go talk to a knee-specific guy next week to find that out. I assume I will though considering that downhill and snowboarding are basically my life.
> 
> As for how I did it, it's a pretty freaking lame story. I was trying to teach a friend of mine who is new to mountain biking how to jump at a line of super mellow tables. It was a tad breezy, but still safe, especially considering how tame the jumps were. Needless to say, I managed to hit one of the jumps at the exact same moment a freak gust slammed me from the side. By stupid freaking instinct, I stuck my foot out in the air, then landed straight-legged. Felt great. Ironically, for how much of a crappy injury it is, I never even fell off the bike. I would give anything to go back to that moment and keep my foot on the pedal and take a body slam to the dirt. Ugh.


i did exact same thing at wild flower rush. table top too, and a gust of wind blew me all crooked like and i had to put my foot down to prevent a wash out. saved my self but tore my right acl in the process. so to answer your question yes. the guy i was camping next to had also torn his acl in the winter in a snowmobile accident. he was still racing down hill and dual slalom. he was walking fine and riding fine, but still used a knee brace. he said you can only ride at about 90% and you your at risk of dislocating your knee which hurts a lot. and every time you dislocate it your out for 3 to 4 weeks. and you also risk damaging your meniscus. so he said in about 4 weeks after tearing your acl you should be able to ride. this guy was like 38 i believe he said? but give it some time to heal and you should be good to ride the slopes. he didn't want surgery until the end of the season so his summer wouldn't be ruined, and get surgery this upcoming winter. i was riding down hill on one leg the next day after my injury and pedaling with one leg  i hated sitting around and doing nothing. but im out for the season cause my dad is probably gonna make me get surgery in a week or two. i would just be cautious and make sure its healed. give it a week after the tear. at least yours is still somewhat connected


----------



## Tedman (Sep 5, 2008)

As a nurse, I would have to say no to your intial question. And with you obviously, not medically educated, you aren't in a position to make that call unless you are willing to suffer the consequences if something worsens. 
My advice to you is to talk to the specialist first and follow his recommendations to the T. That's where most people make mistakes with recovery from injuries, surgery, etc. They start to feel better and the body is compensating for weakness, pain, etc and end up polonging healing. You could do further damage, reinjure, or incur a new injury. Especially with the knees. There's a lot going on in a knee and they are pretty sensitive to injury. When one ligament/tendon is injured you'll find a more comfortable way to pedal that will overuse a ligmant/tendon that isn't acclimated to the added stress.
If you follow the Physicians advice you'll be back in no time. My guess is he is going to say heal first, then bike. It only makes sense if you think about it. Don't be a jackass and wreck your health for life for a current obsession.


----------



## mothahucker (Feb 6, 2006)

Tedman said:


> Don't be a jackass and wreck your health for life for a current obsession.


Wait. Is that you, Mom?



Tedman said:


> As a nurse, I would have to say no to your intial question. And with you obviously, not medically educated, you aren't in a position to make that call unless you are willing to suffer the consequences if something worsens.
> My advice to you is to talk to the specialist first and follow his recommendations to the T. That's where most people make mistakes with recovery from injuries, surgery, etc. They start to feel better and the body is compensating for weakness, pain, etc and end up polonging healing. You could do further damage, reinjure, or incur a new injury. Especially with the knees. There's a lot going on in a knee and they are pretty sensitive to injury. When one ligament/tendon is injured you'll find a more comfortable way to pedal that will overuse a ligmant/tendon that isn't acclimated to the added stress.
> If you follow the Physicians advice you'll be back in no time. My guess is he is going to say heal first, then bike. It only makes sense if you think about it. .


Okay, okay. I see your point. I'll take some time off the bike and make sure I'm able to go back at 100%. Plus, that'll give me more time to study for my organic chemistry class, an important step towards someday becoming "medically educated" :thumbsup:


----------



## milehi (Nov 2, 1997)

The down time sucks but missing part of the season is better than not being able to go 100% later on down the road.

At the end of February, I crashed at the NV St DH Chapionships. I tore my meniscus in two places that were both trimmed up nicely. I had 25% of my ACL removed. I also had pretty bad bone contusions and the patella subluxed (dislocated). When I picked myself up, my knee buckled outward and my adventure lifestyle flashed before my eyes.

The most painful thing was that I was done snowboarding for the year and my Mammoth season pass wasn't going to pay itself off, and that I wouldn't be racing my favorite Spring races.

I was in denial for two months, then had surgery. I was inactive for a month, then began riding and have been back on the bike for a month. I almost raced a local Super D last Saturday afternoon, but after a heart to heart with myself, decided to hold off until the next round of the series in two weeks. If I was still in my 20s or 30s, I would've raced, but older and wiser...I guess.


----------

