Many patients desire to get back to their normal lives and want to do things without any pain or limitation. They just want to live where they can enjoy themselves without restrictions due to any injury or pain. Also, ACL surgery needs a lot of time to get back to work, walk, and drive. In this blog, we are going to discuss the ACL surgery after care, when you can return to normal life, timeline, and tips.
Understanding ACL Surgery After Care
ACL surgery will be effective when patients follow all the after care instructions given by their healthcare providers. Instructions, provided by your healthcare advisers, could be based on your diet, rehabilitation programs, follow up check ups, medications, etc. The instructions are discussed and mentioned below:
- Diet: Proper diet with personalised nutrient requirements is very beneficial for after care and an active lifestyle.
- Medication: Following medications with proper time and day management will help in after care process.
- Lifestyle: Lifestyle with less or no smoking and alcohol consumption will help you recover faster.
- Rehabilitation Program: Following proper rehab sessions and advice given by the physiotherapist will help very much in the process.
- Follow-Up Checkup: Follow up checkups will make changes to your diet, medications, and rehab programs during the recovery phase.
When Can You Return to Normal Life After ACL Surgery?
A question comes to mind about when I will be able to live a normal life after the surgery. It’s totally an expression, where you wanted to do things that you are unable to do due to the injury. Usually, patients get back to their normal life at the end of 6 months, and some patients take 9-12 months for recovery. Your return to normal life after the ACL surgery totally depends on various factors such as medication, pre-injury state, surgery type, and many more.
When Can You Walk After ACL Surgery?
Patients start walking without any support or crutches at the sixth month. Some advanced athletes are able to walk faster than that due to their muscle memory and fast recovery process with the help of their advanced sports rehab programs.
When Can You Drive After ACL Surgery?
Usually, after six months of the ACL surgery and follow up appointment, doctors advise you whether you can drive a car or not. It is totally based on your after care and healthcare providers. If they allow you to drive a car, it means you recovered a lot after the surgery.
When Can You Return to Work After ACL Surgery?
For remote jobs, patients can get back to work after a month of surgery. For physical jobs, patients can get back after two months of the surgery. Jobs that require physical performance, such as lifting and climbing needs more time to get back.
ACL Surgery After Care Timeline
The ACL surgery recovery time or phases can be different for every individual based on various factors. ACL surgery after care timeline is mentioned as follows:
- Post-Surgery: In this period of time, medical teams reduces the swelling and pain. Patient is using knee braces after ACL surgery to reduce pain and strain to the knee. This phase is around 0-2 weeks, and it is very important.
- Early Recovery: In this phase, patient started doing a little exercise to recover the muscle memory and function of the knee. Main focus of this phase is to achieve range of motion and decrease pain near the incision area. This goes for 2-6 weeks.
- Intermediate Recovery: This phase lasts around 6-12 weeks. You are able to see the results of recovery at this period the most. By doing some balance and strength training exercises, the intensity of the exercise will be increased.
- Advanced Recovery: It’s been a long time after ACL surgery, and you are experiencing numerous benefits, such as good range of motion, painless knee, and regaining knee strength. This phase is around 3-6 months.
- Return to Sport: This phase goes for 6-12 months, and at the last moment, you are able to get back to sports and intense activities after getting a consultation from a doctor.
Factors that Affect After Care of ACL Surgery
The numerous factors that can affect ACL surgery after care are mentioned below:
- Age: Younger patients heal faster due to soft tissue healing with better metabolism and growth factors.
- Pre-Injury Condition: Pre-injury condition of the knee is essential for the after care. Further damage to the knee by the torn ACL increases complications in the surgery and recovery.
- Joint Health: Bone quality, arthritis, and previous surgery hinder the recovery.
- Pre-Existing Disease: Diabetes, thyroid, and nutrient defeciency affect recovery in a negative manner.
- Rehabilitation: Proper rehab with consistency will help the patient to recover faster.
Good Food to Eat in After Care of ACL Surgery
The good food to eat in after care should consist of various nutrients, which can help to recover faster. The ideal food for ACL surgery after care is as follows:
- Protein: Protein is very good for repairing muscle tissue and new blood cells, which speeds up the recovery process.
- Fats: Healthy fats contain a large amount of vitamins and fiber. It helps to provide energy for repairing cells.
- Grains: Grains will give carbohydrates and fiber. It helps in maintaining the energy levels and also provides energy.
- Avoiding Foods: Sugar and processed food will hinder your body’s functioning, resulting in a decrease in the healing speed. Consuming alcohol and smoking will make blood thinner.
- Fruits & Vegetables: They are very nutrient dense, also contain vitamins A, C, E, and K, and have anti-oxidants.
- Supplements: Multivitamins consisting of vitamins C, A, D, B, K, and E and nutrients iron, zinc, and calcium help to heal faster.
Tips for a Faster and Safer After Care
- Mobility: Prioritise full extension of the knee and never put a pillow under your knee. However, you can put pillow under your calf or heel while resting.
- Rehabilitation: Rehab sessions over a long time can help you heal faster, and you will notice recovery and growth with consistency.
- Nutrition: A personalised nutritional diet can help you to recover faster and better than unstructured nutrition.
- Lifestyle: Smoking hinders tissue healing and deep sleep will help to recover your tissue in the best possible way.
- Safety Rules: Avoid high impact activities like lifting and running, and listen to your body.
Physical Therapy and Rehabilitation Milestones
Physical therapy and rehab sessions are way to recover faster from ACL surgery. In different phases of after care period, you have different type milestone to achieve. In the early phase, you have to decrease the swelling and increase the flexion of the knee. And for the other phases, you will be achieving something that makes the journey hopeful.
When to Contact Your Doctor?
Some scenarios when you should contact your doctor as soon as possible are:
- Infection: Heavy fever, redness and foul smell near the wound are the signs of infection after ACL surgery.
- Blood Clot: A blood clot after ACL surgery may cause pain in the chest and calf, along with swelling and redness.
- Instability: Instability in the knee movement shows the indication of complication in ACL surgery.
- Others: Severe pain, numbness, bleeding after dressing and any other signs of unwellness after the surgery can be dangerous. You should call a doctor as soon as possible.
Conclusion
Hope you find this blog helpful, we had discussed ACL surgery after care, your return to work, driving and walking, recovery timeline and many more. ACL surgery after care helps you to regain your active lifestyle and strength little by little during the different phases. Best is only possible with consistency in your nutrition, daily activities, rehabs, medication and all those things are very effective. If someone does not follow one of them properly, it probably makes the extension longer between the after care period.