Ligaments often get torn when people play sports or just when you step in a different way. These injuries happen when a person’s joint is stretched beyond its regular range, tearing part or all of the ligament.
Ligament reconstruction surgery is performed for ACL tears especially in men who are involved in sports activities. When it comes to long-term effects, the first few weeks after ACL reconstruction surgery are by far the most important. Getting off to a good start after any kind of shoulder or knee repair surgery can cut months off the time it takes to get better. Getting off to a slow start can also add months to the healing process.
Why do you need an ACL tear or ligament reconstruction surgery?
When an accident causes a tear in the ACL, surgery to fix it is needed. ACL injuries can happen when people play sports like cricket, football, basketball, tennis, badminton, and others that require pivoting and quick changes in movement direction. They can also happen to people who ride two-wheelers often and need to turn their vehicles with only one foot. Patients often say that they heard their knees “pop” while playing sports or riding a bike.
When the ACL tears, it doesn’t usually heal on its own. In fact, it’s one of the few parts of the body that doesn’t heal on its own. ACL surgery procedure is the only way to fix it.
Here are the major tips that help in the recovery of an ACL tear surgery:
Manage the pain efficiently:
Pain management is the first step in getting better after ACL surgery. It could hurt your knee, hip, or ankle. Most of the time, over-the-counter painkillers can help lessen joint swelling and inflammation. But if you are in a lot of pain, you should see a doctor to get checked out and talk about treatment choices.
Get help from physical therapy:
Physical therapy can speed up the healing process by making your knee supporting muscles stronger and helping them recover from damage. Also, it helps improve balance, flexibility, coordination, and proprioception, which is the sense of where your body parts are in relation to each other. Most people can do their rehab at home on their own, but going to physical therapy classes with an experienced professional can help speed up the healing process.
Start with walking:
You need to walk more often than normal while using crutches or a walker to fully recover from ligament surgery. Walking will make the muscles around your knees stronger and increase blood flow to them. It will also get more blood to every part of your body, which helps stop swelling and more damage.
Consult your doctor:
It’s important to keep in touch with your doctor after surgery. When you’re getting better after ACL surgery, you don’t want any shocks. Ask them if something doesn’t seem right or if you have any questions. Your expert may be able to answer some questions you didn’t even know to ask!
Eat healthy and get enough sleep:
Recovery from ACL repair surgery depends on getting enough sleep. For your body to heal, it needs enough rest and sleep, which helps reduce stiffness and pain. In the same way, you need to eat right away after ACL surgery so that your body can start to heal. This means sticking to a healthy diet high in protein, vitamins, and minerals and low in easy sugars. It also means staying away from foods that would make swelling and pain worse in the days after surgery.
Apply cold compress:
One of the most important things that can slow down healing is swelling in the area. If you have any kind of swelling, put ice on the area and wear compression socks or other types of wraps. Drinking a lot of water all day long is also a smart idea. This will help lower swelling even more by diluting the blood.
Make sure patient:
Taking it easy is the best way to get better faster. This means that for the first six weeks after surgery, you can’t do anything too hard, and for the next two to three months, you can only do light activities. If you hurry and try to do too much too soon, you might end up making things worse instead of better.
Ensure to take rest:
A torn ACL also needs a lot of rest in order to heal. Resting your muscles will help them get back to their normal strength, which will help you get moving again sooner. It’s also important not to push yourself too hard while you’re healing, since this can cause more damage and slow your recovery even more than normal.
Reach out to the ACL tear treatment in Coimbatore, to get relief from the pain and restore your function.
What is the time needed to recover from an ACL tear?
Depending on the level of competition and the sport, it usually takes between six and nine months for a person to be able to play sports again after an ACL repair.
Patients can walk on the day of surgery with crutches and leg support. Very soon after surgery, the patient starts an exercise programme to help the knee get stronger, more stable, and more flexible.
The amount of pain that comes with recovering from an ACL injury varies, but painkillers can help. The time it takes to get better also changes from person to person. When a person has fully recovered, their muscle power, range of motion, and sense of where their knee joint is in space are all back to normal.
Important Takeaway:
For the best orthopedic hospital in Coimbatore, ensure you have a proper healing period to make sure your orthopedic health is back to normal. Many people get careless after surgery, which slows their healing and makes the whole thing even worse. So, if you just had surgery on your ACL, make sure you take steps to speed up your healing.
