4 weeks post ACL reconstruction

Hello everyone,

I am new here, this is my first post. I had ACL reconstructive surgery at a private hospital here in my country, Albania. It went well. The procedure was done with semi-tendinosis gracilis as my doctor said.

First week I could not really walk without crutches and I did not do most of the exercises...

Second week I started walking without crutches very slowly around the house, but nothing more than that. Exercises done quite abruptly, too.

After exactly two weeks, I had my first visit planned with the surgeon who operated me. I went to the hospital together with my father who accompanied me by car and I did not take crutches with me. The surgeon told me I should keep the crutches until week 6, just to be sure. They took off the stitches and cleaned the area.

The thing that made me wonder a bit though and the main reason why I am writing here is that both the surgeon and the physiotherapist who works there (he is a friend of mine) told me there is no need for me to do physiotherapy unless there are complications.

Now, I am a bit torn here. Physiotherapy would mean working with someone who's supposed to know what they're doing and should be more helpful than just the exercises they have given me + I am so busy with my daily life that most of the time I forget about the exercises..

On the other hand, a physiotherapist himself told me I don't need PT...

Just to fill it out, week 3 saw other improvements on the way. I am now able to bend my knee to 90 degrees without any trouble and extension is almost fully OK when I want to. Maybe not -10 degrees, but somewhere around -5. I have about 2-3 centimeters muscular atrophy on the thigh where the injured knee is. Week 4 closes after tomorrow and I have now been able to even conduct work (I am a photographer) for two days in a row, shot once 3 hours standing on feet almost all the time and yesterday shot for about 2 hours and a half, mostly on feet. Yes, I do rely on my healthy leg most of the time and it is more tiring than usual, but I did OK.

Thanks for any answer

2 likes, 1 reply