u/hyraxluvr

5.5 months post-op quad autograft ACL reconstruction

My PT says he's not concerned at all about my extension coming back, but I've been feeling really worried. Bare minimum I do the propping the heel and flexing at least once a day to loosen things up, and I go to the gym as much as possible. I don't slack on any of my PT, except for when I'm sick or need rest time/pull something. In the video you can tell it's not moving much in extension. I'm a dancer so it's really important to me that I regain at least 0 degrees, ideally I'm matched to my hypermobility on the right side. I believe it's my surgeon's fault because the nurse fucked up and left my brace loose, as well as did not stress the importance at all. He was obsessed with flexion which was very irritating because my flexion pre-injury was extremely good and, as expected, I did very little flexion focused exercises (basically none) and have nearly regained it completely.

My new PT is phenomenal, my first one for the first 3 months was so awful. He has me doing a lot of strengthening, different variations of squats, lunges, hip stretches, hamstring strengthening exercises, leg extension machine, leg press, the arc quad things etc. He's been trying to get my quad built back up and it definitely is growing. Depending on the day, I cycle through doing the whole ACL routine (it's a lot of things) biking & rowing, and swimming. And I'm getting back into dog walking. Right now I'm sick but on days where I'm sore and tired I still go to the gym and do a lot of stretching, the leg extension loosening exercises, and bike. All to say that the problem is not lack of motivation or movement.

Anyone further along in their journey struggled with extension and regained it later? I guess I just want some reassurance it's not doomed forever. If anyone has any good tips or tricks let me know, I'm going back to trying to remember to always prop my heel when I'm lounging in bed, it's just hard because my most comfy position is my knees to my chest. My first couple months I tried to do the backpack trick & heel propping a lot. It's okay if it's just going to be awhile I just need some peace of mind.

UPDATE:
Thank you so much for the support everyone! I can't respond to everyone but I do want it to be known how appreciative I am of all the advice. A lot of people suggested seeing if there is build-up that can be fixed (cannot remember the medical terminology but y'all know what I'm talking about). I loathe my surgeon, but I'm going to call him today and see if I can get another MRI scheduled. Please feel free to keep commenting, I'm reading them all and it looks like it's helping other people as well!! Also don't bother commenting if all you have to say is "you'll never get it back," that's unhelpful and also clearly not always true, there's many comments that prove otherwise.

I just called my surgeon & they were being weird about me getting an MRI, but I'm scheduled to come in next week. Usually our check-ups he moves my knee for 2 seconds then says everything is fine and tells me to ride a bike. I hope he just gives me the MRI, I really do not like my surgeon honestly, the staff are very weird to me and I feel like every concern I have they act like I'm being crazy.

she is my favorite buyer, yes i accidentally called her he but we are best friends now

26 F. (injured when i was 25 lol) I actually have a million questions. Prior to surgery I was extremely active and my legs were pretty strong, but nothing insane. I got surgery on March 6th and I opted for the quad graft because I was really worried about retearing. I have been working pretty damn hard on my PT, but the nurse who checked me out of the surgery center didn't lock one side of my brace and I'm convinced my extension is stuck because of that. I didn't realize until a full week later because despite a ton of research I didn't know how the brace worked and the surgeon didn't even tell me it had to be fully extended for two weeks. I also was fully drugged up because the pain was severe. Needless to say I was pissed but i met with many surgeons prior and my belief is that they are all incompetent when it comes to anything except the actual procedure. I've been asking my PT & surgeon all of these questions but half the time I feel like they are just giving me some bullshit, I have an amazing PT back at my parents but they are two hours away. Like... my surgeon told me prehab is unimportant and acted like I was overreacting about them not locking my brace. And I asked my PT if I would get my full flexion back and she said "ummm i dunno maybe." Which are both really annoying responses when you are fighting tooth and nail every day trying to get back to where you were.

Although I'm pretty anxious I think everything has been going somewhat well I've been told I'm slightly ahead of schedule. My flexion on my good side is 150/153 and as of a week ago it's 140 on my surgery side. My extension on my good side is -5/-3, and I got my extension to 0 active in my surgery side, but that was weeks ago, so I'm worried about never getting it back. I do the backpack method for 3 minutes 2-4 times a day, have a ton of other PT exercises I do daily, and try to always have my heel propped when laying down.

Every morning my knee hurts and feels incredibly stiff, I've been wondering how long that will last, I'm so tired of being in pain honestly and it scares me how normal it has become. I'm scared that will never end.

I also have been feeling like my groin has been pulled multiple times on both legs, but primarily my surgery side. I was told some things that may be causing that, but it genuinely feels like there's nothing I can do to avoid secondary minor injuries, but those tend to be very disruptive. Another issue is I already have chronic shoulder problems so it feels like every part of my body isn't working right and I live in fear of pulling, straining, or spraining just about everything. I go to the gym as often as possible and take a few days off if I'm feeling like something is being pushed too hard and my body is sending me signals that another injury is coming. When I go to the gym I am genuinely there for half of the day usually arrive home 5 hours from when i left; I take one painkiller (prescribed) then bike for 30-60 mins, do all of my PT exercises/stretches plus anything that I can add in there that won't aggravate anything, then I swim 30-60 mins w a leg bouy and use the hottub right after. I desperately miss my old life which used to consist of dog walking all day, going to pole dancing class 5 days a week, and skiing on the weekends. I'm trying to do what exercise I can, but it's just no where near the level I used to be at, nor as fun.

I quit smoking and drinking for my healing, I previously was an avid vaper and promptly gained 20 lbs. My body feels completely different and I'm exhausted and don't recognize it anymore. I know I should be grateful for the progress I have made, but I just somehow feel like I'm never doing enough. It's hard to not compare myself because I see all of these super in shape tiktok athletes tear their ACL and they somehow get dressed every day and seemlessly move about their lives immediately post-surgery.

I guess I'm just venting, I don't really want to keep annoying my friends and family with ACL talk, but I do really enjoy hearing other people's experiences. Makes me feel less alone, because god knows how loney it can be. I suppose I am just curious when people felt it got better, and when they went back to their old life.

idk why my video made me look sickly but that's my current quad firing, it started firing pretty quick but has plateaued a bit.

(Also pro-tip if you have hamstring pain, my chiropractor introduced me to this hamstring stretching machine at the gym that is AMAZING. At first I was skeptical because it felt like it was straining it more, but every time without fail that feeling of it being pulled goes away immediately, I wish I could find something like that for my groin.)