ACL Injuries

D1 Senior year, first game of pre-season and my DD tears her ACL. First injury of her career. She is just over 7 months of recovery and making sure other leg stays strong also. She is not rushing it and her mindset is strong. Full recovery puts her back in time for July workouts. Rough through some of the early months with emotional letdowns and what she thought were setbacks but her trainer said she is on track. Keep your kid connected as much as possible so they don't get down during the recovery process. Her surgeon said at 6 months the repair and knee looks great and strong. Chomping at the bit to see her play again.
I'm so sorry to hear that. That's great to here about her progress, sounds like a tough girl. Did she redshirt?
 
[QUOTE=" Yes MRI's are expensive and MRI's are not done without cause or reason. However, if your knee is extremely swollen the image may not be as good as it can be. If you are extremely painful you may not be able to lay as still as you need to be . So , It may be in your best interest to wait on imaging to get the best diagnosis you can get. I hope that your doctor has your ( the patient's ) best interest at heart and bases their decisions on what is best for the patient. A PCL injury is a tough one and not your usual injury , that is an interesting one. good luck .[/QUOTE]

I have to comment on this point and the others who have problems with Kaiser or other insurance denials. NO, MRI's are not expensive. Although we have not battled ACL tears, my DD has had back to back pars stress fractures and faced similar long and arduous recoveries that are both mentally and physically difficult. With stress fractures in your back, no xray can confirm. You must have an MRI or CT to know for sure. With that being said, we have bi-passed insurance on the last two injuries and paid out of pocket in order to get the MRI stat. And guess what? It's a lousy $350. Not saying it's chump change, but I wouldn't call that expensive. So, if you get in a predicament where you can't get approved, your doctor can send a prescription to any radiology place you choose that can get you in quickly. We got ours the next day, with results in 48 hours. We told them insurance had lapsed (you have to say that, and these places know the drill and work with you), pay cash or check and done!! I know how it is to wait and wait, especially if your kiddo is in pain.

BTW, Anthem Blue Cross denied our last request for MRI. The denial arrived in the mail, a full 3 weeks after injury and after the MRI we paid for out of pocket had confirmed the stress fracture. At that point, DD had already been placed in a brace, was resting properly and had appts lined up with 3 different spine and sports specialists. SO...yes, it was worth $350 to me!
 
A 15 year old friend is undergoing ACL surgery in a few weeks. We would like to put together a gift basket for recovery. Does
anyone have ideas for ice packs? I use to use rubbing alcohol and water to make a slushy ice pack. Are there any commercially made ones that you like? Any ideas of what to include to make recovery go more smoothly? A body pillow, cow bell.....? Any help is appreciated.
 
A recommendation when you choose a doctor. Find a Sports Medicine doctor. They can do general family medicine but also have a specialty in Sports Medicine. When my daughter (21 y/o now) had Severs Syndrome when she was 11 y/o our family doctor recommended that if she was going to continue playing sports that she have a Sports Medicine doctor as her primary care physician. It was great advice and we don’t regret moving her. The Sports Med clinic (San Diego Sports Medicine and Family Health Center) has x-ray and MRI in-house. We could get X-ray results 5 minutes after they were taken and MRI was completed usually the same day with results within 24-48 hours. We never had any problem with insurance (Blue Cross and Tricare) covering the full cost. Her primary doctors are Dr. Rohrer and Dr. Myers. Both doctors have extensive backgrounds working with athletes at all levels. She has used Rehab United for all of her rehabilitation, since all of the Physical Therapists are/were athletes and most play(ed) soccer. My primary care physician is also a Sports Med doctor and has referred me to Rehab United a few times.
 
My 16 yr old DD is 3 weeks post ACL surgery. She has had a bit of a rough time her knee got stiff right away and her quad is still asleep. She is on her CPM machine 6 hours a Day still using her ice machine as well, PT twice a week along with other excercises. We have her knee bending at 90 degrees but the quad is still sleeping so focus is to get that working. Everyone heals differently and she got a double whammy. She is a trooper though. She takes it one day at a time. She plays soccer and basketball. She tore the acl during a soccer game. It’s been a tough 3 weeks so far but everyday seems to get a little better for her.
 
A 15 year old friend is undergoing ACL surgery in a few weeks. We would like to put together a gift basket for recovery. Does
anyone have ideas for ice packs? I use to use rubbing alcohol and water to make a slushy ice pack. Are there any commercially made ones that you like? Any ideas of what to include to make recovery go more smoothly? A body pillow, cow bell.....? Any help is appreciated.
Can't say enough good things about ICE20 products. The inventor's daughter played club and college soccer.

https://ice20.com/collections/knee
 
My 16 yr old DD is 3 weeks post ACL surgery. She has had a bit of a rough time her knee got stiff right away and her quad is still asleep. She is on her CPM machine 6 hours a Day still using her ice machine as well, PT twice a week along with other excercises. We have her knee bending at 90 degrees but the quad is still sleeping so focus is to get that working. Everyone heals differently and she got a double whammy. She is a trooper though. She takes it one day at a time. She plays soccer and basketball. She tore the acl during a soccer game. It’s been a tough 3 weeks so far but everyday seems to get a little better for her.

3 weeks is still pretty early. in another 3 she will be feeling a lot better. have her stick to the exercises, but don't rush to get back on the pitch or court.
 
tough one for 16. tore my acl years ago in my mid 20's. indoor soccer. key is to keep doing the pt work. it's painful and frustrating, but it gets better over time. my repaired knee is now stronger and more stable than my non-repaired knee.
 
For those of you that have had your DD go through this, at what point did they start drilling with the team again? 6 months? 8 months? Also, did your dd wait the full year to go back to play and how was that transition? How did they become game ready?
 
Another soccer injury. My daughter will get surgery tomorrow morning to fix a broken nose. Yes, it occurred on the soccer field when she went up for a header and the opponent hit my daughter with the back of her head. Not as bad as when she tore her MCL, but recovery time and no soccer is still months. I swear I am going to wrap her in bubble wrap.
 
For those of you that have had your DD go through this, at what point did they start drilling with the team again? 6 months? 8 months? Also, did your dd wait the full year to go back to play and how was that transition? How did they become game ready?

My DD had a detached ACL. Healing time was more like a fracture then a tear. Still required surgery to repair. The ACL was intact and she did not have to wait for it to vascularize. From what I understand, that process takes a year. So it was a bit quicker, she was cleared to play with a brace after 5 months. Her ortho and PT trainer both cleared her through a series of tests. Her injured leg was actually stronger than the other. She joined her sisters team a flight lower, but a year older. Played with a don joy (non joy) brace for another 2 months.

A year and a half later, PT every other week, and back playing flight 1. Her knee is still uncomfortable at times, most likely from scar tissue. She is a tough kid. She was determined to get back out there. For her quitting was never and option even though I probably would have hung up my cleats.
 
For those of you that have had your DD go through this, at what point did they start drilling with the team again? 6 months? 8 months? Also, did your dd wait the full year to go back to play and how was that transition? How did they become game ready?

I would listen to your DD’s surgeon with a timetable is the key. Everyone’s recovery period is different. I have seen some comeback as early as 6 months.

My DD’s timetable was 9 months - a year.

My DD started PT (2x a week) after her surgery. We listened to her surgeon and PT And everyday was an achievement. After 60 days she made the HS Color Guard and practiced along with PT sessions. At her 3 months check up, I informed her surgeon about her Color Guard activity, her surgeon pulled her off Color Guard as her knee isn’t ready for all the movement. My DD was pissed but he told her to look at the BIG picture of getting 100% .

At 9 months (March 31, 2018), she was cleared for sports activities without any limitations. As a keeper, we took our time getting her back. Our club allowed her to train with the keeper coach and one of the older teams. She progressed at her own pace. If the knee or body was sore or aching, we skipped training sessions. A lot of recovery sessions and icing. We also confound PT sessions.

I am happy to inform you all that my 03 DD is back on the pitch and made the 02 AcaademyII/DPL for the upcoming season. She has a different perspective of the game from this injury. Preventive and core workout is the key to be injury free but nagging injury will always be there. We are lucky our club have trainers throughout the week.
 
Hey guys. Noobie to this forum. Just wanted to share. My 04 daughter recenly tore her ACL and meniscus on a very dirty play. Never the less, she is having surgery soon, god willing. Taking care of their bodies is super inportant and they need to know the difference between playing with pain and injury. She is expected to be out 6-8 months but she has a great attitude about getting to work as soon as she is able to rehab. Knee stiffness is the #1 enemy. So if you have a little one that has a similar injury... have them flex and extend their knee to keep the range of motion. Good luck to any that have a little one ( doesnt matter on age), for a full recovery and hopefully they can make it back on the pitch with a renewed confidence and strength. God speed all!
 
Heart-breaking to hear these stories, but this is all REALLY useful information. Thanks to all of you for sharing. I've done a lot of reading on the topic to do as much as possible preventatively for my kids, but of course there's no guarantee of escaping the injury. Those of you who have gone (or are going) through it (or know someone else's details)...could you add to this thread answers to the following 4 questions? Collectively, if we can organize the info below, over time we can potentially identify trends to be even more helpful to all of our fellow forum members:

1) Son or daughter; age at time of tear; puberty stage at time of tear (eg, before puberty, mid, late, done growing)

2) When did it happen? e.g., during a game or practice; beginning, middle or end of game/practice; only one game of the day or part of a tournament (e.g. 2nd game of the day on Day 2 of tournament)

3) How did it happen? e.g. untouched defender sprinting and then decelerating to recover the ball; or, striker sprinting to take a shot then tripped, etc.

4) Which leg (strong or weak side)? Was he/she doing any preventative strength/stretch exercises on regular basis before?

Best of luck and Godspeed in recovery to all.
 
1) Daughter Mid Puberty
2) First one... End of game, first game of tournament. Second one... first scrimmage back from first ACL
3) First one... first step after winning the ball. Second one... full sprint to ball bumped and stuck leg out to catch herself.
4) Weak side both times... she was not doing Preventative strength/Stretch on regular basis.

My daughter tore her ACL at the start of season and was cleared at the very end of season. She worked her butt off during PT but when she finished
she wanted a break and took over a month off and that was a big mistake and I knew it. I nagged her everyday. she might have been cleared to play but after the time off I knew she wasn't ready. She was not in athlete shape and she is a player who is always going 100% and wants to win every ball. I made the worst parent mistake and let my kid dictate when she would get back on the field. Competitive kids will always think they are ready and its the parent who needs to be the adult and say no. After the second one I thought she would be done but she wants to give it one more try. She knew she messed up and I agreed to let her play if she agreed she would Wait till I thought she was ready. She played her first game back last week after 12 months off.

One thing i really recommend is keep them involved with there team. after it happened she still wanted to be with her teammates so we went to every practice and game. As much as i hated having to drive her 3-4 days a week its what kept her motivated and happy because they do go through depression. She was a different kid when she was at practice and at games even if she was just sitting on the sidelines.
 
Hey guys. Noobie to this forum. Just wanted to share. My 04 daughter recenly tore her ACL and meniscus on a very dirty play. Never the less, she is having surgery soon, god willing. Taking care of their bodies is super inportant and they need to know the difference between playing with pain and injury. She is expected to be out 6-8 months but she has a great attitude about getting to work as soon as she is able to rehab. Knee stiffness is the #1 enemy. So if you have a little one that has a similar injury... have them flex and extend their knee to keep the range of motion. Good luck to any that have a little one ( doesnt matter on age), for a full recovery and hopefully they can make it back on the pitch with a renewed confidence and strength. God speed all!

Wasn't against a Bakersfield team was it?
 
As a parent of a female player, head injuries and ACL injuries are the things I worry about most.

If you have a female player near or in adolescence, you could consider the PEP prevention program. This approach has been shown to reduce the rate of ACL injuries in youth athletes in scientific studies by about 75%. Just search "PEP program ACL" on YouTube and there are several videos which show/explain the exercises. But real science is behind the efficacy of this exercise/prevention program. I wish clubs were more proactive about doing things like the PEP program as a formal warm up. I think it would be a great selling point of the clubs (we care about your child's health) and would reduce ACL injuries among athletes. A win-win.
 
My daughter had an MCL tear her Freshman year of college.
1) Done growing, but she wishes she could grow about 3 more inches.
2) In practice.
3) Stupid one-on-one drill between attackers and defenders. Ball was tossed out and the two players had to see who could kick it away. Daughter and the defender both impacted the ball at the same time with my daughter tearing the MCL and the defender tearing multiple ligaments in her ankle. Team lost their starting forward and center defender.
4) Yes she had been doing extensive strength and agility training. Just a freak accident.
 
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