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After an ACL surgery many people worry that they have reinjured their ACL or torn their ACL graft. If you are worried about this know that it is a very common concern. You have gone through a stressful surgery and likely experienced significant pain and limitaiton in your movement. In your mind the worse thing would be if you injured the ACL graft and you now have to go through all of that again! Many people worry that simple activities such as bending and straightening their knee after surgery can damage the ACL. Others worry that simply by putting weight on their leg they may have damaged their ACL graft. These activities do not result in an ACL graft tear. In this video, Lauren Youssef, a physical therapy student from the University of Toronto, explains why retearing your ACL graft after surgery with normal movements and you recovery exercises is unlikely. If you would also like to learn about the ACL recovery timeline we have a great blog about that topic here.

To read the whole blog and learn more about ACL reinjury read Lauren's blog "Did I retear my ACL graft after surgery?"

Ensure that you do everything you need to do to recover after your ACL injury or surgery by downloading Curovate from the links below. Curovate is a physical therapy app that provides daily video-guided exercises for every day of your recovery. Curovate also tracks your progress and gives you the ability to measure your knee range of motion with just your phone.

If you need further customized assistance after your ACL surgery or ACL injury check out our Virtual Physical Therapy page to book your 1-on-1 video session with a physical therapist.

Other Blogs Related to ACL Injuries:

References

1. ACL injury. (2021, March 10). Retrieved from https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/acl-injury/symptoms-causes/syc-20350738

2. Beischer, S., Gustavsson, L., Senorski, E. H., Karlsson, J., Thomeé, C., Samuelsson, K., & Thomeé, R. (2020). Young Athletes Who Return to Sport Before 9 Months After Anterior Cruciate Ligament Reconstruction Have a Rate of New Injury 7 Times That of Those Who Delay Return. The Journal of orthopaedic and sports physical therapy, 50(2), 83–90.

3. Kaeding, C. C., Pedroza, A. D., Reinke, E. K., Huston, L. J., MOON Consortium, & Spindler, K. P. (2015). Risk Factors and Predictors of Subsequent ACL Injury in Either Knee After ACL Reconstruction: Prospective Analysis of 2488 Primary ACL Reconstructions From the MOON Cohort. The American journal of sports medicine, 43(7), 1583–1590.

4. Lai, C., Ardern, C. L., Feller, J. A., & Webster, K. E. (2018). Eighty-three per cent of elite athletes return to preinjury sport after anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction: a systematic review with meta-analysis of return to sport rates, graft rupture rates and performance outcomes. British journal of sports medicine, 52(2), 128–138.

5. Nagelli, C. V., & Hewett, T. E. (2017). Should Return to Sport be Delayed Until 2 Years After Anterior Cruciate Ligament Reconstruction? Biological and Functional Considerations. Sports medicine (Auckland, N.Z.), 47(2), 221–232.

6. Noyes, F. R., Huser, L. E., Ashman, B., & Palmer, M. (2019). Anterior Cruciate Ligament Graft Conditioning Required to Prevent an Abnormal Lachman and Pivot Shift After ACL Reconstruction: A Robotic Study of 3 ACL Graft Constructs. The American journal of sports medicine, 47(6), 1376–1384.

7. Paterno, M. V., Rauh, M. J., Schmitt, L. C., Ford, K. R., & Hewett, T. E. (2014). Incidence of Second ACL Injuries 2 Years After Primary ACL Reconstruction and Return to Sport. The American journal of sports medicine, 42(7), 1567–1573.

8. Samuelsen, B. T., Webster, K. E., Johnson, N. R., Hewett, T. E., & Krych, A. J. (2017). Hamstring Autograft versus Patellar Tendon Autograft for ACL Reconstruction: Is There a Difference in Graft Failure Rate? A Meta-analysis of 47,613 Patients. Clinical orthopaedics and related research, 475(10), 2459–2468.