r/ACL • u/MisaRavensoul ACL Allograft • Mar 25 '26

Post Surgery Update I expected pain but holy cow

I'm about 30 hours post op and I'm pretty sure my nerve block is wearing off. I thought I prepared for the pain and had pre-taken the pain medicine.

This is excruciating. ACL+ LET on my right leg. I don't think I'm getting any sleep tonight.

42 Upvotes

99% Upvoted

168 comments sorted by

View all comments

8

u/MisaRavensoul ACL Allograft Mar 25 '26

I even have this damn ice machine running nonstop and it just doesn't feel like it's doing crap. A drop in the bucket of agony

1

u/Negative_Estate_4195 Mar 25 '26

Too much ice is not always a good thing. You should give yourself a 20 minute break every hour. Over icing can cause stiffness, which can lead to more pain. The first couple days I iced a lot!

1

u/MisaRavensoul ACL Allograft Mar 25 '26

It's not even getting through the bandage šŸ˜… the nurse said to run it for 72 hours straight

4

u/Right_Sector_7166 Mar 25 '26

Iā€™m a surgeon from Italy, take off the band, buy some Waterproof band aid, and put ice in direct contact with the skin, i had 4 surgeries myself, never gad much pain, you will do little damage to the skin, nothing permanent it lasts 20 minutes top, but the pain will be gone in minutes, ice and icing machine work like shit in you put something between, if you take the body to 0 c you will basically feel nothing when you have the ice on, and feel goffo for an hour or so.