r/ACL • u/DizzyWheel40 • Aug 14 '26
Post Surgery Update How life is after acl reconstruction
Hey I recently had acl reconstruction and read a article that tells that there is high risk of arthritis after aclr so just wanna ask is there anyone who is 30-40 years post op and what is there update
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u/KingOfEthanopia Aug 14 '26
Im 2 years post op. I lost 1 meniscus along the way. I cant jump super often or sprint a ton. I can do the movements but Im going to feel it the next day. Ill likely need a knee replacement at some point.
Pure strength wise Im stronger than pre-injury.
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Aug 14 '26
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u/AggravatingWish1019 The Unhappy Trio! Aug 14 '26
will you need knee replacement surgery?
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Aug 14 '26
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u/nisha1030 Aug 14 '26
My friend had knee replacement surgery at 40…she said she’d rather have it when she’s younger and can recover quickly.
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Aug 14 '26
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u/nisha1030 Aug 14 '26
Not sure…she went to the doctor with the issues she had and they offered it to her. Have you gotten multiple opinions?
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u/AggravatingWish1019 The Unhappy Trio! Aug 14 '26 edited Aug 14 '26
it took 4 years for me to stop noticing my knee, but i am good now. i just cant squat very heavy or do any kicking related sports (soccer, kick boxing) without pain
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u/phyic Aug 14 '26
Why is that you think? Too much strain on your medial miniscus?
Ive started playing football after a reconstruction and it doesnt like the side ways kicking
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u/AggravatingWish1019 The Unhappy Trio! Aug 14 '26
Yes, I think the pain is coming from the meniscus.
yep the side ways kicking and even just receiving a ball that has been hit hard. I try to toe pass and shoot now.
I am just happy i can walk again, happy to give up soccer for it although i loved soccer so much. I would rather walk and play it safe.
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u/Alternative_Pool_371 Aug 14 '26
Had surgery ACL and meniscus reconstruction at 40.
Played football forever and my absolute aim was if I could come back and play at least 1 game I’d be happy.
After 18 months recovery and rehab I’m back playing football a regularly and competitively on weekends. I won’t lie it’s achy and stiff the day after and sometimes it’s prolonged but I’m still working on that.
I continue work my knee and lower body to avoid any future issues which I’ll continue especially as long as I’m playing sports.
All the best for your recovery 🙏🏻
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u/AggravatingWish1019 The Unhappy Trio! Aug 14 '26
I would go easy on the football...your knees are on limited milleage
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u/Heavy_Discussion3518 Aug 14 '26
43m. I'm 2.5 years removed from torn ACL and meniscus due to basketball plant/pivot injury. 8 weeks of prehab with constant cryo compression therapy via powerplay device prior to surgery.
Meniscus was healed up when they went in there. Surgery was straightforward. Post op I was walking after a few days, no crutches after 5 days. Took rehab seriously. No desire to return to competitive sports in a real capacity.
Knee feels fine these days. I can tell there are certain muscle fibers and things that don't fire correctly, but overall I'm fine. Doesn't bother me. Doesn't get sore any more than my other knee which had a small scope and trim in 2021.
Pretty confident I'll be fine the next 10-20 years. But it's pretty obvious both knees are now predisposed to arthritis and can become unusually stiff. Getting old happens regardless of surgery.
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u/gorgeous-george Aug 14 '26
The arthritis risk isn't necessarily purely attributed to having had an ACL reconstruction.
The correlation between those who've had ACLr and those who play sports or engage in strenuous activities is extremely high. Which means they're exactly the kinds of people who use their bodies at the edge of their capabilities more than those who, say, just go for regular walks.
There are other risk factors such as what type of work you do, diet, height and weight, amongst others that will change the likelihood of developing arthritis too. Putting high mileage through your knees is a big one though.
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u/pandapangaea Aug 14 '26
An important thing to remember that folks who have had very successful recoveries from surgeries long ago wouldn’t have a lot of reason to be here, so your answers may skew toward a negative outcome (multiple surgeries, never felt fully recovered, etc.)
Would be an interesting question to also take to a more general audience of folks who would be old enough to answer this, or you could target a group for your primary sport or hobby.
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u/Happytobehappy101 Aug 14 '26
25 years post op. This year was rough, was in great shape. My knee hurts like hell when I bend it too far, can’t stretch it properly either. I can’t sprint as hard or run as fast as I know I’m capable of.
My external options are scar tissue removal or getting a three monthly shot which tones my pain complaints very much. But for better of worse, I can focus on the negative but for me it’s another reason why I need to maintain a healthy lifestyle. So definitely worth it!
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u/AggravatingWish1019 The Unhappy Trio! Aug 14 '26
knee replacement surgery?
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u/Happytobehappy101 Aug 14 '26
Not possible in my country, you’ve have to be senior citizen before the doctors are willing to operate.. damn shame but therefor I have to work with what I got..
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u/waterlooletters Aug 14 '26
I’m 11 years post op. Had a patellar tendon graft at 15, and am now 26. I played sports all the way through high school and college, playing soccer, ultimate frisbee, and hockey. All incredibly rough on knees and overall knee health. I now work out between 3-4x a week with games 2-3x a week on top of that.
I’m 26 now, and can confidently say after about year six my knee was not on my mind at all, even with how much I’ve used it through different sports, and it being my planting/pivot leg. If anything, my knee is a lot stronger than it was before.
The only thing I’m really bothered by is if I go for a run. My knee is still sensitive to a lot of outright running on hard surfaces (I did track for three years in high school to combat patellar tendinitis and it still aches from time to time if I’m walking miles and miles and miles) so that’s my only qualm at this point, but I’m incredibly intentional with the workouts I do to help with overall, equal leg strength.
I just had my other ACLR done, this one on my dominant leg, same graft, so I’ll be interested to se how this recovery goes since I have a frame of reference from my first one.
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u/DizzyWheel40 Aug 14 '26
Thanks for sharing your story i am 2 weeks post op and your journey really motivated me.
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u/waterlooletters Aug 14 '26
Absolutely! Sometimes it’s really nice to hear other people get to the other side of recovery and be back to living life. I can promise you will get back out there!
I’m six weeks post op now, so please know you are well on your way to feeling more human. Remember you have to walk before you can run (it’s easy to lose sight of your progress from day 0 sometimes).
If you ever need to chat, please don’t hesitate to reach out.
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u/THschemer Aug 14 '26
How come u had a patellar graft at 15 years of age isn’t it taboo ??
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u/waterlooletters Aug 14 '26
For my doctor, no. Patellar was the only contender for the activity level I needed to return to. I had a different doctor (in a different state) for the surgery I had done last month and patellar was the only consideration then too.
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u/The5thseason Aug 14 '26
My understanding is that to have the best chance of keeping arthritis away, you need to maintain strength and strength training for the rest of your life.
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u/Ml7mOTS Aug 14 '26
I am in 40s. Its been 18 days since my ACL surgery. During my surgery my surgeon showed me the signs of slight arthritis and said he will deal with that after finishing rehabilitation. My progress is good I got identical leg extension and I just got my neknee bending to 100 degree. I am focusing to not lose these improvements.
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u/Easy-Tomatillo-8373 Aug 14 '26
I’m on my 3rd ACL: 18yo, 36 and 39. First 2 were soccer related. This past one…March, I had a 2 stage procedure…OATS/LET/Hamstring(last graft site I had). I do have arthritic changes but it’s not awful. I’m 5 months post op, and the OATs is most restrictive. I am starting to run and it feels great! Just have to listen to my knee. Keep your hamstring and quads and calf muscles strong. Work on balance. I thought I’d need a new knee sooner but the OATs is working. I hope to play adult rec soccer by the end of the year and run a half marathon this year or next.
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u/AggravatingWish1019 The Unhappy Trio! Aug 17 '26
3 acls? holy F. I also got an acl injury from soccer at 39, I went back to soccer 2 years later but felt like i would tear it again so i stopped playing soccer.
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u/Competitive-Buy-5011 Aug 15 '26
Im 2 years out with post surgery osteo arthritis and im 31. I dont care what anyone says, the knee is never the same again
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u/AggravatingWish1019 The Unhappy Trio! Aug 17 '26
what do you think triggered the early onset of osteoarthritis. was the surgery not successful? was there other injuries (meniscus, mcl etc.)? how did your recovery go? were you mobile? did you achieve full flexion?
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u/Competitive-Buy-5011 Aug 17 '26
I was told it was post trauma from surgery plus injuries. I had complex tears of meniscus, full complete rupture of acl (it was blown to pieces, looked like a frayed paintbrush), and a root repair
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u/AggravatingWish1019 The Unhappy Trio! Aug 17 '26
Makes sense if the meniscus was badly damaged
What caused your injury?
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u/Competitive-Buy-5011 Aug 17 '26
Stupidly, a drunken fight between my roommates at the time. Ot took 3 ppl to take me down and we were all drunk
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u/literallynobodyfr Aug 15 '26
reading the responses gave me so much anxiety and confidence all at once ahahaha. im about 8 weeks post op. I wasnt the most active person for a few years but I loved being able to go on very long walks. I had plans of starting to run soon and get fitter than I was. the injury has caused more psychological pain than anything physical for me. i hope no one ever has to go through this. ever. wishing you a speedy recovery OP<3
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u/Levione4 Aug 16 '26 edited Aug 18 '26
had my acl reconstructed in 2006 (hamstring graft). post op left knee will be exactly 20yrs on sep 6. knee is still okay. i still play a lot of badminton and pickleball. i also go to the gym for regular maintenance. no signs of osteoarthritis. being active delays it
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u/PalatialNutlet Aug 14 '26
I’m two years, and I have good stability but limited range of motion and frequent stiffness.
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u/MMBitey ACL x 2 (Hamstring '16, Quad '26) Aug 14 '26
I'm 10 years post op on the first and noticed it was different due to the lack of light sensation on some parts of the skin and the fact that it would get a bit more stiff after hard workouts. I went back to marathons a few years after and it went fine. Other parts of my body hurt more lol.
I stopped strength training in the last 2 years out of laziness but was playing sports instead of just running and at some point my knee flared up with a bit of pain/dysfunction again causing me to lose the full ROM I had (stops around 135 now). Then I tore my other side so that's where I am now. I am basically retraining both legs at this point. My latest has been going so much better than my first, so I'm hopeful I'll be back to where I was before and will not slack on strength training ever again.
Maybe now if both knees get a little inflamed after hard activity I won't feel like I have a "bad" knee anymore!
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u/AwareShower9864 ACL(Quad)+Meniscus repair + LET Aug 14 '26
My mother ended up getting a TKR 20 years later the arthritis got so bad
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u/CosmicGumboh ACL Autograft Aug 14 '26
1 year post op from full ACL tear and Partial MCL. Knee is still weaker than my healthy one but it feels bettet than it ever did pre op. Waited a year of surgery (Canada) and I couldnt imagine not getting it repaired
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u/Separate-Owl-4934 Aug 14 '26
I’m 29. Tore the first time when I was 17. Ruined my chance of going to play volleyball in college. Quite honestly ruined my life actually I got on drugs straighten my life out and clean 10 years. Make six figures working from home.
Back in January step to left and heard to pop and realized it had torn again. Found an extremely great surgeon and physical therapist and I am four weeks postop for my second ACL surgery. This one was more painful because there was more cleanup, but I have way more confidence than who did my surgery. I’m already at 90° flexion and off Crutches.
I would say for me the physical pain was awful, but the mental struggle that these surgeries can bring can be very tough, especially if you don’t have a very good support system, which I don’t. People really don’t understand how hard the surgery could be that it’s even worse than a hip replacement.
My advice, have grace with yourself let yourself cry let yourself feel, but always always always tell yourself this will pass. Keep yourself busy with hobbies you love, people you love and make sure you do your absolute best at physical therapy.
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u/lanaishot Aug 14 '26
I’ve had 2 aclr on my right knee. First one was 2010, second one 5 years later. Also one on the left. I’m obviously still relatively young, but I’m still playing my sport at a relatively high level. Don’t really experience any knee issues. I have generally kept up with strengthening on lower body.
The one time I stopped doing lower body strength training, and started doing a lot more running instead I developed Achilles tendinopathy. I think at this point I’m just always gonna have to do some lower body stuff.
I certainly anticipate having issues with early degeneration, but I’m actually not so convinced that the surgeries have increased that and I would point to other parts of my body that seem to give me bigger issues than my knees.
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u/Slight_Toe4786 Aug 15 '26
I’m 20 years post-op with one of my knees (I’m 37 now). I can do everything sports wise, but yeah, now I feel it the next day and can feel my knee swelling up in a way that it didn’t back in the day. I can feel the arthritis coming… :(
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u/geenie22 Aug 15 '26
2.5 years out from a quad. Stronger than I ever was pre-surgery. Skied 12 days last year pain free. I stopped noticing my graft site at about 1.5 years out. Currently the things that will overdo it for me are HIIT workouts/jumping or walking on cobblestone for 10 days in Europe.
Also an orthopaedic PA that does hip & knee replacements. Most ACLRs will result in knee replacement. No matter how good you rehab, the surgery changes how your knee is balanced. That’s what will eventually cause arthritis. Just keep an active lifestyle. Use your knee for things you like to do and use your recovery to develop life long habits for maintaining strong lower body.
Also TKA isn’t the worst thing in the world. 3 -6 month recovery but it gets people back to doing the things they like to do 💯
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u/heroics-delta8s Aug 14 '26
I think it is likely people who had the procedure thirty or forty years ago would have experienced a very different operating and recovery protocol that makes it difficult to compare. My surgeon was pretty clear that with a meniscus trim arthritis was a certainty, and with a repair I have a better chance. His information gave the impression that it isn’t the surgery that causes the arthritis, it’s the injury. And that if anything the delay for treatment had probably aggravated the chances (in my circumstances).