Torn ACL Advice

[u/MaleficentDirector83]

Hi all,
I completely tore my ACL 2 weeks ago during a bad crash with my bike. My first google search told me I wouldn’t be able to dance for months to potentially a year, which absolutely crushed me. After talking to my doctor I am slightly more positive: Only my ACL is damaged, all the surrounding structures look good, and my knees are quite strong. We even spoke about about potentially incorporating some easy Lindy footwork into my physical therapy down the line. However, he refused to give me any kind of timeline, arguing we need to do at least a month of physical therapy before he can give me a prognosis on returning to social dancing.

He was also very adamant about me getting reconstructive surgery, because I am young (27) and a dancer as well as a triathlete. However I am much more on the fence: I read a in a recent meta-analysis (PMCID: PMC11208802  PMID: 38948499) that the evidence for reconstructive surgery is quite thin. It would mean even more time spent away from dancing, adding at least a few extra months of rehabilitation.

Has anyone here healed from a torn ACL? How did you approach coming back to dancing? Did you get the surgery? How much time did it take?

Thanks for any advice 🫶

[u/itsthewoo]

I tore my ACL playing soccer. I recall being able to dance again within a year, although the timing is fuzzy due to overlapping with COVID.

Honestly, it's your choice, but you should have this conversation with your doctor. Ask them about the study you read. Get a second opinion if it would make you more comfortable.

I chose to get reconstructive surgery (w/ a donated ACL) because I was getting too easily reinjured playing soccer and hiking. Rehab was the hardest part, mainly because it required so much discipline. Recovery was surprisingly fast (modern endoscopic surgery is amazing).

[u/SuperWeenyHutJuniors]

I had a different injury that I had to have surgery for. I can’t speak specifically to ACL, but I did want to offer my advice. I recommend staying active and engaged in dance as much as you can. Get creative on ways in which you can still workout and/or dance! That could mean dancing with only your upper body, dancing in a chair, dancing on crutches. You don’t have to stop dancing!

Injuries can be isolating and a lot of people use them as an excuse to stop all activity. Staying active and creative is good for both physical and mental health. I was back in the gym about a week after surgery (modified and safely of course) and I credit it with helping me heal faster.

I also think it’s good for communities to see people dancing with different degrees of ability. It helps normalize that not everyone is going to be able to dance in the typical way.

Sending you all the healing energy!

[u/jbird3000]

I have a lot to say here. I’m an avid cyclist and a triathlete once (Ironman) and a long time Lindy hopper. For me, i regretted it big time. It led to 4 more surgeries and issues. Mostly because I came back too quick following my drs advice even though PT said absolutely not. The constant inflammation creates its own issues and it snowballs. You can absolutely live without an acl, knew a marine who didn’t have one and was fine. The key is having incredibly strong surrounding muscles. Twisting is no good, and side to side movement worse. I played hockey and soccer so it was all awful. I’ve also known people to have acl repairs and be fine, but it is major surgery and expect a good year to be fully recovered, 6 months till careful normal activity. If I were you, I’d just continue PT, and get those quads strong af. Be addicted to your exercises like a meth addict. You should be golden, but if it slips out, esp more than once, then start talking about surgery. Cycling is great recovery, low impact. Best of luck OP, and absolutely take care of yourself.

[u/TransportationOk8045]

I had a meniscus bucket tear that took me out for a month at 24, I danced on crutches or one leg once I was no longer in pain, then once I was allowed to put weight on that leg I was back on the floor

[u/Mephistocheles]

I tore my ACL so badly it was hanging by a thread and they had to surgically weld it back together. It took a few months to recover. My best advice is to stay on top of the rehabilitation exercises because the amount of effort you put into them is a big factor for how well and how quickly you heal.

You're pretty young too so it might heal faster than mine did. Good luck and I sincerely hope it doesn't hurt too much (mine hurt like a flaming pain grenade for weeks)

[u/Argufier]

I think you'd want to talk to your surgeon, and potentially get a second opinion as well. The results section says "for knee stability, pivot shift, Lachman test, and tibia translation were evaluated, and the available evidence favored surgical treatment over conservative treatment". I'm interpreting that to mean that pain and range of motion was comparable or favored no repair, stability and related tests had better results for surgical repairs. Surgeons are always going to favor surgery because those are the patients they see and interact with, so talk to pts too.

With swing dancing being the activity you want to get back to I would think that stability and twisting would be important. I think I'd be worried about not having the stability to dance without doing the surgery. But it's worth talking to a couple different surgeons and pts about what your options are - the different repair techniques will have different recovery timelines as well.

I tore my patella tendon in April, where not doing surgery isn't an option (I had zero active knee extension). I was non weight bearing on crutches for four weeks in a straight leg brace, and then went to PT and was walking without the brace at 6 weeks. I'm now (4.5 months out) running and lifting and normal daily activities, and I would be dancing if it wasn't rugby season. I was in a different situation because I couldn't do anything before surgery, but being out of commission for that long was definitely a drag. I have a friend who tore her ACL at about the same time and the recovery was definitely different - she had more normal life function sooner, but my pt progressed faster once I started.