Stef’s Anterior Cruciate Ligament (ACL) Injury Treatment
Stef Yeh is one of our fantastic Physio’s here at Enhance Physiotherapy. She started at the Mandurah clinic earlier this year after moving from Melbourne. She has always been a keen sportsperson and in the past has played soccer at an elite level. Shortly after starting work here in Perth she ruptured her right anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) while playing a social soccer match. Stef has kindly granted us permission to follow her recovery with a series of blogs to give us an insight into the rehab protocol after a major injury. We’ve asked Stef to describe her injury for us:
‘’A few months ago after moving from Melbourne to Perth, I injured my knee following an awkward tackle while playing soccer. During the incident, I felt my knee pop and immediately knew something wasn’t right. After being assessed by my wonderful colleagues I was off for an MRI scan. Results showed that I had a complete rupture of my anterior cruciate ligament (ACL)”
Complete anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) ruptures typically require surgery where a graft is taken of the hamstring tendon or the patella tendon and is this is used to reconstruct the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) to support the knee. This injury also has a long recovery time, usually in excess of 12 months to return to sport. In order to return to sport the person needs to undergo a long period of rehabilitation to increase the strength in the muscles around the knee to a level where they are strong enough to prevent re-injury.
Stef had a right anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) reconstruction six weeks ago:
“Immediately after the operation I was able to put weight on my leg with minimal support. I returned home from hospital the next day and spent about two weeks resting and focusing on swelling and pain management. I am now up and moving about and have already gone back to work. Although walking can be slow and frustrating, I have actually had very little pain. However, I have lost a lot of strength in my right leg and I can see an obvious change in the size of my leg muscles compared to my left leg. Currently my rehab goals are focussed on getting full movement in my knee and doing some gentle muscle exercises.”
Although it’ll be a long time before Stef is able to play soccer again, she is already making great progress with her rehabilitation and her strength is improving every week! We will keep you updated on Stef’s progress. A big thanks to Stef and we wish her a good recovery!
