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too old for ACL reconstruction ?

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too old for ACL reconstruction ?

Old 06-28-20, 07:47 PM
  #1  
Lenkearney
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too old for ACL reconstruction ?

I am 70 and besides cycling I snow ski and hike. In February i had bad ski accident and did a number on my knee - including an ACL tear. I have several people telling me not to have the ACL reconstruction surgery. Seems general theory is at 70 I am slowing down, don't recover as well, cant rebuild muscle loss, etc, etc. My goal is to continue skiing, biking and hiking well into my 80s. I am concern not doing it may limit my ability to continue, plus i understand it is easier to re-injure it. Not sure what to do.

Have anyone here had an ACL in their late 60s? would you do it again? any thoughts from anyone?

Len
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Old 06-29-20, 10:15 AM
  #2  
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Are those people telling you not to based on recent experience? Can't say I know anyone that has had reconstruction recently. However my brother-in-law that is pushing seventy just had a knee replacement at the first of the year. Now he is wondering why he put up with the periodic pain he had for over 10 years.

I think he was up and walking a day after the surgery. Might be different with what you are having done. But be sure they are talking from recent experience. Medical stuff like that has really gotten better over the last ten or twelve years.
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Old 06-29-20, 11:53 AM
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My Mom had a knee replaced at 89. Recovery was difficult but it did improve her ability to get around.

This kind of stuff is best to consult with the specialists. Talk to more than one if possible.
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Old 06-29-20, 01:49 PM
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I have had an orthopedist tell me he would not recommend surgery to repair a torn bicep tendon, essentially it was "after 55 it takes too long to heal or doesn't". So yes, there can be age related recovery issues. Only way to find out is to get a few opinions with an MRI so they can make a good call.
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Old 06-29-20, 05:09 PM
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Since you're already pretty fit your recovery prognosis is better than most 70+ folks.

My mom had total knee and shoulder replacement surgeries after age 70 and she was in pretty bad shape in terms of physical fitness. She never liked to exercise and barely walked if she could use her electric wheelchair instead. And she was uncooperative with physical therapy. I pushed her to do her PT for both surgeries, despite the cussing and fussing, and it helped. Both joint surgeries improved her quality of life for her final decade. The incisions were as minimal as possible and we both had trouble remembering which shoulder had the joint replacement -- the scar was almost invisible and both shoulders were equally good.

You're way ahead of my mom's condition. But discuss it with more than one surgeon.
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Old 06-29-20, 05:13 PM
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Originally Posted by Lenkearney
I am 70 and besides cycling I snow ski and hike. In February i had bad ski accident and did a number on my knee - including an ACL tear. I have several people telling me not to have the ACL reconstruction surgery. Seems general theory is at 70 I am slowing down, don't recover as well, cant rebuild muscle loss, etc, etc. My goal is to continue skiing, biking and hiking well into my 80s. I am concern not doing it may limit my ability to continue, plus i understand it is easier to re-injure it. Not sure what to do.

Have anyone here had an ACL in their late 60s? would you do it again? any thoughts from anyone?

Len
nope.
get it done.
get life back.
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Old 06-29-20, 05:43 PM
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At 73, I had a severed Rotator Cuff repaired. Total recovery was about a year, but I did recover........ I would do it again! Do your therapy hard and as long as you have to.
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Old 06-30-20, 03:17 PM
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You may not be a typical 70 year old ... it could be that you recover quickly. I'm a bit younger, but so far, I bounce back from that kind of thing reasonably well. It all depends on how serious you take your PT and how much you want to be back.

If it were me, I'd go for it. If it turns out badly, there is always the possibility of knee replacement. I know many that have done that and are happy with the results.
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Old 07-01-20, 10:00 AM
  #9  
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I had ACL reconstruction surgery when I was 37. Am 64 now. I was ambivalent about the operation before doing it. Surgeon told me that without surgery, the only thing I would be able to do was cycling.

I went two years with ACL brace before doing surgery, and was able to play basketball, hockey etc. After the surgery, I continued to wear the brace when I played sports. The biggest downside was stiffness in knee joint. Like low grade arthritis, which persists to this day, though it has lessened in severity. The first couple years after surgery, I was taking about 16 ibuprofen pill per day on sports days, less on off days, to keep inflammation at bay.

The upside to the surgery is the stability of the joint was better. I felt less likely to blow out my knee by taking a false step on the edge of a curb or similar.

My advice is at your age, don't do it. You'll get muscle atrophy even if you use electric muscle stimulator, joint stiffness, and you may never get back to where you are now. You may need to give up skiing; I did.
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Old 07-01-20, 01:13 PM
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Moved to Pills and Ills.
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Old 11-17-21, 08:20 PM
  #11  
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~25 years ago I tore my ACL, not a complete tear (85%) Not having the surgery was a non-starter. I would never choose that level of disability when there was a surgical fix avaiable. Have the surgery. Do the rehab. Live your life without the disability.

Pre surgery.. knock on the door, I head to the door, the knee gives out and I am on the ground. No thanks.

Luck,
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Old 11-17-21, 10:46 PM
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Originally Posted by fat biker
~25 years ago I tore my ACL, not a complete tear (85%) Not having the surgery was a non-starter. I would never choose that level of disability when there was a surgical fix avaiable. Have the surgery. Do the rehab. Live your life without the disability.
I would hope that, over a year later, the original poster has already made a decision (and perhaps even completed rehab). That said, I want to provide a counterpoint to this comment, although my experience is probably less relevant to someone in their 70s. I tore my ACL (complete tear, with some meniscus damage) playing ultimate frisbee when I was in my 20's. I talked to a surgeon who suggested I go through physical therapy and see how the knee held up; I could always choose surgery later. Almost 20 years later I still have not had surgery, and I don't regret it. I was diligent about the PT exercises, and while it did take most of a year with a brace to get back to normal activities, I haven't had problems playing ultimate frisbee and volleyball and skiing moguls (my form isn't great but that's not an issue with my ACL). Every once in a while - less frequently now, maybe once every year or two - I'll twist the knee in some way that causes it to be sore and swollen for a few days, but nothing too serious. I maintain leg strength mostly through cycling and that seems to work for me. No signs of arthritis yet, fortunately.

I am curious here what the original poster decided to do, an how their recovery has been.
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Old 11-19-21, 12:22 PM
  #13  
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If you don’t have it repaired then you would need to do physical therapy to strengthen the muscle and ligaments in the area and get a knee brace to help to keep from re-injuring your knee. If you do have the surgery you have to do the same thing. I destroyed my ACL many years ago and as long as I take it easy I am fine and don’t need a brace or surgery, but if I was to do something that put a lot of rotational forces on it, such as in skiing, then I would get the surgery and brace.
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