“How long is the healing period of a torn ACL?”
My son tore his ACL last night at football. How long is the healing period of a torn ACL?
9 Answers
Not enough information. Most ACL tears require surgery and young athletic people. Needs an evaluation and proper discussion.
ACL COMPLETE TEARS DO NOT HEAL BY THEMSELVES. Surgical recovery is 6-9 months post-op.
Normal return to play is 9 to 12 months.
Depends on your other injuries but the Earlier you get surgery, the the Earlier you are headed to return to getting well and return to school, healing, rehabilitation. The NFL has great data on return to play but these are professional athletes working out 3 times a Day with professional trainers and average return is 7.4 months. DEPENDS on Each athlete and how well they heal and how well their support system is at home, school, teachers, coaches, and friends. It takes Strong determination and a good Team to help anyone return back to 100%
Complicated. If a reconstruction procedure is performed, general rule is 9 months before allowing full unrestricted activities. That's if strength, quadriceps in particular, is solid and range of motion good. That said, from day 1 after injury, begin to use the quadriceps to not lose any more strength.
Sorry to hear this. He will likely need an ACL reconstruction surgery in order to return to sport. The wounds heal in 2 weeks and the graft heals in 2-3 months. Patients are jogging by month 3, running by month 4 and engaging in a return to sport progression program after 6 months. Full unrestricted return to sport can take as long as one year after surgery.
Surgery to repair or reconstruct the ACL is usually the treatment of choice for young active individuals. To fully recover from this surgery and return to sports is usually 6 to 9 months minimum. The reason that it takes so long is that the tissue used to reconstruct the ACL needs that long to remodel into strong ligamentous type tissue.
A complete ACL tear does not heal. He would need an ACL reconstruction, which heals in 4-5 months, and return to play typically takes 8-12 months.
Most athletes take a minimum of 9-12 months to get back to pre-injury ability. That's a hard surgery for a teen or really anyone to recover from. Make sure he is committed to a long rehabilitation program. Best of luck to him!
