The Injury

Hello, world! (Or the 3 or 4 close family/friends who will be reading this blog)

I tore my ACL on 15 October 2023.

Two seconds was all it took to join the ranks of millions who have suffered the same fate.

I had previously associated ACL injuries with high level athletes doing high level things. Not a mid-30s desk-bound office worker-weekend-warrior playing sports super casually. But no, I am exactly the kind of person something like this could happen to.

What is the ACL, even? The anterior cruciate ligament. It’s a strong band of tissue somewhere inside the middle of your knee, that connects your thigh bone to your shin bone.

I don’t think anyone ever really thinks about it, until it snaps and you realise that it is a goddamn vital ligament responsible for all sorts of things including allowing you to jump, pivot, and just… well, move.

How did it happen? Dodgeball. My first time playing, in a casual game. I ran and threw a ball, and at the same time jumped and ducked from one coming at me. I twisted my knee and heard a pop. My heart sank and I walked-hobbled off court. 4 days later an MRI confirmed – complete ACL rupture, medial meniscus tear, low-grade tears of the soleus (calf) muscle, LCL, MCL… and here we are.

I’ve gone back and forth trying to understand how this happened. I will never have a clear answer. It could have been that I’ve always had a dodgy knee due to two previous injuries (an MCL tear in 2018, and a hole in my knee requiring 12 stitches in 2017), playing tennis and floorball for two consecutive nights before the dodgeball game, a failure to warm up, my old millennial body screaming to stop… any or all of the above. In any case, it happened.

So yeah, dodgeball.

How long are you out for? I don’t know. Best case is 9-12 months post-operation before going back into recreational sports that require pivoting (tennis, badminton, netball etc.), or hiking on uneven terrain. Much will depend on the rehab process.

What are the next steps? Pre-hab. My immediate goals after the injury were to normalise walking and start activating the quad and hamstring muscles (which have lost a lot of strength since the injury). I’ll do a more in-depth post on this later.

What’s this blog about? I was touched by the number of people reaching out to check in on me. This is going to serve to track my progress, keep myself accountable and motivated with prehab / rehab and vent!

There is so much information out there, and new studies coming out on the ACL’s capacity to heal itself, that this will also serve as a touchpoint for musings on this topic.

Consistency isn’t exactly my middle name, so let’s hope this blog keeps me going.

Surgery? 80% yes. Will post my thoughts on this.

Thanks for stopping by! Feel free to drop comments and any words of encouragement.