PCL tear

[brintapap]

Today I've been diagnosed with an isolated tear of the posterior cruciate ligament. Is there some one here who the had the same injury? And did you choose a conservative treatment or did you choose the operative treatment? And did you return to a competitive level of cycling?

Kind regards,

Brintapap

[stella-azzurra]

I had the opposite the ACL injury due to a skiing accident. Since there was no cartilage tear revealed in the MRI I did not go the operative route. I used cycling to strengthen the muscles around the knee. It has been 14 years since and I have not had any problems with the knee. My cycling is at the same level and is not affected by the ACL tear although impact sports on the knee such as basketball, soccer, volleyball where there are situations of jumping and landing on one leg will likely hurt my ACL again.

What did your doctor say? Get several opinions from several doctors before you decide.

[brintapap]

The orthopedic surgeon said that there might be some meniscus damage, but he wasn't sure. On 5-12-11 I'm scheduled to see a orthopedic surgeon who has more experience with PCL tears. From what i read around the web, is that most peeps regret not having surgery after a few year because the have all kinds of wear and tear problems. So i guess I'm leaning towards surgery.

I find it really impressive that you manage this good without you ACL, that's awesome! Would you say your able to compete a cx race with some barriers without compromise?

[stella-azzurra]

Yes I can compete in CX without compromise because as I said before in non-impact sports my ACL is fine.

Mind you I have done over 90,000 miles on the bike since then. Everyone's ACL tear is different. I was able to walk and bend the knee properly a few days after the injury occurred. In fact I played volley ball 1 week after that injury and I hurt it again. Still being stubborn I played soccer 2 weeks after that and injured it again. So then I went to the orthopedic surgeon to diagnose it. He suggested surgery but in talking to him about recovery periods and performance after surgery he could not warranty 100% flexibility of the knee.

So thinking about it I rehabilitated with some cycling over the summer to access it later in the year. My knee was getting better and my flexibility was 100% so I did not pursue it. Also note I did not have cartilage tear which many ACL injuries accompany causing wear and tear of the knee.

So bottom line talk to your doctors and get multiple opinions before surgery. Good Luck.