Rider wellness: ACL surgery

[Sally_mads]

Hi there,
When am I able to start posting trot after ACL surgery? Will it be at the 3 month mark or before or after?
thanks

 

[Afon_34]

I’m about to have acl & mescious & my consultant told me 3 months but other people I’ve spoken to have said nearer 6months. I guess it depends how well you’re healing/ rehab is going. OP how long ago did you have surgery?

 

[Sally_mads]

I’m about to have acl & mescious & my consultant told me 3 months but other people I’ve spoken to have said nearer 6months. I guess it depends how well you’re healing/ rehab is going. OP how long ago did you have surgery?

Thanks for the response! I am coming up on my 3 month mark in about 2ish weeks and I was recently given permission to walk around on a few select safe horses since I am so close to 3 months where I will be fully cleared but I was just curious if that means at that point if I'll be able to post the trot and do most of the normal things on the flat. My recovery is going super good, actually my PT told me I was ahead of time and we've began to work on some intense strengthening exercises so that's good! I plan to talk my surgeon in more detail next time I see him though! Good luck on your surgery! Time goes by pretty quick once your past the first 2 weeks!

 

[[153312]]

You've posted rather a lot about this on the forum - have you not spoken to your doctor? I would say that it definitely your best course of action, rather than strangers on the internet who don't know you at all.

 

[Sally_mads]

No I have not since I am not at my 12 week appointment yet which is coming up soon but I can't see him sooner than that. I have also spoken to multiple PTs to get a sense of what they think as well. Obviously my surgeon will have final decisions and I will not do anything without his okay, but I was just curious to see other peoples experiences with what I'm going through to hopefully get a sense of some sort of timeline even if mine ends up being different. Yes I was hopeful to get another persons response I hadn't heard from on the specifics of trotting and I have Haha I wouldn't post on a website if I didn't want to hear random people of the internet, even if I am fully aware my protocol could be different...

 

[oldie48]

tbh I think it can be rather unwise to ask for information like this on the internet especially from riders who seem to ignore the advice from their doctor. Knees are complex joints and take a lot stress, being in my 70's I really wish I'd taken a bit more care of mine. Everyone's recovery is different, just make sure you get the best recovery you can so your knees are still happy when you are old.

 

[Spottyappy]

You asked this on another thread, and the advise was the same as above.
you really are being naive to think such a serious operation merits Riding at this point! If your surgeon said you can, you really need to change them, to one who understands what horse riding entails.
My daughter has had the operation fail several times and believe me the surgery to redo it, is even worse than the original one.
Although, she has had donar ACLs for the repeats, so didn’t need to do the vast amount of physio as when they used her own hamstring in the original operation.
Why is riding so much more important than your own health, for the sake of waiting a few months?

 

[Sally_mads]

You asked this on another thread, and the advise was the same as above.
you really are being naive to think such a serious operation merits Riding at this point! If your surgeon said you can, you really need to change them, to one who understands what horse riding entails.
My daughter has had the operation fail several times and believe me the surgery to redo it, is even worse than the original one.
Although, she has had donar ACLs for the repeats, so didn’t need to do the vast amount of physio as when they used her own hamstring in the original operation.
Why is riding so much more important than your own health, for the sake of waiting a few months?

Thank you lots for your concern, it's very nice that you care! With that said, you do not know me or the protocols, the progress etc and also are not my doctor. I am actually very lucky to have one of the top surgeons in the state that many athletes travel to around the country for his work and advice. So thank you but I am beyond grateful to have the person that I have. He also has a daughter and wife that ride horses so he is very much aware, thanks!

My own health is much more important then riding horses yes and that's why I am listening to my doctors word and not anyone else's. I am very sorry for your daughters fails, maybe you should get a different surgeon or take different protocols? I'm sorry that happened to her though, I can't imagine! I also don't really appreciate being called naive especially when you don't know me. Personally that's just not something I would do or say to someone over the internet.

 

[[153312]]

Well that was passive aggressive lol.

Seriously - and I really do mean this as kindly as possible - no one here can advise you and they'd be pretty stupid to attempt it.
If your doctor is that good, please, please go to them instead of risking your health. Of course you want to ride but doing it too soon could mean you can't ride at all in future. Follow your medical professionals' advice.

 

[Spottyappy]

Thank you lots for your concern, it's very nice that you care! With that said, you do not know me or the protocols, the progress etc and also are not my doctor. I am actually very lucky to have one of the top surgeons in the state that many athletes travel to around the country for his work and advice. So thank you but I am beyond grateful to have the person that I have. He also has a daughter and wife that ride horses so he is very much aware, thanks!

My own health is much more important then riding horses yes and that's why I am listening to my doctors word and not anyone else's. I am very sorry for your daughters fails, maybe you should get a different surgeon or take different protocols? I'm sorry that happened to her though, I can't imagine! I also don't really appreciate being called naive especially when you don't know me. Personally that's just not something I would do or say to someone over the internet.

I’m sorry, but you know nothing of my daughters acl history- and the failures were not related to the operation or surgeons.
However, as you state your surgeon is so good, you really should be talking to him, and not people on an Internet forum, bar asking casual questions,and not things like when can you start to things like rise to the trot.
from what you now say, you are not in the UK, so maybe you would be better to ask this queston on a forum based in your own country, as it is possible the ACL operation and follow ups with physio etc are totally different to here, in the UK.

 

[sbloom]

I would work with your own PT then I would also work with a rider conditioning specialist (I tend to recommend Rider Reboot, UK based but some online provision) as so few regular therapists truly understand what riding involves, and prepare your body to be resistant to injury, and STRAIGHT so as not to lead to issues with your horse and your own long term soundness, once you're back in the saddle. And no need to bite the hands of those trying to help, we're generally very nice on here, until we're not.

 

[criso]

It can be difficult to get advice from horse riding from the medical profession as unless they ride, they really don't have a clue. When I had my meniscus operated on, my experience was the physios I saw really had no idea of the risks or benefits of horse riding and which muscles and joints come under strain, so it's not always easy to get advice. The literature I was given had lots of info about other sports but not horse riding.

I chose not to have my ACL reconstructed as my consultant said he would tell me not to ride for 9 months after the operation. I was lucky that my consultant was a top one and he had knowledge of horse riding as his wife rode but that's unusual. When I was waiting for the op, we negotiated some riding and he was clear no rising trot, no jumping and no 2 point seat. And absolutely no falling off.