Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with ACL

Will Kaiser health insurance pay for a knee brace? Subsidize it?

jstef — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 11:25:13 -0800

Will Kaiser health insurance pay for a knee brace? Subsidize it? I had an ACL operation two years ago (two replacements, actually) while insured by Aetna. My doctor told me the insurance would help pay for a functional brace, but that I should wait a few months to let my muscles grow again.

Two years later, I have insurance with Kaiser, and I am only now returning to full activity. Do you think there's any chance they'll help subsidize the cost of a CTi brace or equivalent? Will this prior condition not be covered? Anyone have experience in this department?

Thanks!

ACL Surgery Advice Please

swngnmonk — Sun, 04 Oct 2009 16:35:49 -0800

Going in for ACL replacement in a few days - what can I do between now and then to prepare for the next few weeks? So I'm going in for surgery on Wednesday to replace my right ACL, which I tore a couple of months ago. I'll be getting a cadaver ACL.

I'm looking forward to having a functional knee again, though I know that's 4-6 months from now. What I'm worried about is the next few weeks. I've read the previous questions posted, and I'm pretty clear on the idea that the week or two after surgery are going to suck. Doc is installing the cooling device & I'll be spending time w/ one of the devices that moves my knee for me as well.

I'll be staying with my dad and his GF for the first 2-3 days after, but then have to return home, where I live alone in a walkup duplex. So I have to deal with navigating stairs, and I need to get around. I have a stubborn streak, I'm lousy at asking for help, and I believe I can get anything done if required. But I realize I'll be gimpy as all hell, and I need to accept that I'll be limited in mobility for a while.

So, with all that: What made your life easier during your recovery period? If you had to do it over again, what would you do in the days leading up to it to make life easier afterwards?

Thank you!

What kind of ACL graft did you get?

hybridvigor — Tue, 25 Aug 2009 18:44:08 -0800

Did you get ACL reconstruction surgery? I would like to know as much about your specific experience and graft choice as possible, to help me decide on mine. I am a 29 year old female in fairly good shape. I completely ruptured my left ACL one month ago playing soccer, as well as tore the meniscus and sprained the MCL. I am in PT right now, and will probably get reconstruction surgery for the ACL, definitely for the meniscus tear. I am reading all these journal articles about different graft advantages and disadvantages, and, don't know what to choose. Ideally, I would like to hear from you if you have had all 3 types of graft and can tell me exactly the pros and cons of each. Realistically, I'm not going to find that (very unlucky) person. So:

(a) how long was it between your injury and your surgery? did you do PT before the surgery? in retrospect, do you wish you had gotten the surgery sooner or later?

(b) what type of graft did you choose (allograft, patellar tendon or hamstring)? how long has it been since your surgery, and what advantages and disadvantages have you found related to your specific graft choice? Hamstring/patellar pain, etc?

(c) post-surgery, what do you wish someone had told you?

(d) post-surgery, how long were you useless? (I have a job in which I can sit on my butt all day at a computer, but if I'm in a lot of pain, I will still be mentally useless and unable to do it.)

Thanks. Any information is appreciated, *especially* as relating to specific graft type experiences. I'm trying to defend my PhD this semester, and this is a much unwanted roadblock. Even a week or two of not being able to work might be enough to make me miss the defense deadlines.

Possible to verify printed out ACL ticket?

meta87 — Mon, 22 Sep 2008 18:42:33 -0800

My friend is looking for a one-day pass to ACL (Austin City Limits) on craigslist. She found some one willing to sell her one, but it is a print-out ticket. Is there any way to verify it or is this a bad idea? The ACL website warned against this, but I thought I'd see if anyone on here had any ideas. Thanks!

ACL tear in 9 month onld puppy, what to do?

prk14 — Tue, 01 Apr 2008 12:50:50 -0800

I rescued a 9 month old boxer/Staffordshire terrier mix about 10 days ago. As per the agreement with the humane society I took him in to get his rabies shots as well as a check up and after a physical examination and x-rays the vet told me that he had a torn Anterior cruciate ligament. Because of his size the vet made it sound like the only option was TPLO surgery.

Well, this is heartbreaking news because even though I have only had him for a short period of time I have grown very fond of him. The truth of the matter is though that I don't have $2000 to pay for knee surgery especially with the high probability that he will blow out his other knee as soon as he recovers from the surgery.

I called the humane society that I rescued him from and they told me the only thing they could do is take him in and put him to sleep since they don't have the resources to deal with this kind of situation.

So here is the question: are there any alternatives to TPLO surgery that would work for a larger dog? (he is about 50 lbs right now and growing) Is there anywhere we can turn for financial assistance? What kind of quality of life can he expect if left untreated?

As of right now, he favors one left and is stiff when he starts moving after laying for a while, but once he gets warmed up he runs and jumps and carries on as one would expect a puppy to do. Are we letting him further his injury by not keeping him more immobile?

Doggie knee rehab advice.

jimbotex — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 18:09:22 -0800

Opal, our yellow Lab, tore her ACL and it was surgically repaired six weeks ago. The surgery was a success, and Opal is doing great except that she still refuses to use the leg that was operated on. I realize it will take time for her to trust the leg again, but what can we do to encourage her to use it normally? We're afraid the stress on her good leg will lead to another torn ACL. Opal thanks you all.

How do you exercise a dog with bad knees?

k8t — Mon, 15 Oct 2007 10:26:49 -0800

Our 9-year-old yellow lab who has had a full ACL on one knee and a partial ACL on the other is getting worse. How can we exercise him properly without putting him in pain? Whenever my bf takes the dog hiking, the dog returns home and cries all night. In the morning I have to drag him outside to use the bathroom, because he can barely get up. He'll try to get on his front legs, but his back legs can barely move. My bf thinks that intense exercise is better than longer daily walks. I think that putting the dog in this kind of pain is not a good idea. Help! (And yes, we do glucosymyn and all that.)

What is the best style/brand knee-brace for ACL?

drinkspiller — Sun, 13 May 2007 18:31:00 -0800

What is the best style/brand knee-brace for ACL? I've busted my ACL playing basketball and had reconstruction a little over two years ago. Foolishly perhaps, I wish to continue to play basketball and would like to have solid ACL support. Suggestions? Recommendations? Tales of overcoming odds to win State?

Should I switch from cold to warm compress on knee?

sherlockt — Thu, 22 Feb 2007 21:27:35 -0800

Is there a time I should switch from cold to warm compresses on a joint injury? Several days ago I tore my ACL while skiing. I went to the emergency room and was instructed to put cold compresses on it for the first two days or so to reduce swelling. The swelling has gone down considerably (and pain is greatly reduced), but the joint is still quite stiff. Would it be helpful to switch to a warm compress to fight the stiffness, or should I continue with cold compresses (or do nothing)? Any advice would be appreciated.

Can't get to my files!

yellowbkpk — Sun, 08 Oct 2006 18:52:45 -0800

Please help get my files inaccessible accessible so I can work on the train tomorrow! I run WinXP Pro on a domain at work. I back up my work files to a TrueCrypt NTFS volume on a 60GB USB hard drive. I used Cygwin's rsync to back up my important files to the TrueCrypt drive. I need to get some work done on these files, but my home laptop is preventing me from opening any of them due to permissions restrictions. My home laptop is WinXP Home.

- I've tried running cacls.exe and xcacls.exe to grant myself permissions, but both give me a "Access denied."
- I've tried booting into safe mode on my home laptop to get in to my administrator account (WinXP Home doesn't let you login as administrator unless you're in safe mode), but TrueCrypt won't run in safe mode.

How do I get access to these files from my home laptop? Is there a hack to the NTFS ACL format? Is there a LiveCD that I can download that will ignore ACL restrictions?

Thanks!

What to expect with ACL reconstruction surgery?

irishkitten — Fri, 02 Jun 2006 10:42:53 -0800

I am having ACL surgery in 10 days. I'm looking to get some more information on the surgery, people who have had the experience under spinal anaesthesia, and recovery times. I've found some blogs, but looking for more. I'm also looking to hear about how long people were required to wear the Zimmer splint, or similar products, assuming all went well in the surgery, and physio. Thanks! ^^

Running for Fatties

jdroth — Sun, 21 Aug 2005 20:56:01 -0800

ExerciseFilter: I am old (36). I am fat (5'8" 190#). I am out of shape (no real physical activity for a couple years). I have a bad knee (ACL replacement and some cartilage replacement two year ago). I want to run a half-marathon on Halloween. What can I do to prepare? Specifically, what can I do to minimize the risk of reinjuring my knee? I found a training guide and have adapted it to my purposes. I ran two miles Tuesday, Wedenseday, and Friday. I biked yesterday. Tuesday and Wednesday sucked — hard — but I can already sense improvement. I did a three mile run today, and was able to run a full mile-and-a-half before resting (whereas I did more walking than running the first day).

The primary problem? My knee is killing me. It hurt a little after the first three runs, but after today's run it's especially bad. I hate to imagine what it will feel like tomorrow. I believe this is because I had several short downhill stretches. (Downhill is a bitch when you have ACL problems.)

I'm doing moderate stretching before running and after. (I believe post-exercise stretching is the most important factor in preventing injuries.) Is RICE appropriate?

Help me stay healthy and still meet my goal of running a half-marathon!

Caring for an Irish wolfhound after surgery?

BoringPostcards — Mon, 18 Jul 2005 11:57:40 -0800

Our Irish wolfhound has torn the ACL in one of her hind legs, and the knee is going to require surgery. We're worried about how to keep her "calm" and "off that leg" after the surgery, for 3 or 4 weeks, as the surgeon tells us we'll have to do. She is about 5 years old, but VERY exuberant and hyper. She is also an outdoor dog, along with one much smaller, older dog. They have a pen in the backyard (it constitutes about a third of our yard, actually).

She is on painkillers right now, until we can get the surgery done (hopefully next week), but they haven't mellowed her down at all. The only thing we can figure out is to buy a kennel type cage to separate her from the other dog, make sure part of it is covered from the weather, and then clean out her poop with a shovel. But we DREAD the idea of keeping her cooped up and immobile like that for a month! Have any of you ever gone through this with your dog? How did you handle the aftercare, and how did your dog manage?