Is It Okay To Delay ACL Surgery? Know the Facts

A very common doubt of every knee injury patient is, is it okay to delay ACL surgery?

Anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) tears are half of all knee injuries. According to many popular facts, a torn ACL is hardly caused by a direct blow to your knee.

Instead, ACL tears most commonly happen during athletic activities when you suddenly spindle, change your direction, or suddenly stop while you are running.

Similarly, you can also tear the ACL when you jump and land the wrong way.

Once your ACL is damaged don’t wait for anything just start your treatment as soon as possible.

Patients who come to Dr. Ramakant Kumar the best Orthopedic Doctor in Patna got extraordinary care for a torn ACL.

Their treatments are designed to mitigate pain and reintegrate the ligament.

How to Recognize an ACL Tear?

When your ACL tears you will feel a pop and also much pain and swelling in that area.

You may experience sudden pain or sometimes the pain starts within 24 hours.

Similarly, many patients also experience knee unreliability, limited movement, not feeling comfortable while walking, and knee bending out of shape.

What Happens if you Don’t Repair a Torn ACL?

If you don’t do anything, the ACL injury may turn into persistent ACL deficiency. Your knee may become more unstable.

The abnormal sliding within the knee can also hurt elastic fibers.

However, it can also trap and damage the meniscus in the knee and can also lead to osteoarthritis.

Although many people do ACL surgery 2 years after injury, which will be very risky for their knees.

Note: 

Treatment Choices for ACL Tears

After tearing your ACL you can go for nonsurgical or surgical treatment. The non-surgical option mainly includes physical therapy.

However, in this process, you can also have surgical treatment if needed.

You can also have surgery along with physical therapy and reconstruction.

However, if you want to play competitive sports or athletics or you have a full ligament tear you must go for surgery.

While choosing the best treatment for you these things depends on some variables which are your age, overall health, the severity of your ACL tear, and if other structures in the knee were damaged.

Most importantly, no matter which treatment you chose one thing always remember you need to take early treatment to ensure your recovery is wholesome.

The Risks of Delaying Treatment 

For stabilizing your knee your ACL plays a very vital role. It maintains the rotational strength and makes sure the tibia (shin bone) doesn’t slide away from your femur (thigh bone).

Because the ACL carries such considerable stress, delay in the treatment after it tears can lead to many problems such as:

A Worse Injury 

Don’t use your knee after an ACL injury otherwise you will make the problem worse.

Like your swelling will increase, the ligament continues to weaken and a normal tear is likely to turn into a complete fracture.

However, the ACL ligament sometimes takes a long time to heal even after taking early treatment.

You also need to know that lack of good blood supply doesn’t heal the ACL well.

That’s why you need to deal with delayed ACL surgery and need quick treatment to overcome this problem and make your knee healthy.

Long-Term Knee Instability

You have to suffer from chronic knee pain and knee instability if you do not treat a torn ACL immediately.

Surgery will become your only option if you will wait to get treatment.

Otherwise, you may need to survive with ongoing instability by changing your activity and giving up your favorite sports.

An Injured Meniscus 

There is a certain chance of damaging your other structures in the knee including your meniscus when you tear your ACL.

The meniscus is the connective tissue that serves as a shock absorber between the shinbone and thigh bone and the other ligature in the knee joint.

If you will neglect the treatment procedures these injuries will get progressively worse.

More importantly, slowing down the treatment means excessive damage to the meniscus even when it was healthy and uninjured.

Similarly, the meniscus has to face more stress and provide more support when the ACL is weak and can’t do its job, resulting in meniscus injuries.

A Higher Risk of Osteoarthritis 

Osteoarthritis may occur because of untreated ACL injuries.

However, the articular cartilage breaks down at a high speed than normal because of not getting proper support from the ACL.

Because of your knee injury, bleeding can also occur inside the joint.

Meanwhile, bleeding in the joint can destroy the cartilage, which can also lead to osteoarthritis.

If you have knee pain, swelling, or instability you can directly consult Dr. Ramakant, the Top-Rated Ligament Doctor in Patna

The above data will help many peoples by solving their queries about is it okay to delay ACL surgery?

As we can see delaying the ACL surgery will invite many other problems in our body.

What to Do While Waiting for ACL Surgery?

You should exercise regularly, especially your knee with workouts that promote energy building and keep your full range of motion at its maximum.

Similarly, you must eat healthy foods and keep your anabolism running, this will help in keeping regulated once procedure and recovery time comes.

How Long Can I Postpone ACL Surgery?

You should not postpone the ACL surgery for more than six months as it will increase the risk of further damage and deterioration of the involved knee.

What Not to do After ACL Surgery?

You must follow these healthy tips after the ACL surgery to heal the injury as soon as possible:

• Do not put too much pressure on your knee and body.
• Never put more ice in your knee.
• Do not sleep with your knee bent.
• Never remunerate your recovering knee.
• Do not be afraid to share your feelings or any doubt about something to tell your doctor.

How Long Does an ACL Tear Take to Heal Without Surgery?

It takes approximately 3 months to recover from an ACL tear without any surgery or you can say Non-surgical treatment.

Conclusion

However, after reading this article we can now answer many people about is okay to delay ACL surgery. 

Well, Dr. Ramakant Kumar Provides the Best Internal Bracing Surgery in Patna, so you must consult him once.

Moreover, In this article, we can see that not consulting a doctor or not doing immediate treatment can increase your problem.

That’s why as soon as you got to know about your ACL tear you should start your surgical or nonsurgical treatment immediately.