Charlie’s physio after ACL surgery
In our latest blog, we looked at some of the most common football injuries. One of the less common injuries is an ACL tear, usually requiring surgery alongside a structured physio programme to prevent re-injury.
27-year-old Investment Manager Charlie, who enjoys playing with The Old Etonians Association Football Club (OEAFC) in his spare time, was unfortunate enough to injure his right ACL. And that was not long after recovering from surgery on his left ACL.
Here, Charlie tells us about how his physio with sports injury physio Paul Martin is going five months on from his injury.
ACL Round 2 - Finding The Right Physio
Charlie ruptured his left ACL in March 2019 during a game of football. They say lightning never strikes twice, but after months of physio and a courageous return to the game, he suffered another ACL injury to his left side in March 2021.
This time, the injury was caused by a kick to the knee, whereas previously, it was caused during a challenge when his foot was planted and the body was still moving in another direction. The pain was less severe, but a scan revealed that he’d torn his ACL as well as damaging some meniscus cartilage.
Charlie’s surgeon recommended Physio Remedies - which is conveniently near Charlie’s office in Mayfair. He was referred to Paul Martin, who has over ten years’ experience at the English Institute of Sport, and has worked across a variety of endurance, technical and speed/power sports.
“Before surgery, our main aim was to get the knee strong, and to maximise the bend, to ensure full flexibility,” said Charlie. His prehab plan started a month before the surgery, to help maximise his recovery.
Charlie’s Recovery After ACL Surgery
Following a successful surgery in January 2022 - rehab has begun. There was a lot of swelling initially, but after ten days icing the knee, the goal was to get more of the bend back, and to walk as normally as possible without crutches.
Charlie and Paul could both see that the recovery was going really well, and Charlie was walking ‘fairly normally’ without aids just three weeks after the surgery.
“The initial recovery time was faster than my previous ACL injury. But then came the hard part of getting the knee functioning to get back to all the activities I did before,”
Charlie’s Exercise Plan
Charlie’s knee and leg strengthening exercise programme soon began at the Lansdowne in its well-equipped gym. But he continues doing the exercises at his office gym on other days.
Exercises tailored to him include resistance jumping - that started just two months after surgery. This involves a harness attached to weights, starting with double-legged jumps but he is now moving to one-legged jumps.
As surgery involves taking some of the hamstring tendon to repair the ACL, the exercises focus on building strength in the hamstring muscles, but also maintaining the balance in his quads. To build up strength, he uses the leg press machine, alongside one-legged squats and a step up with increasing free weights. Also, for building up knee stability he uses a balance trainer while kicking a football in different directions.
“I would never normally go to the gym and do leg strength work. But because I’ve had these injuries I’m more conscious of working around the knee and minimising my chances of doing it again,”
Charlie says…Get The Right Physio!
“All my sessions with Paul have been going really well. I have confidence in what he is doing, and he has a lot of experience treating sports injuries.
“The next step is building up that change of direction - but I feel that I’m recovering at a much faster pace than last time.”
Charlie is back playing golf already, but he’s working towards playing tennis later this summer. He’d also like to get back to playing some football by the end of the year, but is in no rush. “Until I’m confident - and Paul is confident - that I have a brand new knee!”
