So it was a particularly tough break for him to rupture the important ACL ligament in his knee during preseason.
A question I am often asked is why it takes so long to return after ACL surgery. “If I work extra hard at my rehab can I come back earlier?” a desperate player might ask.
While nailing your rehab makes returning to play much safer, it unfortunately does not reduce the time your surgeon and physio will advise you to sit out.
To get a better understanding of why this is, you first need to understand what happens when someone ruptures their ACL and what the subsequent reconstruction surgery involves.
Your ACL is an important ligament that runs through the centre of your knee. When you change direction, twist or land on the knee it acts like a small rope that stops your shin bone sliding forward on your thigh bone.
When we say someone has “done their ACL”, we mean they have snapped this ligament.
While there is emerging research showing that some people can cope fine without an ACL, and in some cases the ACL can heal by itself, most surgeons will advise younger athletes who play pivoting sports like footy and netball that they should have a reconstruction.
A reconstruction involves taking a slice of one of the athlete's tendons from behind or just above their knee and running it along where the ACL used to go inside their knee joint.
Tendons are not as stiff as ligaments, so the knee is left with a poorly functioning ACL that would snap if significant load is placed on it. This is where the nine-12 months off becomes so important.
Our body is a very clever thing. Over those many long months, it will slowly stiffen up the tendon, changing its structure from that of a tendon to a ligament until it gets to the point where it can withstand the loads placed on it during sport.
Research shows that players who return to their sport before six months post surgery invariably re-snap their ligament (and then have to start the process again), whereas those who delay until closer to 12 months are much less likely to do so.
So there you go, that's why ACL injuries come with such a long recovery period. Preventing these is obviously super important. I'll touch on that next week.
