Spontaneous healing after 5 months

Hey guys, I got really lucky! I’m day 11 post surgery and after a bit of a whirlwind I wanted to see if anyone had any similar experiences.

I tore my ACL on 31/08/24 and delayed surgery as I had an overseas trip booked. Granted, my injury was not too severe, with no other ligaments or menisci affected, just a “rupture of the mid-substance of the ACL with detensioning of the residual fibres”. I smashed rehab in preparation for my surgery date and had no episodes of pivot-shifting or giving way.

I was booked for a reco with quad graft and LEAT, and was preparing for the 9-12 month recovery. When I woke up after anaesthetic though my surgeon told me that when I was under he did a physical exam and felt an ACL. He did an arthroscope to have a look and found it intact! It turned out in 5 months I went from a grade 3 rupture to a grade 1. He performed the LEAT to give me a bit extra support but no reconstruction. He estimates that it will reduce my recovery time to return to sport by HALF.

I’m a physio student and have seen papers detailing signs of natural healing after 2 years but to go from grade 3 to grade 1 in 5 months is uncanny.

Does anyone have an experience like this?

TLDR: My torn ACL healed in 5 months and I didn’t need a reconstruction.

Hey guys, I got really lucky! I’m day 11 post surgery and after a bit of a whirlwind I wanted to see if anyone had any similar experiences.

I tore my ACL on 31/08/24 and delayed surgery as I had an overseas trip booked. Granted, my injury was not too severe, with no other ligaments or menisci affected, just a “rupture of the mid-substance of the ACL with detensioning of the residual fibres”. I smashed rehab in preparation for my surgery date and had no episodes of pivot-shifting or giving way.

I was booked for a reco with quad graft and LEAT, and was preparing for the 9-12 month recovery. When I woke up after anaesthetic though my surgeon told me that when I was under he did a physical exam and felt an ACL. He did an arthroscope to have a look and found it intact! It turned out in 5 months I went from a grade 3 rupture to a grade 1. He performed the LEAT to give me a bit extra support but no reconstruction. He estimates that it will reduce my recovery time to return to sport by HALF.

I’m a physio student and have seen papers detailing signs of natural healing after 2 years but to go from grade 3 to grade 1 in 5 months is uncanny.

Does anyone have an experience like this?

TLDR: My torn ACL healed in 5 months and I didn’t need a reconstruction.