acl reconstruction

[sharanold]

hi my son dale had a wake board accident in november,his had an operation on it to repair the tibia they put 3 screws in ,its 9weeks down the track now and now there saying the crucial ligament is torn and suggest a reconstruction, they say that will put him out for another 6 months, he is 18 and now looks like losing his apprentiship can any one give me any advice on wheather there are any alternatives to an operation or will give him a chance to compete again

[deegee]

Depends... is it a partial or complete tear of the ACL? I had partially torn my ACL playing soccer in April 02... my surgeon opted for a conservative approach since im not a professional athlete. I spent 6 months recovering doing mainly gym work to strengthen my leg and returned to soccer in October 02. Played both indoor and outdoor soccer only to tear it again in May 03. So depending on the type of tear in question its hard to say whether a conservative approach will work, i think u need to get the necessary information before u consider the alternatives. And a second opinion wouldn't hurt either. You said 6 months ur son will be out for... i think thats pretty optimistic especially since it looks like hes fractured the tibia as well. Personally i wouldnt return to pre-injury level of sport no sooner than 9 months post op.

By the way... what is wake boarding?