Follow your doctor or if your doc has discharged you, your physical
therpists advice.

I think there are a lot of factors that come into play regarding how
soon you return to sports: technique of the surgeon, extent of the
surgery, complications and last though certainly not least, how well
you do in physical therapy and how hard you work at it.

As I've said before, PT is THE key to recovery from knee surgery. It
can be tedious, it is often uncomfortable and does require dedication
to see it through.

In my case, yes, I was able to return to downhill skiing after 7
months, HOWEVER, I had to pass a test first. (Hopping for a distance
while showing good balance on my repaired leg.) When I passed, the PT
did not say "Ok, go for the double black diamonds."

No..

He encouraged me to stay with what were essentially beginner's slopes
though within two months I was beginning to venture back onto some
"easy" intermediate. I also wore a brace to stabilize my repaired
knee. I also kept working out at the gym and continued the leg lefts
to keep the leg strong.

So...it was not a completely "go for it" bill of health. I was able to
return to my favorite activity but for this past season, with some
restrictions.

Everyone is different. Please be patient with yourself. As long as you
take care of your knee, resting when it needs it and working out to
help it along, you will do fine. Take care..Suzette

ACL Recontruction w/hamstring ligament,left:May 28, 2003

--- In kneesurgeryforum@yahoogroups.com, "yoba2sue" <yoba2sue@y...> wrote:
> My doctor keeps telling me "NO cutting SPORTS for a year!", but I
> see many of you playing cutting sports (ski, basketball) before a
> year. How come? Did your doc say ok to that? Is my doc being too
> cautious?
>
> After surgery (2/6/04) I was diagnosed w/ patellar tendonitis (about
> 2 months post-surgery) then patellar-femoral syndrome (about 4
> months post-surgery). Now, at almost 6 month post-surgery, I still
> can't go down steps, going up is still a little difficult, I can't
> lift my leg from the knee up at a 90 degree angle, my knee still
> feels as though there is a plank inside. My progress seems very very
> slow. Any thoughts you can share?