How to Return to Soccer After an ACL Surgery
Playing soccer after having surgery on your anterior cruciate ligament requires a full recovery. With the amount of running needed to play soccer, there is no returning to the game until a full recovery is made. That means fulls strength in the knee, and that will take a minimum of four months following arthroscopic surgery on the ACL. This takes a very successful surgical outcome and significant therapy. Six to eight months is a more likely term of recovery.
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Instructions
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Elevate your knee and treat it with ice immediately following your surgery. Even though arthroscopic ACL surgery is far less invasive than the invasive surgery that was regularly done until the 1980s, the ACL was torn and still needs to recover. The first step is to stay off the knee and treat it with ice for about 15 minutes of every waking hour in the first 48 hours after surgery.
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Get in a pool to do hyrdotherapy on your knee. Walking in water that's four feet deep for 10 to 15 minutes at a time can go a long way toward building strength and range of motion. The water provides resistance to your knee and will therefore build strength. The first few sessions in the pool with be quite painful, but each ensuing session should be easier to get through.
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Do the heel slide in order to rebuild range of motion. Sit in a chair with both feet outstretched. You will be sitting on the edge of the chair, and both hands should be on the side of the chair. Slide your foot back toward your body in a slow and steady manner. This will be uncomfortable and painful at first, but pain will dissipate and range of motion will return. Do this 10 times, take a 1-minute break and then repeat the set.
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Lie down on the floor with both feet extended. Draw the surgical knee back and bend it up until you have formed a 45-degree angle. Return it to its original position. This will be difficult and slow in the beginning, but you should make significant progress in two or three weeks. Do this 15 times, take a 1-minute break and then repeat the set.
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Do squat exercises to help rebuild strength at about the 6-week mark. Take a light weight--about 30 pounds--and put the barbell on your shoulders. Lower your hips about 12 inches, and then return to a standing position. Do this 15 times, take a 30-second break and then repeat the set. Once you can do weight-bearing exercises, you can start running and then plan a return to the soccer field.
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