Dear hi, I am so happy I have found your brief channel! Im my country everybody just operates ACL, and as the recovery is long and I am a single mom of two, I will not be able to do so. Unfortunately here no one deals with patients who don't want to operate, so lack of info is everywhere. This is my second week from injury and the leg is still very painful. It would mean a world to me if you could suggest when should I start going for a physio and what time should I start wearing the bracelet ? Also, the brand name would be very useful. Hoping this reaches you, many thanx in advance!

I’ve experienced both paths. I had a partial tear on my left knee which did really well nonoperative. I went back to skiing 6 months PI, but unfortunately had an accident where I fully tore my right ACL, plus a vertical tear in my lateral meniscus, 8 months after the left knee injury. I had a follow up MRI on my left knee at the same time which revealed an in tact ACL and meniscus. At that point in my life it wasn’t a good time to get surgery, so I decided to give nonoperative a go again. I got back to a great level of strength and day-to-day function without an ACL but as I progressed dynamic exercises the knee just felt too loose to do what I wanted, and I didn’t feel safe returning to soccer. Follow up MRI at 5 months PI confirmed both ACL and meniscus tears were still present. I got extra confirmation that surgery was needed just 5 days before the operation, when my knee gave out on me doing a simple jump test and probably tore the medial meniscus. I’m just glad the surgery was able to go ahead and I’m on the path back to my sports now!

So the ACL can regrow after a full tear?

Is 3 -4 weeks between tear and bracing to long to wait?

I never got diagnosed at my original injury on my left knee. But I tore it snowboarding 8 years ago, I treated it and saw a Knee specialist 2-3 weeks later. Doctor never prompted me for MRI even though I knew I messed it up, I explained everything the pain all the side effects after. We never did surgery he didn't think it was serious, 6 years later I re-tear it snowboarding because "how could I golf, workout, snowboard with a torn ACL and feel no pain right?" but I learned that you can compensate and do many things with a torn ACL. There are things that make it buckle and slip out. But I went 8 years with a torn ACL doing most things I loved, but I wasn't confident in my knee so I limited myself. I called an MRI for myself finally after seeing 2 knee specialist and doing PT it all felt fine! After the last MRI I called for myself, it showed a (very old) torn acl and partial tear in meniscus. Currently recovering I am 2 weeks post operation and doing good, the recovery is tough but glad I am fixing it. I do feel I was misdiagnosed or mistreated by my doctors, they could have easily prompted the proper scanning for me since I was younger and not as knowledgeable and did have health insurance. I also could have been more proactive or got 3rd opinions but it's all good we keep going.

hello, very interesting this video. I had already read articles on conservative treatment in case of ACL injury, and that's just how I treated my case. after a year and a half from the injury I recovered quite well the muscles and practical cycling (already from before the injury) and gym, to date I found a patellar femur syndrome during the rides, do you think it can be related? what could I do in your opinion? thank you very much

Awesome lecture Kieran! I had a hamstring graft 1.5 years ago, now knee is about 95% and back to playing soccer, but wish I had the chance to consider the non-op option. Keep on the great work bro, more people need to know this!

This is great man and it was 4 years ago. Where can i find new research on the acl non surgery management?

Hi sir i m faiz 27 yr old from India I had my acl tear on26th of may while running on a cricket pitch my knee got bend and i had to go through a very bad experience my doc said to do xray but my xray is ok then he said to do mri scan in scan mri said that u got 3rd grade injury of acl fully tear give me sugggestion what should I do but my knee is working good no swelling I can bend my knee and can raise my knee I m walking 🚶very carefully but i dnt want to operate plz help me 🙏 Which type of brace should I wear and tell me which type of rehab and physio I need 😢

I am really keen....i raptured in dec 2022. I am 48 and relatively active. Doc told me no surgery for me because i am not youjg and have a massive risk to develop nad arthiritis. 😢

Hi, i recently got to know that i have Full torn ACL and doctor suggested to go for surgery, though i am avoiding the surgery as an option.Also currently I am able to walk without any pain . Can you please suggest how to recover without surgery

Was it full torn acl injury

Can you gave treatment in Pune Maharashtra

Thanks for taking the time to show research with hopeful outcomes for those who don’t want to have invasive surgery! It’s true that google is misleading and only provides a dreary outlook on natural recovery. I also questioned how the ACL came to grow/exist in the first place if there is no blood flow to the ligament. Also questioned why our amazing anatomy would have such a detrimental flaw in such a crucial mobility area? I fell while skiing and chose to go for physical therapy and exercise instead of surgery and I can say that 3 months later I am almost back to full range of motion. My job is 100% hours on my feet and though the recovery process has been painful and hard, I’m able to perform a thorough my job daily and feel stronger everyday as long as I keep strengthening my muscles around the injury. Your video has given me stronger hope of my belief that natural recovery healing is possible!!! Thanks again

Male from Orlando Florida here. At 21 I tore my ACL Riding a bike. I Was going downhill and peddling very fast and my chain snapped but if you know florida biking on the sidewalk or walking is not safe. In the split second reaction I threw my right leg down to try to hop off the bike and not fall into traffic. Because it was a very narrow sidewalk if I fell with the bike without reacting there Was a 50 Percent chance I fell into the bushes safely to my right or into 4 lanes of traffic on my left. That Was a chance I Was not willing to take. I Threw my right leg down and I Heard a SNAP.. Being the stubborn college student that I Was I let out a few curse words Picked up my bike and tried to walk it off. Needless to say I didnt get far. LONG STORY SHORT. I called my friend and he picked me up in his car. I left the bike behind it was obviously stolen and not there the next day. Whatever. I Went to the doctor at my college UCF a week later and he said Oh this is a common injury I do them for the football and basketball team all the time. I Said great when can I get the surgery. He said I can have you next week. I said cool can you tell me what your going to do. He said oh IM GOING TO CUT OFF A PIECE OF YOUR TENDON FROM YOUR LEG AND USE IT TO REATTACH YOUR ACL. This made no sense to me. Why would you have to destroy my leg to fix it.... at the time they didnt have BEAR ACL surgery which is a much safer and common sense option. Anyways I NEVER got surgery. A year later I started playing basketball again. People were always shocked when I told them I tore my ACL but never got surgery. 8 YEARS LATER AND HERE I AM. I NEVER WENT TO THE DOCTOR AGAIN. YOU DONT NEED SURGERY IF YOU HAVE FAITH TRUST GOD PRAY AND OF COURSE GIVE YOUR BODY A CHANCE TO REHABILITATE. HOPE THIS HELPS SOMEBODY.

MRI report on my right knee showed full thickness tear involving ACL on 18 January 2024 and high grade partial tear involving ACL on 26 April 2024 and cancelled my surgery

My MRI scan showing my ACL is complete tear (right legs) last sunday. Doctor (specialist in orthopaedic) advise me to do knee scope right away (which my legs is still swollen due to accident injury on 18th April ) and he also mentioned I might need ACL reconstruction after 6months since l'm still young and I have personal life insurance. Thankfully i was refused to do the knee scope and opt in for physio instead. The only issue with my knees is i cannot bend like i used to do as I often went to pilate class before is like my knees was locked. And I can felt my knee/posture is not really straight as before. I have found many video from athlete mentioned they can trained and gained they strength and abilities w/o the surgery based on their personal experience (they can run 7000km / involved in MMA competitions and also one of them did MRI again after 2years the ACL was there) Do you also know there is 40% of possibility the MRI result is wrong. Then, I found Dr Kieran Richardson channel on youtube, his explaination is so clear and was supported with scientific research which is really great and convincing.

From India - Really useful info and hope all people recover from ACL injury without surgery. I am having a complete ACL tear and ACL detached from femoral attachment as per MRI done after 3 months of incident . I just landed on left knee from a 3 feet fall while walking backwards and had difficulty in bending and keeping the knee straight for 1-3 weeks. There was swelling in the first few weeks and was able to walk normally after few days. Consulted Physio after 3 weeks and did some strengthening exercise. Since i had very minor pain i waited for the knee to get better. After 3 months did MRI and consulted 3 orthopedics- all of them suggested ACL reconstruction is the only option. I am doing strengthening exercise to see how it goes in 3 more months. Since the pain is very minor not using braces. Before the ACL injury i was quite active physically - weekend running and regular weight training .

Where along the ligament was James’ tear? From the MRI image it looked like it was in the middle of the ligament, and I’ve heard such tears are more likely to heal on their own than tears at the insertion or origin. I have an ACL tear at the insertion (although suspected not full thickness) in my left knee which I’ve been rehabbing nonoperatively for 9 months. Now I’ve just learned I may have torn my right ACL in a ski accident 5 weeks ago. My symptoms are much milder than the first injury, but my surgeon says the right now feels looser than the left and recommends surgery at least on this side.

Where can I find the studies that were referenced in the video? The ones done on dogs and rabbits?

Very useful. Am presently entering in week 3 of Cross Protocol. I guess it IS self selecting to a degree, because if it won't work you have the option of nothing or surgery. I loved the dozens of reason Kieran gave why a study is not 'valid'. I DONT CARE. A 70% chance of a heal sounds good to me (for my case) In my case , if it doesn't work, I won't go down the surgical route. Will ski with a brace.

I was playing volleyball and poped by knee in 2020 july i was 19 years old and it was covid time and I didn’t knew i torn my ACL and my knee swollen for couple of weeks , I didn’t went to doctor to check on it , i was doing fine just that knee was swollen and kept icepacks and started my normal routine lifestyle and even started playing volleyball again ,suddenly one day while playing i heard a popping sound which was a bit painful and i took rest for few minutes and continued playing and on 2021 may i went to doctor which is 10 months after my 1st injury and did a MRI and it came out my ACL is torn and I didn’t opt for surgery at that time and years went on and i continued playing also and during this whole time i was asymptomatic and had these weird feeling in my knee while playing volleyball and after 3 years without surgery i was doing pretty fine and in 2023 august i did MRI to check on ACL and it was complete ACL tear and even my meniscus got worse and now 2024 January i did my ACL reconstruction and Meniscus repair and doing my rehab and physio iam feel great now. I regret that i could have done my Acl surgery when i had my first injury or atleast within 6months of my injury

Love from India! This is really insightful!

I torn my acl ( full thickness) , pcl and miscunus injury . I am waiting so that it can heal itself....if its heal i will share you my report. Love from india ( great lecture)

Ive Done a full rupture, 2 weeks on i cant walk or do much, but im going to try to avoid surgery at all costs

this is absolutely wild! thanks for this video!

Hi! I've ruptured my ACL completely 2 months ago. My physiotherapist said it doesn't need a surgery because it's stable enough and I've been doing physiotherapy for 1,5 months and i can eslk fine. What should I do? Is it too early to have a second MRI scan? Should i have it as far as possible from the day of the injury or at 3 months would be enough to tell if my ACL will heal?

Thanks for share this amazing content!

More people need to see this.

Just tore my ACL and this was very reassuring after all the google/youtube searches say you need surgery. I like your identification of positive publication bias, but also wonder if there's a more institutional bias around the structure of healthcare systems ie. Non-public institutions wanting you to pay for surgery. Which would be very embedded and would impact the research indirectly.

Great lecture, Extremely insightful to both therapists and patients that there is an option out there with evidence to back it up.

Please this is complete BS. If this is true, then why professional athletes still undergo surgery? Sure you can live without an ACL but to comeback to playing sports that involves pivoting surgery is still the best option, no rehab and supplements is going to save that. I know this coming from my experience as well. I both tried non-op approach and exhausted all the possibilities you can think of and that led me to having surgery and viola my knee is good as new.

tore my acl 3 times both legs two bucket handle tears no surgery hard hard long recovery never stopped everyday all day on my feet stairs and bike dr insisted i could walk demanded surgery i healed it twice 25 hours a week bball player here savage not soft mean af and well im enjoying my streaghth training all is well no surgery facts

Can a stretched graft after reconstruction ever heal?

Hi i tore my ACL while playing football, but i am able to walk in a straight line within 2 days. I dont wanna go for a surgery as it feels unnecessary with the amount of movement i am abke to do. Please guide me so that even i can do a recovery like James.

Pretty nice infotmation! I torn my acl in a football match on 11th November 2023 and i did not realized the damage that i had in my knee.I went to the orthopedic and we had MRI (the report said almost full tear ) but the doctor when he saw the image he told that is a complete .I booked on November an appoitmen for surgery on January 18 and then i cancelled it because i wanted to give it a chance to heal.Because i am a fitnees coach and i have my own gym i make rehab on my own,at least 1 hour and 15 minutes every day,after a month of the injury i bought collagen type 1 and a blender to make smoothies high on vitamin C and antioxidants and general my diet is based on the ligament.I also made for the first 2 months some psysiotherapys 2 time per week and now i reduse it to 1,in a few days i will have my first PRP injections (i wil make 3,1 every month).My mistake is that i did not bought an brace from the beginning but my knee was always stable and strong.Anyway that is my story and i hope it will go well,love from Cyprus!

I've fully ruptured my acl and meniscus tear 6 weeks I've opted not to get surgery I've nearly got full range of motion basically walking normal again and doing an extension physio and exercise routine daily. I am going for another mri in a couple of months I will update again if anyone is interested lol

What about meniscus tear pls reply

Nice discussion

Nice discussion

Kieran, what excercises do you recommend for non-surgical rehab?

❤❤

This guy displays real professionalism and without a doubt has the best interest for his patients! Thank you!

I hope this is true. I felt this was the case.

Unfortunately, you can't wait for something like a BEAR treatment, where you need to operate within 50 days.

I partially torn my ACL , based on MRI , the doctor says I need to take the surgery. I felt my knee stable , no pain , I can walk & run normally . Will wait for a year to take another MRI and decided wether to take surgery or not, for now I just do the rehab and careful not to reinjured my knee.

Great interview. I'll share my experience in case it's helpful to anyone reading. Tore my right ACL in March 2022 (Grade 3 full thickness tear). Met with a surgeon in Sydney who spent 5 minutes assessing the knee and looking at MRI - "Yep, you're cooked. If you've got the money I'll do the surgery next week". I had no private health cover and didn't want to wait 18 months for public, so opted to self fund surgery in Europe as it was a third of the price even after flights. I began intensive prehab to strengthen the leg and three months later flew to Europe. The overseas surgeon did his own tests (around 45 minutes worth) and told me the knee was as stable as the good one, so he wasn't going to operate after all as it wouldn't actually help with stability or flexion. I returned to sport three months later (6 months off in total). I continued rehab and strengthening as I assumed I was operating without a ligament. Tore my other ACL two weeks ago and have begun conservative management. Dr did a follow up MRI on the old knee and it has fully recovered. Hoping for the same with the new injury. TLDR: ACLs heal. Don't rush for the knife.

This video is EXTREMELY helpful for me right now... Thank you so much, I am about to send you an email as well 🙌🏼

Amazing interview!

Thanks for the motivation. I will try my best to get back to every day activities!