USA Today has an article today about how seniors are increasingly undergoing ACL reconstruction. The article doesn't provide any facts to support this premise, but hey, it's the USA Today, so that's not exactly surprising. (I only stumbled upon the article because somebody slid it under my hotel room door for free. I assume it was complimentary from the hotel, but for all I know, it could've been some guy who accidentally bought it without realizing what it was and once he did, he quickly disposed of it under the nearest door so he wouldn't have to look at it any longer.)
But I digress. The important point here is that ACL reconstruction has improved so much over the years that it's not unthinkable that --if the USA Today article is to be believed-- people in their 50's, 60's and even their 70's are having the surgery done. Like I said, there are no facts in the story to support this. The entire angle of the story hinges on quotes from one surgeon. And as far as I know, this guy could be the Frank Burns of orthopedic surgeons.
I'm 38 and my first surgeon advised me to have the surgery. My second surgeon said at my age it wasn't really necessary. The third surgeon said I should have it done because I was "young and active." So beats me what the cutoff is.
The USA Today article also breezes through the rehab process. The articles correctly states that it can take 6 months but it doesn't give the reader any idea of how arduous the process is. If I was in my 70's and knowing what I know now, I don't know if it'd be worth my while to undertake the lengthy, painstaking rehab process, unless I was extremely active, healthy and planning to enter a triathlon or something.
Another huge error in the article. It states that the arthroscopic procedure only require two small incisions in the knee. Not true at all. I'm staring at my knee right now. I have 7 -yes, 7- incisions. And one of them is a rather large incision where they cut me open and drilled into my tibia. Yes, arthroscopy is less invasive than previous surgical techniques, but it still causes an awful lot of trauma to the body. And recovering from it ain't easy and it ain't pleasant.
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