One improvement I've noticed recently is that my knee seems capable of generating more force, in running and especially jumping. I was doing some practice one-legged hopping yesterday to prepare for the final test in a couple of weeks, and my knee felt a lot more functional than it has since the surgery.
It's difficult to explain, but previously, it was like I wasn't able to generate as much springing action in my surgically repaired knee as with my other knee. I could still hop as far, but I really had to go through all sorts of contortions and effort to get my leg to land in the right place. And even then, something just didn't feel right, like things were out of sync and there just wasn't any power being generated.
But yesterday, for the first time, I felt like I was getting springing force and was able to easily hop the same distance on my surgically repaired knee as on my other leg. And according to a recent study, ACL reconstruction eventually allows the patient to produce as much force as he previously could. The researchers compared people who had undergone ACL surgery to people who had not and found no loss in function in the former group. The researchers concluded: "After ACL reconstruction, rehabilitated participants did not exhibit deficits in force production or reactive strength capabilities. Our results suggest that force production and reactive strength capabilities can be restored to levels comparable with the uninjured control limb..."
It seems only appropriate to end this post thusly: May the Force be with you.
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