Description
When can athletes safely return to sports after ACL reconstruction? In this video, our orthopedic specialist explains why patience and proper rehabilitation are critical for long-term knee health and performance.
Research shows that returning to sport before nine months post-surgery significantly increases the risk of re-injury. By waiting until at least the nine-month mark, athletes protect both the reconstructed knee and the healthy knee, which often compensates during recovery.
The video also highlights the importance of injury-prevention training—especially for young female soccer players, who face a higher risk of ACL tears. Strengthening the quadriceps and hamstrings, practicing proper landing techniques, and following an evidence-based training program two to three times per week can reduce ACL injury risk by up to 50%.
This information empowers athletes, parents, and coaches to make informed decisions and build safer, stronger paths back to competition.
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Transcript
One of the common questions I get asked, especially by high school or college athletes, is: When after my ACL reconstruction can I get back to sports? And I think that question is different based on your sport and how you progress through your recovery.
In general, what we know is that for every month you return before nine months, you have a seven-fold increased risk of a second ACL injury. So by waiting until the nine-month mark, we really protect your knee—both the one we reconstructed and your other knee, which isn’t used to cutting and pivoting and may have to compensate for weakness in the operative knee.
For that reason, I typically recommend return to sport no sooner than nine months for a young athlete.
When you do get back to sport, it’s part of my job as an orthopaedic surgeon to talk to you about ACL prevention. We know that, particularly in 16- to 18-year-old female soccer players, there is up to a 1% risk of an ACL injury every season. So if you play four seasons or year-round, you have a 4% risk of an ACL injury every year—or about a one-in-five chance of tearing your ACL throughout high school.
For that reason, it’s my responsibility to talk to you about things we can do—exercises such as proper landing mechanics, working on your quadricep strength, and working on hamstring strength—to prevent a second ACL injury. In many cases, the right program and participating in that program two to three times a week can reduce the risk of an ACL injury by 50%.
So it’s something I talk about with every single patient I see in my clinic, whether or not they’ve had an ACL reconstruction.
