How to Prevent Your Other ACL From Tearing During Recovery

There’s no doubt you have a high risk of injuring your ACL in your healthy knee while recovering from an ACL injury in the opposite one. Your risk may remain high for years. Learn tips for preventing an injury to your other ACL.

As you recover from an anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) tear, preventing an injury to the opposite ACL is essential. But you also need to take a long-term perspective.

Your risk of tearing the opposite (contralateral) ACL may be double the chances of reinjuring the original ACL for two years after the initial injury.

Our Michigan Avenue Primary Care team includes board-certified sports medicine physicians who provide expert care for ACL injuries and rehabilitation. They're also here to develop personalized plans to prevent ACL problems in the opposite leg.

Risk factors for injuring the other ACL

Everyone recovering from an ACL tear risks injuring the ACL in the opposite knee. During your recovery, you focus on protecting and rehabilitating the injured knee. Meanwhile, the opposite knee takes on extra stress, compensating for the injured leg.

The other knee becomes fatigued and the opposite ACL can develop tiny tears and inflammation from the additional load. Then, you’re only one unfortunate movement away from a rupture.

Problems also arise because your activity level increases as the original injury heals. You may not have signs of a weakened contralateral ACL, so don’t worry about boosting your activity. But that can lead to an injury in the opposite ACL.

The risk of injuring the contralateral ACL (and reinjuring the original ligament) remains high for years after you return to athletic activities.

Steps to prevent injuring the other ACL

We don’t ignore the opposite ligament while your ACL injury heals. Instead, we create a plan to strengthen and support it. Here are three tips for a healthy recovery:

1. Diligently rehab the injured ACL

Rehabilitating the injured ACL does more than restore that knee; it also helps prevent problems with the opposite one.

Getting back to your active life after an ACL injury is a process. Your personalized exercise plan ensures you don’t overwork the injured ACL while regaining range of motion, strength, and stability.

2. Exercise the healthy knee

Exercise is the key to preventing an ACL injury in the uninjured leg. However, the exercises you perform, your technique, and when you start in the healing process are crucial.

The goal is to protect the opposite leg without overworking it. That means we’ll recommend exercises that won’t risk the injured ACL’s healing.

Two examples of exercises to help prevent a contralateral ACL injury include:

Single-leg strength training

Athletes often use single-leg training when the muscles in one leg are stronger than the other. Single-leg exercises like leg raises, step-ups, and lunges help reduce ACL stress by strengthening the muscles supporting the knee. You can ramp up single-leg training as the injured ACL improves.

Landing and deceleration training

These exercises reduce stress on the opposite ACL by training you to land gently and control deceleration with the healthy leg. While they can help prevent an injury, they should be low-impact, progress gradually, and always be done under the supervision of a trained sports medicine specialist.

3. Get optimal rest and nutrition

Wound healing quickly drains energy and nutrients. Lack of rest and nutritional deficiencies slow healing in the injured ACL and increase the risk of damaging the other.

During wound healing, your body needs water, calcium, zinc, and vitamins A, C, and E.

Don’t cut back on calories or protein. You need about 15-20 calories per pound of body weight during your recovery. Your body will break down muscles and ligaments for energy if you don't get enough.

A general guideline for protein to support wound healing is 2 grams of protein per kilogram (2 pounds) of body weight. This should preserve muscle mass, support healing, and lower the risk of injuring the other ACL. However, individual needs vary and should be determined by one of our healthcare professionals.

Recovery takes time and support

Recovering from an ACL injury takes many months. During that time, you need consistent support to prevent stress on the opposite ACL.

Call our Michigan Avenue Primary Care sports medicine team or book an appointment online for expert ACL care.