Nurse with Partial acl tear

[Pandaluvr, BSN]

Hi, I tore my acl partially on 12/26 along with a meniscus tear. My physical therapist said I’m a good candidate for having no surgery and just do therapy while my surgeon says based on my workload at work and what I do I need surgery and I’m still young. While my physical therapist has found a lot of research and showed it to me that doing surgery vs. therapy in five years is the same outcome for a partial tear. Just doing PT will help strengthen the muscles around  my knee to compensate for the damaged acl. I still have some knee instability, it’s only been a month since the injury. Now I’m just confused and really don’t know what to do. I’m supposed to train two new nurses who have been with me as a student for a while before they became nurses at the end of February and my boss is really relying on me as she won’t have anyone else good enough to train and teach. I’m really excited to train and I’ve been given the okay to start more patient care by my physical therapist, I wear my brace at work and am cautious. Now I’m just confused whether to do surgery or not. I really want surgery to be my last option.

[Nurse SMS, MSN, RN]

It sounds like you answered your own question in your last sentence. :)

We can't give medical advice here. I have had an ACL tear and lived fine with it for a very long time. Nearly 20 years. I have struggled since having it fixed. Surgery is no guarantee of an improved outcome when it comes to nursing and knees. 

Best of luck, whatever you decide.