How long does it take to recover from a anterior cruciate ligament (acl) injury and to be able to play sports?

Depends: There are many variables that will effect the time necessary to recover enough to return to sports including the graft used, fixation techniques and the biases of the surgeon. Because some studies suggest return to sports prior to 9 months post surgery may increase the risk of reinjury, I prefer to have my patients wait 9 months. Some athletes may return sooner with successful rehabilitation.

Jogging by 3 months: Recovery after acl reconstruction needs to be patient-specific. No 2 knee injuries are exactly alike. In general, we use 3 months as 1st waypoint whereby basic jogging is allowed. Cutting sports and running full speed are not usually allowed before 4.5 to 6 months after surgery, again depending upon how your affected lower extremity compares to the normal knee with strength, motion, and endurance.

Depends: Recovering from an acl surgery follows a specific time course depending on how well you progress through physical therapy. The one factor that you can't control is how long it takes for your graft to incorporate, and to "ligamentize", which can be anywhere from 4 to 8 months or more depending on the choice of graft tissue.