Injuring an ACL is quite common in sport, especially amongst women [Understanding ACL Injuries]. How did your injury occur?

While playing tennis, I tried to catch the ball and suddenly stopped. I felt an acute pain on my knee. I couldn’t do anything but sit on the ground. Two hours later, I could barely walk..

I went to see the doctor immediately after injury, and had an MRI done two weeks later.

In your day-to-day life, what did the pain feel like?

It was the ACL on my right knee. The worst thing about it is that it didn’t affect my basic, daily movement like walking. But, I couldn’t run or do any intense training which caused me to gain a lot of weight. I felt incapable during that time for not being able to workout.

For anyone who’s active and suffered from injury, they’ll be able to relate to how frustrating that feeling can be. What was your healing process like after hearing the doctor’s advice and getting the MRI?

The doctor I was seeing at the hospital couldn’t give a clear diagnosis merely by the MRI result, so after two months of observation and recovery and not feeling any better, I decided to see another doctor at a different facility. I couldn’t bear the endless waiting.

And from that point you received a clearer diagnosis that it was an ACL injury. When you finally got some answers, were you surprised

Actually, I was relieved to just have a clear and accurate diagnosis this time because that meant I could at least do something about it.

Once you had a more accurate diagnosis, what did your recovery plan look like?

I didn’t have an aggressive, or honestly speaking, a well-planned recovery process at first, so I didn’t feel I was getting better within the first three months after the surgery. I was often met with frustration, especially when I couldn’t do the activities that I love.

I came to UP Clinic about 10 months after surgery, and would eventually move to one session per week.. At that time I couldn’t run or do any sport-specific trainings. But after a while, with training and being patient with myself, I was able to recover to a point where I could begin to pick up my old habit of running. I even gave myself a goal of running my first half-marathon! I decided then that I needed to commit myself better to rehab and power training at least three times a week, and running training 2-3 times a week.

Congratulations!! What a great goal to set for yourself – something tangible to work towards. During the recovery process, what did you find to be the most difficult part?

The hardest part has always been overcoming the inner fear and distrust of myself.

During rehab, I was encouraged to do some exercises that I thought were beyond my capability. Especially after the surgery, I was so afraid of any kind of pain, and getting hurt again.

But I am glad that with the encouragement of my physical therapists at UP Clinic, I was able to see the result of progress, and trust myself again.

Were there any ‘aha’ moments you had during the rehabilitation process?

To be honest, it was still a process to work through the pain – it was consistent, even when I was taken with good care by UP Clinic. Especially as I trained for my first-half marathon, I would feel pain even more frequently with the increased running load.

But the ‘Aha’ moments happened when Cory told me I should understand and work with my pain as long as it’s not too acute or unbearable. I suddenly realized maybe I should change my perspective of pain; even when it was there, my functional movement and capability was still improving. Pain is not entirely unavoidable – in your exercise, or in your life – if you want to make progress. Therefore, we should find a way to work with it.

Overall, how has your experience been while at UP Clinic?

It’s been one of the best experiences of my life!

During the rehab, my physical therapists, such as Jacky and Cory gave me tremendous help, by not only contributing their expertise, but also giving me support and love (tough love)! I wouldn’t be who I am now without them!

Do you have any advice you’d offer to anyone dealing with similar pain or wondering if they should get seen?