They didn't heal, a full rupture is a full rupture.
They showed that for younger patients they can, through physical therapy, replace the ACL stability function with overcompensated proprioception and musculature.
I wonder what the outcome of this would be as patients get older and start to lose muscle mass.
I had a tear sometime in the 90s, and then not surgery until the 2000s, the good old cut your kneecap in half kind.
The doctor I saw once a year prior seemed to imply this. He implored me to do specific weight exercises, and claimed if I did it right 'you wont even need that surgery.' So it must have been at least a working theory for a while?
> After management with the Cross Bracing
Protocol (CBP), 72 out of 80 (90%) participants
with complete discontinuity of the ACL at baseline had signs of ACL healing (ACL
continuity) on 3-month MRI.
They showed that for younger patients they can, through physical therapy, replace the ACL stability function with overcompensated proprioception and musculature.
I wonder what the outcome of this would be as patients get older and start to lose muscle mass.