ACL KNEE SURGERY. been told i need a knee reco, WHATS THE BEST GRAFT OPTION FROM YOUR EXPERIENCE? OR STUDIES?

Joey, grafts come from 3 places. The patella tendon, a hamstring tendon, and cadavers. I don't like taking grafts from the tendons as they weaken that area but they are commonly done. The reason given is that the body will not reject them. The cadaver graft is sterilized multiple times and is quite safe. The material that I have come across states that it is just as safe and is not rejected by the body. Talk this over with your orthopedist and get their opinions. The most important part of this wherever you get the graft from is the physical therapy done after the surgery. The entire leg must be strengthened not just the quads and a special emphasis must be placed on the hamstrings. Another procedure that works extremely well is to always start your treatment program by doing every exercise with your normal leg first. So if you are doing quad isometrics start with the normal leg first and then after doing 3 sets go and do the injured leg. This goes for all exercises. The body responds to this system by increasing the strength in the injured leg much faster than if you just do the injured leg first.