The professional athletes we watch on TV will often surf some kind of major injury during their career. One major injury that these athletes often suffer is an Anterior Cruciate Ligament (ACL) tear. This is an injury that can sideline an athlete for a significant amount of time if not treated correctly. Fortunately sports medicine has come along ways and trainers are able to get athletes back on the field of play faster than ever before. Some of the techniques that are used to help in the recovery after ACL surgery are available to everyone, but there are a few secrets or tricks that can be used to really accelerate the recovery time and healing.

Always remember to seek your doctor’s opinion before applying the advice below. Getting your doctor’s opinion will help ensure that you are doing all the right things to recover quickly.

You may not be an athlete who needs to get back on the field of play quickly, but everyone who has ACL surgery wants to speed up their recovery so they can get back to a normal way of life. Here are some tips from the professionals that can help with your recovery and healing.

1. Start your recovery as soon as possible: As soon as you know that you will need ACL surgery, start taking some steps to make the surgery and post-surgery rehabilitation to go smoothly by working on retaining a range of motion in your knee through low-impact exercise. Riding a stationary bike is a great way to engage in low-impact exercise. It is also very important to do everything you can to control the swelling in your knee before ACL surgery. Inflammation is common with an ACL tear and as long as you have swelling, the healing in your knee will be impeded.

2. Be proactive is key post-surgery: In the weeks proceeding your surgery, it is important to reduce swelling, inflammation, reduce the amount of heat that is generated in and around your repaired knee, and to increase the range of motion in your knee. To do this cryotherapy plays an important part in the recovery. Cryotherapy both controls the swelling and removes the heat from the surgically repaired knee. Trainers for professional athletes use cryotherapy systems to apply cold in a consistent way that penetrates deep into the knee tissue to draw heat away and to reduce swelling. Also, participating in physical therapy will help with knee flexibility, range of motion, and strength.

3. Controlled recovery is key: It is important to not be too active too soon after ACL surgery. Rehabilitative exercise is important from the day of the surgery and through the recovery process, but too much too soon can set you back. Hence the reason for a controlled recovery or in other words to pace yourself. One of the reason pro-athletes get back on the playing field so quickly is because they go through a controlled recovery process that eases them back into full activity. A physical therapist is a great person to talk to learn how to do this.

A product that professional athletes use and that physical therapists use is Game Ready for cryotherapy. This kind of treatment from Game Ready can be used pre and post knee surgery to accelerate healing as you work through your rehabilitation plan.