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Like many, you\u2019ve likely had to deal with the pain of a torn ACL at some point in your life. While surgery can be an important step in returning to full knee functionality, one of the biggest challenges that many face when recovering from ACL surgery is regaining thigh muscle mass. In fact, according to some estimates, up to 50% of people who undergo ACL reconstruction surgery experience thigh muscle wasting during their recovery process. Fortunately, there are ways to prevent this from happening to you and keep your thigh muscles healthy and strong over the long term.<\/p>\n
How do we gain muscle mass?<\/strong><\/p>\n When a person exercises, their muscles become stronger in response to the progressive overload. A person’s muscles also need to be progressively loaded on a consistent basis in order to maintain their mass. When someone has an injury, they may experience a decreased muscle mass due to disuse atrophy. Physiotherapy will help prevent this from happening while the patient recovers<\/a><\/strong>. Following the surgery, people lose mass in response to inactivity<\/p>\n Disuse muscle atrophy<\/strong><\/p>\n It’s not enough to just get your ACL replaced. If the procedure involves reconstruction of the anterior cruciate ligament, which connects the femur (thigh bone) to the tibia (shinbone), then muscle atrophy will occur as a result of inactivity.<\/p>\n