Almost all knee experts considered torn ACLs irreparable, with surgical reconstruction usually required to keep the knee functional. But the new research, which focused on 80 injured knees, found that many torn ACLs can apparently knit themselves back together and heal naturally — reducing the need for expensive and often painful surgery.
In the new study, published this month in the British Journal of Sports Medicine, 90 percent of 80 ruptured ACLs studied showed signs of healing and repair on scans about three months later. The patients had followed a newly developed protocol of bracing and physical therapy.
What do doctors really know about our bodies?