The information and opinions expressed by me are my experiences that worked best for my daughter's ACL. Please do your research and see what fits best for your situation. She tore her ACL last February 2008, had surgery in March, and came back in November 2008. As everyone has posted, perform your home exercises and do exactly what therapist requests. You need to research the timeframe of coming back from this injury. Most people have the notion that 6 months is the majic rehab time. My doctor's research studies show that those that come back in 4 to 6 months are 30% more likely to tear their ACL again. These latest statistics shown to me suggest 8 to 9 months as the timeframe to rehab before attempting to comeback. This will give a much lower percentage of recurring injury. It was tough for my daughter to sit out this summer for Exposure events, but now seeing her have an extra 2-1/2 months of aggressive rehab therapy, has shown a major beneficial difference in her physical and mental abilities.
One of my most important learning experiences in all of this is Core Training Exercises. Trent Nessler is an Aggressive Physical Therapist at Baptist Sports Medicine. He wrote a journal with these Core Training Exercises. The exercises give support to the important areas where many injuries occur. My daughter came back faster and more agile than she was before injury last February. You can go to www.aclprogram.com to learn these exercises and the research behind them. Dr. Damon Petty performed my daughter's surgery and he is out of Baptist Hospital in Nashville. Also has 2nd office in Lebanon called TN Orthopedics. He studied under Dr. Andrews in Birmingham that treats many Pro and college athletes. I hope your child has a complete and speedy recovery.