UK
Xiros USAListen to Stephan Strydom's story on how JewelACL and synthetics have got him back to business
As a business owner and self-professed weekend warrior, Stephan discusses his journey from ACL rupture to recovery using the JewelACL.
I was doing a single-stage day/night mountain bike race, and at half one in the morning, in a bit of exhaustion, I went down a rocky road and came off my bicycle, and hey presto, that was the ACL and MCL off.
With the experience of the industry and knowing what types of repairs the surgeons are doing and their preferences, we chose a synthetic ligament, the JewelACL. I am a middle-aged weekend warrior. I'm active and have children, as well as run my own business.
I knew the pros and cons of rehabilitating faster, and I wanted a pain-free surgery, and literally, that's what I got.
I started rehab two days after the surgery. I got on a bicycle gently, just getting my range of motion going and activity levels up, and it was a pain-free experience except for the MCL, which was tender while I was sleeping, so really phenomenal outcomes; stable joint immediately.
I am still the same activity levels as I was before, I do the same sports, I'm not worried that if I have a re-rupture that it's going to be a complication, I will go for the same surgery because I know the outcome of the first surgery, so if I have to by chance injure my ACL again, I would choose this surgery everyday above a semitendinosus or gracillis harvest.
It's pain-free, simple, no complications; I'll choose it any day.
You can't recreate your original anatomy, so there's always something in the back of your mind, but I'm playing padel, squash or hockey with my kids, I go on as normal, I don't think about it.
In the back of your mind, you always have some 'Yes, I've had an injury' but it doesn't disturb your activity levels or inhibit you in any way. I think that's a really great benefit of having a synthetic ligament [JewelACL] put in.
I went to an acquaintance, a cycling friend who has never used the JewelACL before. I said to him, 'Listen, I know the techniques you do. Would you be willing to do this for me?' As I knew and trusted him, and subsequently, the outcome has been that he has used the JewelACL again for other patients in similar demographics to myself with good outcomes.