Recovery plan

ACL Tear

Understand ACL tear symptoms, common injury mechanisms, diagnosis, rehabilitation and when reconstruction may be considered.

Read the full injury guide Knee recovery

A usable progression

Move forward when the current stage is tolerable.

This is a general education framework, not a personal prescription. The injury, treatment, symptoms, and demands of your activity can all change the pace.

Settle

Goal: Protect the area and reduce the most provocative load.
Do: Use comfortable daily movement where appropriate and follow any protection or restrictions from your clinician.
Avoid: Avoid repeatedly testing sharp pain, forcing range, or returning to demanding activity because symptoms briefly improve.
Progress when: Daily tasks are becoming easier and symptoms are not escalating after ordinary activity.

Restore

Goal: Rebuild comfortable movement and basic function.
Do: Work through the exercises and mobility guidance linked below, starting with a tolerable range and dose.
Avoid: Avoid adding several new exercises, heavier loads, or longer sessions at the same time.
Progress when: Movement is more comfortable, swelling or irritability is settling, and basic use is improving.

Strengthen

Goal: Build capacity for the loads your work, training, or sport requires.
Do: Progress resistance, repetitions, range, or time gradually—one meaningful change at a time.
Avoid: Avoid using pain-free rest alone as proof that the tissue is ready for full demand.
Progress when: The area tolerates progressively harder sessions without a marked next-day flare.

Return

Goal: Reintroduce the specific activity with control and confidence.
Do: Start with a reduced version of the task, then build duration, load, speed, and complexity separately.
Avoid: Avoid jumping from rehabilitation exercises straight to full training, competition, or heavy work.
Progress when: You can repeat the demands of your activity with stable symptoms, useful strength, and no loss of function.

Take-Home Guide

Printable

Download & print

ACL Rehabilitation: Take-Home Milestones

A printable milestone checklist for ACL rehabilitation — from the first weeks of swelling control through strengthening and return-to-sport testing.

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Rehabilitation Guides

Rehabilitation · IA-KNE-REH-002

ACL Rehabilitation Guide

Follow a practical, milestone-based ACL rehabilitation guide covering swelling, motion, strength, running, jumping and return-to-sport testing.

Read guide →Rehabilitation · IA-WBO-REH-001

Return to Sport: Readiness Guide

How do you know when you're ready to return to sport after an injury? A plain-language readiness guide covering strength, pain response, confidence and phased return.

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Exercises

Exercises · IA-KNE-EXE-005

Single-Leg Balance

Learn the single-leg balance exercise to improve knee and ankle stability, with progressions from stable surfaces to eyes-closed balance.

Read guide →Exercises · IA-KNE-EXE-006

Step-Down

Learn the step-down exercise — controlled lowering from a step to build single-leg strength and knee control, with progressions and safety notes.

Read guide →Exercises · IA-KNE-EXE-007

Terminal Knee Extension

Learn the terminal knee extension — a simple quadriceps exercise that improves the last part of knee straightening, with progressions and safety notes.

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Recovery Timelines

Recovery timelines · IA-KNE-REC-001

ACL Recovery Timeline

A realistic ACL recovery timeline for non-surgical and surgical paths, covering milestones, return-to-sport timing, and what affects healing speed.

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Recovery guidance needs context.

These resources provide general education, not a diagnosis or personalised treatment plan. A recent major injury, deformity, substantial weakness, worsening neurological symptoms or inability to use the affected area should be assessed.