This is a post I’ve been meaning to write for a long time, since I started the blog if not before, but I keep putting it off because, well, how to do so tastefully (and without attracting the wrong kind of blog followers)?

However, when I started the blog, I did want to provide information for others who may be going through ACL rehab, for the first time or following revision surgery, and I did want to give a female perspective (although I’m not claiming to speak for all women here!) so, in that spirit, I really should write this post. Here goes…

One of the things that always amuses me when you leave hospital following surgery is the ‘information booklet’ they give you on the way out: full of useful information about wound care, physio, problems to look out for and follow-up appointments, there’s usually a FAQ section at the back too. This one particularly tickles me because, for fear of giving inaccurate information to an individual, the answers are usually so generic as to be almost useless and, of course, they’re standard answers following almost any procedure so are, by necessity, vague.

As part of the FAQ in the last info pack I received, was the question: “When can I resume sexual activity after my procedure?’ to which the answer inevitably passed the buck, advising you to ‘discuss it with your Consultant’.

Now, I’m not being funny but however well you get on with said Consultant, that is not a question I can ever imagine asking. Does anyone ever actually discuss it? Is it just me who would die a thousand deaths? (I probably don’t want to know the answer to that).

While the advice in the booklet is, shall we say vague, it is a legitimate question, and one that I found myself googling after my first surgery, just to see what other people had experienced.

I’m not going to share the answers I found – you can google it yourself if you’re so inclined – but suffice to say, reading the responses on various message boards (and without wishing to perpetuate gender stereotypes), it was clearly an issue on a lot of male patients’ minds and the answers given were very much from a male perspective.

Let’s just say that, aside from the time it takes to recover from the anaesthetic, practicalities such as knees that don’t bend, inability to lie on your side, non-functioning hamstrings, and joints that can’t cope with anything that isn’t in a perfectly straight line mean that women may wish to wait a little longer.

My advice? A cop out: It really is an individual thing. Hell, some people have weird preferences, right, but work with what your body (and mind) is comfortable with. Don’t feel under pressure just because a google search says it’s fine right away. There may be less variety for a while but, like everything else, it gets easier as your rehab - and mobility - progresses.

Now, if you don’t mind, I’m off to die a thousand deaths…