# what is the pain-level involved in "tearing your ACL", is it comparable to a Mom giving birth? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [September 29, 2018, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-pain-level-involved-in-tearing-your-acl-is-it-comparable-to-a-mom-giving-birth/822173 "2018-09-29T19:02:37Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![IvoryTowerDenizen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ivorytowerdenizen/32/17937_2.png) [@IvoryTowerDenizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IvoryTowerDenizen)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2018, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-pain-level-involved-in-tearing-your-acl-is-it-comparable-to-a-mom-giving-birth/822173/21 "2018-09-30T19:52:51Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > I’m sorry. Your post was lacking the detail and TMI we expect here on the Dope. 😛 Yeah, I can see that! ---
**Author:** ![Biggirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biggirl/32/3294_2.png) [@Biggirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biggirl)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2018, 11:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-pain-level-involved-in-tearing-your-acl-is-it-comparable-to-a-mom-giving-birth/822173/22 "2018-09-30T23:27:37Z")
> [@IvoryTowerDenizen](#): > > Yeah, I can see that! Oversharing. That’s the answer. ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2018, 12:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-pain-level-involved-in-tearing-your-acl-is-it-comparable-to-a-mom-giving-birth/822173/23 "2018-10-01T00:05:14Z")
My wife got hurt, had a doctor do a physical exam and said it was a total tear. She said it wasn’t particularly painful but there was a lot of swelling. Two years later she decided to get it fixed and the scope (pre-MRI days) showed it was only a partial tear so nothing was done. A dozen years later she was having other work done on the same knee and they discovered the ACL was gone. Some sometime between the initial injury and 15 years later the ACL tore completely and she was unaware of it. So the full tear couldn’t have been very painful. ---
**Author:** ![kferr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/71e660/32.png) [@kferr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kferr)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2018, 12:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-pain-level-involved-in-tearing-your-acl-is-it-comparable-to-a-mom-giving-birth/822173/24 "2018-10-01T12:01:57Z")
Many years ago I tore my ACL playing volleyball and the pain was pretty much as **Biggirl** described. When I get surprised with a pain like that my reaction is to swear very, very loudly. There were 3 other volleyball games going on in this gym and everyone just stopped dead to see what the hell was going on. Then a woman ran over to look after me. I noticed she had a knee brace on. She said something along the lines of “I’m a nurse and I saw what happened, you’ve probably torn your ACL. I’ve done that too, and have had children, and let me tell you, the ACL hurts worse!” ---
**Author:** ![brainstall](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/35a633/32.png) [@brainstall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brainstall)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2018, 12:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-pain-level-involved-in-tearing-your-acl-is-it-comparable-to-a-mom-giving-birth/822173/25 "2018-10-01T12:32:10Z")
I’ve never given birth, but I have torn my ACL. In the moment, it was not that painful. I was at a dog training seminar, and I planted my foot and turned hard, felt my knee clunk over and then fell to the ground. After that my leg was a noodle, so I knew I’d done something to it. ACL tear confirmed later, and many weeks of aching pain while it healed. ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Tildrum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e95f7d/32.png) [@Tom\_Tildrum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Tildrum)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2018, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-pain-level-involved-in-tearing-your-acl-is-it-comparable-to-a-mom-giving-birth/822173/26 "2018-10-01T16:55:11Z")
> [@Paintcharge](#): > > That sounds more like a meniscus tear. It’s a disc of cartilage that is padding between the bones. Oh, you’re right! It was too long ago; my memory is garbled. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-pain-level-involved-in-tearing-your-acl-is-it-comparable-to-a-mom-giving-birth/822173.md?page=1)