Knee Surgery Not Always Necessary

The article regarding anterior cruciate ligament tears in women was frighteningly slanted toward surgery (“Even Strong Women Can Be Weak in the Knees,” June 25). As a “moderately active person,” who the author states would recover only enough to walk without surgery, I can attest for myself and several others I know that this simply isn’t true.

At 44 years of age, I tore my ACL getting off of a ski lift in Utah. I immediately started weight training to rehab the knee and strengthen the surrounding muscle and tissue. Within the following year alone, I completed training for the San Diego Marathon, cross-country skied all winter (and occasionally went downhill skiing) and continued my summer hiking and horseback riding without incident. I even know some ultra-marathoners who opt-ed not to have surgery.

Granted, I am not 25 and depending on my athletic career to guide me toward a surgical solution. But I am also not the exception to an active lifestyle without surgery.

BETH McCAIN

Rancho Santa Fe