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Knee braces advice for non operated ACL

 Poster: A snowHead
Poster: A snowHead
After snapping my ACL last April I've been on the rehab route non surgery. Were off skiing at Christmas and wondered if any can advise me on skiing braces for this holiday. I'm not expecting to ski every day but I've completed 5 months of intensive rehab with a personal trainer. And leg pressing 60 kilos now etc any advice would be helpful.
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 Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Hi @Rachelljtaylor, I tore my acl last xmas eve and have also gone down the physio non operative route. I'm now nearly a year from injury and have just been discharged from physio after a return to sports test.
I use a donjoy armour fourcepoint mainly for my piece of mind but my physio said I dont need it and a simple neoprene support would be sufficient. I'm further on time wise than you are and everything feels good,stable and strong but when I go to Austria early jan I will use the brace. I got lucky with the fit with an off the shelf brace so that made it cheaper and I certainly got my money's worth over the summer using it when walking on the beach and skiing indoors.
I think the bottom line is if your knee is stable and strong then the brace is more for the head but mine certainly has helped me mentally lay a few ghosts to rest.
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 Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Rachelljtaylor wrote:
After snapping my ACL last April I've been on the rehab route non surgery. Were off skiing at Christmas and wondered if any can advise me on skiing braces for this holiday. I'm not expecting to ski every day but I've completed 5 months of intensive rehab with a personal trainer. And leg pressing 60 kilos now etc any advice would be helpful.


after 5 months of intensive rehab, i suspect your ACL, your knees, and hell, your fitness in general, is better than the majority of holiday skiers......just get an off the shelf support, warm up, and cool down properly, and i suspect you'll be fine Cool
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Thanks Timberwolf and blighty1066.
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 Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
@Rachelljtaylor, I use a Donjoy force point hinged brace too but a playmaker - firstaid4sport were able to supply the hinges they use on the rigid frame armour brace for me on this soft support as at not much over 5' the frame was too long so if your height is an issue I recommend giving them a ring.
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Leg pressing 60kg, include 45degree cos, and we have a number, which is not impressive. Can you do a squat without any weight at all?
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 Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
I did 8 x weeks snowboarding one season without an ACL.
I used a CTi Pro Sport to protect my knee so that I did not screw up the knee any further before having the ACL reconstructed/replaced in May after the season concluded.
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 After all it is free Go on u know u want to!
After all it is free Go on u know u want to!
I did mine plus MCL 2 seasons ago, and also went physio route. I'd had a tibial plateau fracture the same side the year before. Skied off piste last season - gingerly at times - with a neoprene support only.

Used one made by Bioskin - recommended by the truly excellent Jonathan Bell. He had advised that I didn't need a brace - it might help with confidence but would not stop re injury - and the neoprene sleeve would give me confidence, help with proprioception - I still don't have much - and keep the knee warm!

He also recommended that if I was to have a brace, there was no point in having anything but a custom made one as off the shelf ones wouldn't be exactly right mechanically.
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
@Rachelljtaylor, I would speak with your physio. Mine recommended me the Mueller HG80 hinged knee support however I do still have half my construction still intact.
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Ski the Net with snowHeads
@Rachelljtaylor, I did mine (full rupture, avulsed from tibial spine) last January. Went physio route, done a lots of exercises at home and in gym. Been mountaineering, running, snd cycling since May, and just finished week of mixed on and off piste in Tignes (on PSB). Still seeing sports physio (who worked with British Alpine downhill team). Having done lots of training I’m now skiing better than I ever have. Physio reckoned I didn’t need brace and so far I’d agree with her. She was quite clear that unless you’re spending c£500+ there is no benefit to a brace beyond the psychological/ emotional.
Good luck and enjoy your trip.
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Hi Kosmoz
I squat with 20 kilos x3 reps a day and 25 kilos x 2 days a week along with burpeees sumo squats my pet instructor was with the army ski team every other day in the gym every day straight from work and walk the pool 1.5 kilometers every two to three days.
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 And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
@Rachelljtaylor, not wanting to be judgemental...but the bar is 20kg. Do you put plates on the bar? If you do then you probably are fine if you have good strength

I am not ACL but a big tibial plateau fracture with MCL. I do use a cti brace....but it's psychological really..

Why do you want a brace? What do you think it will do?
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 So if you're just off somewhere snowy come back and post a snow report of your own and we'll all love you very much
So if you're just off somewhere snowy come back and post a snow report of your own and we'll all love you very much
Yes I put 2 x 19 and 2 x 2.5 kilos on the bar
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 You know it makes sense.
You know it makes sense.
2 x 10
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 Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
I think it may be more emotional rather than physical as my physio signed me off when she realised the amount of gym work I do. That was in September
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 Poster: A snowHead
Poster: A snowHead
@Rachelljtaylor, so squatting 45kg. Yep... ? Biosleeve will be fine
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 Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Rachelljtaylor wrote:
Hi Kosmoz
I squat with 20 kilos x3 reps a day and 25 kilos x 2 days a week along with burpeees sumo squats my pet instructor was with the army ski team every other day in the gym every day straight from work and walk the pool 1.5 kilometers every two to three days.


with that much strength you should be in a wheelchair, not on a slopes.
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 Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
@kosmoz, a female coming back from injury? She didnt count the weight of the bar. You dont know how old she is either. It's not a willy waving competition
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Actually the weight of the bar as I've checked today is 15 kilos plus the 25 kilos I already lift, as part of an exercise plan.
For straight dead lifts I an lifting 90kilos.
Oh and im 52. And no I shouldn't be in a wheelchair thank you very much!
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 Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
@Rachelljtaylor, I'm 59 and have just got to squatting 52.5kg after 6 years...but in was very lazy the last few years.

Bars are usually 20 or 10kg
..or so I thought
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Getting back to braces... I took out both ACLs, also non-surgery route. My Consultant (and others with whom I have since spoken) are very anti brace, stating risk of transferred injury, not using your natural strength and, well, I'm not 100% sure, but they just get very "no, absolutely not" about it. Having said that, I'm pretty sure that they don't ski or board.
I have asked many physios and therapists and can never get a clear answer - though the few which sell them are keener than the many who don't seem to have a clue about where to buy one in the first place, never mind what type...

I looked at CTi and Donjoys but didn't fancy them (nor could I really afford them!) - they to me seemed (too) big and bulky and didn't feel that they would give me the kind of security and knee awareness which I was looking for.
(Having said that, fingers crossed I don't suffer from overt instability, just stressed tired muscles and odd pains and stiffnesses - snow sports or dancing, mountain climbing, walking, other sports too.)
So for snowsports I wear a wrap-around 4 strap neoprene support on each knee (soft side springs, not hard bulkier hinges) and find them quite adequate as far as my needs and remaining pains go (bought from Boots, £25 ea). Possibly just psychological, as I don't feel the need for them in other activities (though I do these days often need a patellar tendon strap kind of thing, for some unknown pain reduction reason), but I wouldn't want to ski or board without something wrapped around the knees. Keeps them warm too.
I think that it's all a very personal choice as long as you have the muscle strength to hold things together otherwise, and don't have known meniscal, OA, etc issues to take into consideration.
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 Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
@Rachelljtaylor,

Get a good Orthotist who understands skiing to advise you and to fit it.
You are going to be spending a lot of money so you dont want to take a risk on the fit or suitability

Jonathan Bell
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