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ACL/PCL recovery


If you bust your ACL skiing, will you ski again?
Yes
100%
 100%  [ 31 ]
No
0%
 0%  [ 0 ]
Voted : 31
Total Votes : 31

 Poster: A snowHead
Poster: A snowHead
Hi,

I bust my ACL & PCL in Feb and had recon (graft & implant) in May. To get me motivated to rehab, I've booked a trip end March 24. I've decided for at least this time to wear a brace but I wonder if any of you have done your ACL and the PCL as a lot of the braces cover one or the other and I've not met anyone else who's had both procedures.

I'm not likely to afford a custom one but the sites that sell them are a bit reluctant to spell out what the differences actually are between their models. Anyone had any luck with Ossur or Donjoy and specifically, which model? I may try and get a used one from ebay etc. I will be taking it easy and sticking mostly to blues next time.

Thanks Toofy Grin
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 Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
I ruptured my ACL skiing, I had recon and returned to skiing, damaged the recon playing hockey, and again returned to skiing, although not hockey (get too competitive while playing hockey) whereas happy to "play safe" while skiing.
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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?
I did both... The PCL was snapped and the ACL was apparently hanging by a thread.
I had surgery for the PCL. During the operation the surgeon decided to leave the ACL as it was because the rehab for the PCL would take so long that by the time the ACL would have any pressure on it, it would have had time to heal itself.
And that's exactly what happened. The surgeon and physio said it would be 12 months after the PCL surgery before my knee would feel anything like normal again. They were right, by which time the ACL had sorted itself out.

My physio advised against using a knee brace. He said if I felt like I needed a brace then the knee wasn't ready for skiing.
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For anyone following this and interested in the combined ACL/PCL brace for skiing, my research has led me to a Donjoy Armor Knee Brace with Standard Hinge (not Fourcepoint) with a "combined instability" option. It's not cheap (£450) but it's the only one that supports both ligaments.

"The Donjoy Armor Knee Brace is suitable for injuries of both ligaments, and even for combined instability, a much less common condition where both ligaments have been disrupted".

I'll get it in a few months and report back after my trip!
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 Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
@SaraJ, interesting. I did my ACL this winter, reconned end March. My physio explained that the reason ACLs don't heal after a total rupture is that the loose ends are just moving around too much, so if it's slightly attached ...
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@under a new name, I do wonder if that's what mine has done and not totally gone... It just seems odd that it isn't at all floppy or unstable.

That said I still need the arthroscopy to sort the cartilage so am just leaving them to it.
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 Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
@homers double, my knee felt totally fine just before my surgery, although obviously I wasn't doing anything too tricky on it ...
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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!
When I damaged my reconstruction, I was told by physio they thought it was just and MCL strain, so I rehabbed and went back to hockey training. Prior to going back to hockey training, it felt perfect, was doing lots in gym amd everyday activities all felt good and it was rock solid.... I thought. During training did some sprint work part way through one sprint, my knee completely collapsed. That collapse caused a lot of cartilage damage, jamming it into parts of the joint it shouldn't be in an prevent me both bending or straightening the leg and leaving me non-weight bearing.

When it was operated on, the surgeon found that my ACL recon was damaged and that is clearly why it was not stable at a full sprint.
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
saschlet wrote:
For anyone following this and interested in the combined ACL/PCL brace for skiing, my research has led me to a Donjoy Armor Knee Brace with Standard Hinge (not Fourcepoint) with a "combined instability" option. It's not cheap (£450) but it's the only one that supports both ligaments.

"The Donjoy Armor Knee Brace is suitable for injuries of both ligaments, and even for combined instability, a much less common condition where both ligaments have been disrupted".

I'll get it in a few months and report back after my trip!


When my wife did her ACL last year, we bought the donjoy armour (and an Ossur CTI) through health and care - can recommend, both the purchase and return process (for the CTI) were very straightforward, and at the time their pricing was very competitive.
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 Ski the Net with snowHeads
Ski the Net with snowHeads
@under a new name, @homers double, when I did my ACL, my physio (who works with national team athletes…as well as punters like me!), said that ACLs are like pregnancy- interns of function you either have one or you don’t, and they don’t regrow following injury. She also pointed out that before reconstruction surgery was developed not that long ago, there were loads of folk living their lives quite happily without a functioning ACL - and in many cases, not knowing they didn’t have it.
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 snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
@Inboard, Good to know, thank you.
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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.
@Inboard, indeed, type 2 (Ithinks that’s the staging) incomplete tears are v rare
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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
Ruptured my PCL and MCL and damaged my ACL snowboarding. Bit of meniscus damage too, just for fun.

No surgery, rehabbed it hard, didn't miss a day of work (teaching snowboarding....).

Don't entirely recommend that. It hurt like hell and I couldn't get my leg straight (and hence walk properly) for 6 months. As above, over a year for it to feel anywhere near normal and more like 3 years to stop noticing it every day.
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 You know it makes sense.
You know it makes sense.
@stevomcd, a pisteur chum says, "a year to recover, 2 years to forget" ...
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 Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
@under a new name, sounds about right!
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 Poster: A snowHead
Poster: A snowHead
@stevomcd, quite! My kiné also reckons pain free at 12 months is a bit optimistic …
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 Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
@under a new name, yeah.

I could snowboard fairly well right away as, fortunately, snowboarding doesn't (shouldn't!) require you to straighten your leg. But it hurt all the time. Can't sleep at night hurt.

That summer, I could ride my bike pretty well, but was still struggling to walk without a limp.

In the autumn (6months plus), I could get around, but it easily got inflamed when walking. I was getting really frustrated that I couldn't, for example, play frisbee on the beach, because shifting surfaces were grim.

The following winter (12-18 months on), I could snowboard well, but had the fear big time and was constantly aware of it. Low-level nagging pain flared up a few times.

18 months after the injury we were in covid lock-down and it became a big problem again as sitting around at home made it worse and the only exercise we could do was on foot. My attempts to get back into running were not fun. I couldn't build the runs beyond about 5km.

The "winter with no lifts" was probably pretty good for it. Bikes too.

We'll see this winter, but the first few days on a snowboard still seem to hurt it. I'm planning on doing some extra strength work in the autumn to try to improve that, but I ride mountain bikes for a living in the summer - my legs are already pretty strong.

I had it assessed by a new physio (who works with pros) after about 3 years. Her advice was that my knee was functionally pretty good. Her advice to most people would have been to build muscle, but that I was pretty well ahead of the game on that one so the advice to me was to work on flexibility if I was still having pain. Probably good advice.

That and I'm just getting older. Rage against the dying of the light!
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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?
@saschlet,
That’s unusual so not many will be able to say they had had both done.
WRT braces.
They can improve feedback and improve confidence.
In fact that may be a large part of how they work.

Getting one off ebay has a lot of risk- it may simply not fit adequately and so be pretty useless.
If it were very cheap you could take a punt.
The high end braces are much better fitted.
If you are going to self fit then i would get something fairly simple like a neoprene knee sleeve, possibly with simple aluminium hinges slid inside.

Jonathan Bell
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I have now had 9 injuries to my knees - almost everything you can imagine! First injury when I was only about 30 before I ever skied, just playing with my (then) small children. Started with 2 partial tears to L acl in separate incidents. Then once I could ski had a partial tear in the mcl then later a muscle tear. That left me with a knee that appeared to be pcl deficient and I was advised to get a Ossur CTi brace when I was about 50. I have worn that for skiing for about 25 years. I finally tore through the acl even wearing the brace when I stopped very suddenly and my knee went pop. Had that surgically repaired age 55 and after that surgery was told the pcl is actually intact. Then 5 years later had a tibial plateau hairline fracture. I just wore the bace and was non weight bearing for a few weeks. Next injury was just bone bruising which took ages to heal and the most painful of all injuries as my knee was always sore. Next were 2 tumbles not skiing, one dancing and the other running for a bus over uneven paving. That gave me 2 cartilage tears which were cleaned up by arthroscopy. I always wear the brace to ski and with it can ski black bump runs but without it the knee would be too unstable. Then last Easter someone skied into me and I now have a partial tear in my R acl. I have done lots of physio and its now asymptomatic for everyday life - no pain and I walked 8 miles over the scottish hills yesterday. My surgeon has said I can ski next winter but I am currently trying to decide which brace I will get for what had been my 'good knee'. I know people say you can ski without an acl but I am almost 75 and want to continue skiing bumps so need something to try to stop the R acl tearing right through. I could get another CTi but may try something not quite to big. Looking at various Donjoy models.
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 Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
The poll is pretty one-sided. Everyone want to ski again…

Wait, if they don’t ski any more, would they be on a ski forum? Laughing
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abc wrote:
The poll is pretty one-sided. Everyone want to ski again…

Wait, if they don’t ski any more, would they be on a ski forum? Laughing


I’d say roughly 9/10 want to ski again.
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 Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
2016 - left MCL tear... PT/rehab went back to skiing
2018 - right ACL rupture, MCL tear, meniscus tear, fracture... PT/rehab no surgery, went back to skiing

In both instances my doctor asked me what I wanted to be able to do and I said, "ski"

Its always about getting back on the mountain, isn't it Very Happy

Ironically, 2016 injury more painful than 2018 injury.
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