 Poster: A snowHead
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Anyone had elective ACL reconstruction?
Its gimped but have been functioning without it hence the elective.
Anyone are to PM me with questions I should be asking my consultant?
Horror stories etc also welcome.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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I had elective 26 years ago. They used carbon fibre back then. Apart from limited movement & advanced arthritis, the only problem I have had is a tendon on the outside of the fibula is now starting to calcify due to bleeding over the years 
I am sure that modern methods are much better though. On the bright side I got 13 years more rugby out of it, and some 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?
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fatbob, Really cant help as I had my first knee op when I was 17 ( ie 37 years ago) ... ACL was in 1984 iirc on a countback. My personal opinion is that  GPs know more now than sports specialists knew then ..
I continued to play rugby until I was 40 ( with the occasional injury) but my knees are still good despite the occasional odd thing here and there, and ( apparently) a bit of imbalance/bowed-knees.
I think I'm suggesting that operations are good in the long term.
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
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Frosty the Snowman,
I didn't know they did knee ops on the under-10s? 
The real reason I'm thinking of having it done now is not what its stopping me doing now but what I wn't be able to do in 5 years etc plus reducing acceleration of arthritis I hope.
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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Might also encourage me to lose some weight in rehab if
Need to go skiing > Need to eat pies
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I know of quite a few people who have had one or two knee replacements recently. All say that the Op is good.and all play golf and can walk the course. Age is a factor and one of them is thinking about going skiing again..altho' once you get to that stage of having knees that don't kill you every day..you might not want to risk skiing again.
Recon struction of the ACL sounds like the thing to do... I'd pursue it, I think, but not knowing how you suffer.. couldn't really say
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fatbob, Mrs Ski under the knife today
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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Have you had a look at www.kneeguru.co.uk they have a kneegeeks forum with a whole section decidated to the cruicate ligaments. Lots of skiers on there.
I popped my ACL skiing (or rather falling) in Austria 2007 (what a crap season) was going to have surgery but have had (so far) no instability issues and can ski (much better season this year) and sail so at the moment I'm opting for the nonsurgical route. That may change if things deteriorate.
I know people who've managed without an ACL for years (my knee surgeon is one of them) but I also know people who couldn't even walk down the road without the op.
Your body, your call.
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snowlamb,
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know people who've managed without an ACL for years (my knee surgeon is one of them) but I also know people who couldn't even walk down the road without the op.
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- couldn't agree more. One of the Fitness Instructors at my gym has a ruptured ACL and continues ot play football, run, do weights etc.
fatbob, there is some (contradictory) evidence about osteoarthritis progression being slowed by ACL repair, advocates of surgery say it helps, conservatives don't. I think that my view would be to ask you:
Did your knee stop you doing anything that you wanted to do last season? - if yes - surgery, if no - weight loss and quads/hamstring rehab (then you might need renaming notsofatbob )
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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Nick L, Are you an orthopod or GP,can't remember sorry?
Has it stopped me doing anything? Skied over 50 days this season.
Doesn't feel regularly unstable
but
I do limp up & down stairs which I take as not a good harbinger for future.
Can't run any distance without some pain (but this may also be weight bearing related)
If I tear cartilage again due to instability feel it may be more harmful to long term knee health.
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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.
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Completely severed my ACL in Austria on New Years Day. Thanks to employers private med scheme I saw a consultant quickly and was given choice of surgery but advised to try Physio and do without the ACL, with proviso of a review at end of June.
Already clear that physio hasn't worked and have reconstruction Op next Thursday.
Agree wholly with Snowlamb, and everything I have read also supports that view. My problems have been instability with the addition of swelling and pain. Its Ok first thing in the morning but by the time I come home from work which involves either a desk or the car, it is swollen and painful and I am visibly limping, still can't run far on it.
I try not to think about it, but see the last 4 months as wasted - if I had just had the Op in January I would be well on the mend by now. on the other hand my progress was good until about the beginning of March and then it plateau'd, I probably waited too long in that I did not go back to the consultant until the end of April, if i'd gone back in March I would be another month ahead now.
Fatbob, I was also told the longer you wait to have surgery the higher possibility of a less successful outcome. Also get yourself as fit as poss before the Op if you have it, I have been using a personal trainer for 6 weeks now and right knee apart, I'm as fit as I was when the accident happened, having spent January and half of February sat on my ass, eating drinking and feeling sorry for myself! 
Anyway, no more looking back - first ski holiday is booked for 3rd January and I will ski!
One other point, is that I was told if I was still in my twenties and playing sport like I did then, that they would have done the Op right away as a matter of course. Take from that what you will, but I take it as meaning that the Op was always the best option, however given that I'm now 40 and dont play team sports etc anymore that I could probably do without?
I could be out of order here but am glad I'm private and not NHS, just have a feeling in view of above that an NHS consultant with a budget might choose not to operate on someone like me. 
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| fatbob wrote: |
Nick L, Are you an orthopod or GP,can't remember sorry?
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I'm a GP with an interest in Sports Medicine.
If you've got pain on stairs this probably means that your knee is not as stable as you think it is which makes reconstruction more likely to be useful.
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You know it makes sense.
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Nick L, Thanks for that - backs up my thinking.
robboj, I've got private cover too which is why I anticipate being able to have it pretty soon after seeing the consultant who did a great job on a meniscal tear during the arthroscopy when the ACL tear was confirmed a couple of years ago.
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Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
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| ski wrote: |
| fatbob, Mrs Ski under the knife today |
How's Mrs Ski today?
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Poster: A snowHead
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I was talking to a man at a party on sunday. He snapped his ACL 20 years ago. he is now 52. He said he didnt go for the surgery, but over the years his cartiledge has worn away and now he is walking bone on bone. They wont give him a new knee because he's considered too young, and they wont do the surgery now because its been too long. So he is living in pain. Its something to think about.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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robboj, 10 days later.. off crutches, into physio.
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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?
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ski, That's good news and the sort of thing I wanted to hear re rehab periods.
taratibu2, Had a new MRI scan precisely to measure cartilage wear since my arthroscopy 2 years ago. Can't interpret them myself (& waiting for the follow up) although any orthopods out there want to offer their help I would be happy to try to scan them.
My OS advises correctly I think that sometimes tightening things up in the knee can cause other pain due to progressive wear which is no longer "naturally" accomodated.
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
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fatbob,
Your call, but my tendency would be to get this fixed and out of the way now...
At the back of my mind is always the issue that medics don't have to live with the issue...they recommend a course of action and sometimes finance and the fact the patient can do without it can be top of the list determining that course of action. They might have a more urgent call on resources although your private route might negate this somewhat.
If I were you, I'd be very selfish about this and your private care can drive this...but you need to make up your mind whether you want it done.
If the knee is unstable only to a degree... I'd still be asking, what harm I'd do if it continued like that over time...against what benefit I'd get with it fixed.
ski, sounds good... what is her target..?
My friends with the new knees say it seems to need 6 months to get the knee right but then they have lived with the deteriorating problem for years and a lot of that rehab might just be recovering old ground..and of course, they don't ski..although one is considetring it after 2 years off
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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| JT wrote: |
If the knee is unstable only to a degree... I'd still be asking, what harm I'd do if it continued like that over time...against what benefit I'd get with it fixed.
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This is true, but also, to complete into the equation, you need to think about what you would be left with if surgery failed - and it does sometimes.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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| Quote: |
ski, sounds good... what is her target..?
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Back on skis in December. She has a new pair of Solly 3Vs (don't ask  ) waiting.
Physio once a week, lot's knee exercises every day. Back on her bicycle tomorrow.
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ski,robboj,
What was the reconstruction - same leg hamstring graft or a patellarr graft?
(or allograft or other material?)
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fatbob,
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same leg hamstring graft
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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Bob,
Many 2 plank skiers who have dodgy knees who have given up skiing on 2 planks have been able to get back on the slopes(and off piste) by taking up Mono skiing.
The lateral pressures are shared between both legs as one and i personally have found this to be true. 95% of the time when i 'fall' it is a slide out & kind of like a Baseball slide into first base on my outer thigh and hip but never a problem for my knees.
Any intermediate parallel skier could get the hang of it in 2 or 3 runs and you may find that you can do stuff you couldn't do on 2 skis.
I know it is a retro style and many will deride it but for me it is a fun way of snow sliding.I also ski on 2 planks but my first love is the Mono.
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2113/2146118878_2f81f53835_m.jpg
http://www.monoski.net/
Rob
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| fatbob wrote: |
ski,robboj,
What was the reconstruction - same leg hamstring graft or a patellarr graft?
(or allograft or other material?) |
Same leg hamstring graft also.
Have been setback by an infection causing cellulitis in the lower calf and foot, thankfully hasn't spread to knee.
Ski,What straightening/flexing progress has Mrs Ski made?
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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cc_7up,
Mono is taking it a bit far I snowboard as a hedge against not being sble to ski in the future.
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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.
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hi, interesting thread.
I tore my medial miniscus (cartilage) and ACL playing rugby about 2 months ago. I had the cartilage repaired (not removed, fortunately) within a week and i am now 2 weeks away from my ACL reconstruction (hamstring graft). it was never an option for me not to have the ACL surgery but i am in the fortunate position of having health insurance through work. in my opinion, if you have ambition to stay active and get the most out of your body then an ACL is required, irrespective of age. however, my surgeon told me that a lot of people ski without an ACL. i agree with snowlamb, it is a tricky decision to make and one that doesn't have an answer suitable to everyone.
my aim is to be skiing by January but i have been told by the physio that that is optimistic; apparently a 6 month recovery period is short and february/march is more realistic.
i am hoping that i will be back on the hill in january but only with the added reassurance of a brace. my surgeon has told me that i will not need a brace when i am fully recovered, but i can't tell at this point how i confident i will feel even once i have come to the end of my rehab.
robboj - best of luck with your rehab. it will be interesting to compare notes over the summer!
one thing is certain for next season though...i will not be riding a monoboard
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You know it makes sense.
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4WG, wish you the best of luck! If you can't make January I wouldn't worry too much. I was out till late February and got some of the best powder runs in my life in mid March!
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Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
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fatbob, mrs horizon, whom I believe you've met, has had ACL reconstruction. As a doctor, she listened to a lot of opinions and read a lot about the pros and cons. What convinced her was the 'threat' that later on in life her knee will degrade faster without the op.
She did her rehab religiously and her knee is back to 100% (took about a year).
Btw, this winter she's been properly back on skis, two weeks of ski school leading to her being comfortable on a difficult blue. Back on 1 December she was still terrified of a green run which was a bit flatter than a quiet lake, so I call that a result.
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Poster: A snowHead
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horizon,
Cheers. Everything is stacking up for surgery - kind of strike while its still good enough. If I'd been a little more organised I'd have started the process in March to have a fighting chance at next season. I can probably still snowboard next winter if the worst comes to the worst.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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ACL operation all done. rehab has now started, albeit on the sofa...
there is some bad news as the cartilage repair did not take and a portion of the cartilage has been removed. this was only spotted in surgery though so came as a bit of surprise as things were feeling good before that.
more updates as and when things go badly/well.
fatbob - hope you have a date for your op.
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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?
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4WG, Good luck with the rehab - don't rush it is the only decent advice I can offer after two ACL, an MCL and a PCL repair. USe the rubber bands all the time and I found it very useful to have an exercise bike plonked in front of the telly and slowly rode many stationary miles towards MTV... I had a 3-set done after a crash in winter 06 and was skiing again in Nov 07 which was about right. The season went very well and despite a bit of stiffness in the knee after a hard day and some aching in the calf due to tensing up, I had no real problems with it.
fatbob, you may already be in the queue for surgery or have had it done, but the most important thing to try and do before the op is get fit. If the leg that you are having done is already strong - especially the small muscles (adductors?) around the knee and the big hamstring and thigh muscles then they will help to stabilise the weak area of repair afterwards and precipitate a quicker recovery to skis. My Mrs had elective done on hers last June and was skiing this season albeit tentatively and that was her second ACL repair on that knee. Both of us had patella tendons used.
Good luck and I hope it works out...
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FAQ
and yes, it didn't half hurt 
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