Skiing post distal femoral osteotomy! Possibly a first topic

A snowHead

I'm a 43yr old whose been very physically fit and active since my 20,s playing football, tennis and loving the mountains whether it's climbing them, road biking or skiing.
Unfortunately my skiing style usually involved a big deficit between what I was able to ski and what I actually skied which meant some pretty epic fails.
This resulted in my left knee taking the brunt and has ended up with a distal femoral osteotomy to alleviate pressure on the lateral side.
Now, the plus side is I can ride pretty aggressively doing hilly rides upto 50xmiles and have a greater range of movement, but 4xmonths post op if I try and do too much I get a sharp stabbing pain in lateral knee at a specific point.
I suppose I'm looking for rehab tips from anyone who has skied after any osteotomy and secondly positivity as I've booked the family ski trip for next half term.

A snowHead

@gaz16375, welcome to snowheads ... what does your physio say?

Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?

take up snowboarding

You need to Login to know who's really who.

Ha ha @ Mr Egg, that's been recommended before but to be honest the pain is just as stabbing with the up and down plane of movement you get with snowboarding and if I can help I don't want to go back to being bambi on ice

Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

@holidayloverxxx
The physio basically said stop doing too much which was fair enough as it was only 8x weeks post op but 4x months on if I crank things up the stabbing pain returns which is starting to worry me a bit.
On the plus side I'm going to a police rehabilitation centre in a month for 2x weeks for assessment and treatment, where I'm hoping they can pinpoint what is causing the pain and turbocharge the rehab

You'll need to Register first of course.

are you able to speak to the surgeon? maybe a ligament or tendon or something is tight since your knee composition has changed & has not bedded into its new surroundings. You might need to do mild stretches rather than going full pelt at something.
Maybe discuss Kaatsu training as an option with your physio.

Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...

I ended up with a steroid injection into the side of the knee (not fun to watch on the ultrasound) but it kept the pain away while i did all the rehab and then I was ok when it wore off.

Don’t do too much, sometimes rest is better.

Of course it will all be sorted in time for your holiday. Hurrah

After all it is free

I see the surgeon in October. I'll see what the physios at the rehab centre say, as I've been before and they are pretty amazing, but in the meantime I'll research kaatsu and the possibility of a steroid injection.
Thanks for all the advice and I'll update after I've tried everything Little Angel

*Ski* the Net with snowHeads

Hi Jonathan,

A belated thanks for the reply. I've had a good look at your website and I can see you have a major passion for skiing and knee rehabilitation.
I have a quick question, I've spoke to my surgeon after 8 months today and I broached the subject of meniscal transplant which he advised due to my knee being too far gone he wouldn't advise. He basically said the goal is now to manage what I've got(don't destroy the knee anymore) before an inevitable knee replacement.
He did mention which was slightly worrying that when, not if the knee deteriorates there is a new treatment that may provide relief. It is NSTRIDE AUTOLOGOUS PROTEIN INJECTIONS which is basically your own blood reinjected after some treatment. I was wondering if you had any knowledge or experience of it?
Gaz

snowHeads are a friendly bunch.

I've got no personal experience of using it, but have you looked at Ski Mojo braces? There's been discussion on here and I think it's been mostly positive.

snow reports

With age, and injury, and major surgery, part of the recovery battle is making the right choices about what we do and balancing risk. I have a dodgy knee - surgery - but more significantly was diagnosed with heart failure a year ago. I didn't ski last winter but am signed up for the SHs pre-birthday bash this season. I can't do what I used to do. Including walking fast uphill in ski boots, or skating along flat tracks or digging myself out of holes off piste. I need to ski well within my competence to reduce demands on my severely compromised left ventricular capacity! So I will. I am much older than you, which makes it easier to accept limitations but is it out of the question to suggest you can enjoy a different kind of holiday, with your family, avoiding the kind of stuff which led to your "epic falls" of the past? You'll need your knee for the other 358 days of the year. Good luck with the rehab. snowHead

Ski Mojo would be well worth exploring.

Thanks for the replies, I have resigned myself to having to ski more conservatively which I'm hoping will preserve the knee for a good few years, and I do ski with a donjoy brace already but will definitely look at the mojo brace as an option.
Gaz

You know it makes sense.

@gaz16375, I think some people have successfully combined a donjoy brace and a Mojo but personally I think it would be difficult. My husband had a Mojo, which he found helpful, and I now have it but haven't worn it - it's in the "too much faff" category; I'll stick to my donjoy. Don't think too sadly about "resigning yourself" to skiing more conservatively - it's a really positive move to keep yourself in good shape. Having said that, I'll go and do another 50 squats next time a suitable track comes on my Spotify playlist. Onward and upward!!

Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:

@pam w, i use a mojo with a bulky cti brace. The mojo had to be bent a bit to fit but it works fine

A snowHead

@pam w, good attitude. Did you need to do the heart rehab? It does help a lot with what to do. Good luck.

A snowHead

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Skiing post distal femoral osteotomy! Possibly a first topic

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