 Poster: A snowHead
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Hi Guys,
I have a friend who has bad knees at the moment. Painful to run around for long periods of time and also he experiences a bit of pain when skiing. Is there any sort of brace or support that will take the strain away from the knees to relieve the pain?
Cheers
Fraser13j
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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skimojo - google it, (or ask Frosty) 
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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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It all depends what the problem is. I would recommend your friend seeks professional advice. I was suffering a bit after surgery for my torn medial meniscus cartilage and my physio recommended a support to address the cause of those issues which definitely helped.
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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Brace. What type of bad knee or injury?
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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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I too would recommend getting professional advice. I used to need to take repeated doses of ibuprofen throughout a day's skiing or hillwalking, or I could only manage an hour or so, and I always wore some knee support. After a couple of small changes recommended by a physio, I have been drug free for about 6 years and have no idea where my knee supports are - in my case it was simply a matter of balancing muscles around the knees.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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Fraser13j, Bad knees should not be running anywhere! Low impact exercise better. See a Doctor or Physio. Then once you know precisely what the problem is there is a very good website firstaid4sport.co.uk I think it is, which sells all sorts of knee braces not too expensive and it is staffed by medical people and you should be able to get a suitable brace designed for the exact problem in the correct size. It might just be arthritis. Also friend should strengthen his quads and stretch calves and ankles. Orthotics in shoes/trainers.ski boots may also help.
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Fraser13j, I sort of agree what snowyowl says but I think that knee pain can come and go. I run about 30-40 miles a week up the local hills and forest tracks and knee pain comes back when my orthotics inserts get knackered and compressed (about every 2,000 miles). I use these ... http://www.footsupports.co.uk/full_length_footsupports.html ... and have needed to use them or similar for 15 years when it became obvious that my feet were flat as pancakes. They're just as effective and durable as the Vasyli (AOL) full lengths and are about 1/2 the price.
I buy the firmer full length versions called "DFO Maximum Support FootSupports™ Orthotics"
It might be worth your friend the punt for £22 or so ?
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I have recently injured my knee! Had it checked out by my Physio and he suspected I have torn one of my cruciate ligaments. Anyway I'm supposed to be off skiing a week today and need some sort of knee support. Any suggestions? Also any tips/advice for skiing with a dogy knee?
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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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aprilhart, you need a clear diagnosis, if you have just ruptured your ACL you are almost certainly going to find it is unstable. If when you injured your knee it swelled up a lot within an hour or so you have about an 80% chance it is you ACL.
Get the knee looked by your local knee specialist,if you can,or at least a scan as it would be just guesswork to plan treatment/ a fix unless you know what you are trying to fix! If the injury is the ACL I would recommend you can the trip as you may damage it further. It would have to turn out to be fairly minor to ski safely with a knee support only.
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I have got the ball rolling to do with doctors scans etc. unfortunately there not the quickest. I can walk on it but after 10 mins or so starts to become 'uncomfortable' the most difficult thing is stairs (up and down) when I did it, it did swell..... A lot and I couldn't put any weight on it what so ever this was partly from pain but also from the fact it just gave way. This is something it still does now occasionally. The original injury was about a year ago but the other day I twisted it again and has all flared up again!  that is what I feared about my upcoming trip.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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aprilhart, What did the physio suggest? As you have seen one did they say suggest any particular brace to help you to ski or did they recommend cancellation? I ended up tearing my medial meniscus cartilidge shortly after booking out last ski holiday I was able to get surgery quite quickly by going privately but was still In quite a bit of Pain and discomfort just before going out the physio identified why (something to do with certain muscles not firing at the same time meaning my knee cap didn't move up cleanly) she advised (and tested) me on a support to help which allowed me to do squats pan free. However I had had surgery and no reason not to ski. Yours is a very different injury and I know I would have not been able to ski within even months of doing my acl I know a friend who tried not getting the reconstruction initially but he caused himself so much pain and a lot more damage by attempting to continue to ski and play hockey with out it.
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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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Of all the suggestions on this thread only one really carries any weight if I have got the name and location correct! Mr Bell is a knee specialist I believe and I think he is saying getting sorted out first but a typo has occurred in there.
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| If the injury is the ACL I would recommend you cancel the trip as you may damage it further. It would have to turn out to be fairly minor to ski safely with a knee support only. |
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Thanks guys, I suppose it's better not to ski this time around and have 2 working knees further down the line. Has anyone had acl surgery? Is it worth it and what's the recovery like?
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You know it makes sense.
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Yes and Yes but it is hard work and a lot of commitment to the Physio exercises.
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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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Ok thank you. I've got a week before I'm 'supposed' to go so am going to jump up and down at the doctors for answers. (On 1 leg)
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Poster: A snowHead
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The Physio said he obviously can't say one way or another without a scan. He said skiing may be ok with decent support but one small silly tumble is all it go take! He also suggested pop to the local snow dome. He said I'd know whether I could do a week of it. Another person in our group has an injury but wants to go anyway so we are looking up other things to do/see in the area!
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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aprilhart, Been through it several times, hard work but well worth the effort. It is not a quick fix - think marathon rather than a sprint! I still have little or no arthritis in my knees despite all the abuse I have put them through over the years. 
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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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Samerberg Sue, hmmmm I think I'm in the same situation, scans tell me I'm riddled with arthritis yet I just keep pushing on. I know that I may be storing up even more discomfort for the future but for me right now if I don't stay very active, I almost seize up.
PLEASE no-one take my example as even the least of gospels but there is a trade off in embracing your ills. I see it all the time over here when peeps are told they have a condition and within days they welcome their fate and are swallowing an obscene cocktail of pharmaceutics . . . the day after that they file a disability claim 
The human body is an extraordinary machine, capable of surviving and shrugging off incredible abust to recover completely. Too many people write themselves off stop far too early. There are some very good doctors on this site who will offer great advice and all I'll say here is never stop playing but take the time, care and effort to recover and you'll play in the snow till your dotage.
Fraser13j, knees are horrible joints, it's a bloody miracle they last as long as they do given the abuse we give them. A professional assessment is the first recourse and then physio and then perhaps yoga to learn body positioning and better muscle support for the whole skeletal structure.
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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Im on my third acl injury and my plan this time along is to rest it but once it has rested I am going to be not jumping straight into skiing but Im going to do leg exercises like squats.. and go from ultra light weight to heavy weight and build up strength from the very start.. im also planning on using this strap on knee support and gradually as my knee starts to recover I will loosen it more and more until I no longer need it that way I will correct my bo mehacnics and will not just become dpenedt on the support forever. I think that is best!
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