 Poster: A snowHead
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I have lurked on this forum for too many seasons so it's time to put my head above the parapet.
Best wishes to everyone and thanks for the help, advice and enjoyment you have provided in feeding my addiction.
On 19th December I tore my left ACL (85%) and MCL (15%) skiing in Les Menuires. Nothing dramatic - I have skied for 20 odd years and was doing nothing that I can't handle. Knee deep powder between pistes, slowing down for a quick rest (I'm in my late forties), a trapped right ski, a lot of pain and bad language.
Fortunately I'm covered by my wife's private medical insurance and the treatment has been excellent. My ACL is apparently all but redundant and the MCL will heal in time. My consultant says that I'm too old for a reconstruction and that I can be up and at 'em again next season with lots of physio and a quality knee brace. With this knowledge I have thrown myself into physio and the results are astounding. I ditched the french-issued knee brace (you see lots of them at airports on the way home) 2 weeks ago, one crutch a week ago and the remaining crutch this morning. Still a long way to go.
Anyway, my point is that it would be great to hear from people with experience of these things both in the past and, better still, going through the same as me. A search on this site brings up loads of ACL hits. Is there a forum that I have missed that already deals with these issues?
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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 also ruptured my ACL in my mid 40s and had it repaired a few years later. The delay was largely due to trying to get my GP to refer me to a specialist, oh the joy of GP fund holding. I did manage to ski a bit in the meantime but had the occasional incident when the lower leg went sideways. Now I wear a knee brace purely because it make the osteoarthritis feel better and as a preventive measure, but I have had no problems with the ACL reconstruction at all. IIRC from operation to full use of the leg was less than 6 months.
Good luck and you will be skiing fine next season.
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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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You need to Login to know who's really who.
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I've got redunadant ACls in both knees. Have had operations but they have since been stretched so not doing their jobs. I ski three times a year with no trouble with just knee supports on.
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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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MontyBlue, get thee over to http://www.kneeguru.co.uk/KNEEnotes/home_hub and read up as much as you can there on ACL injuries under the Cruciates heading.
As for too old WTF!!!! My last revision took place in August 2008 when I was way the wrong side of 50 and that was to correct a poorly positioned graft put in 2 years earlier. In the same hospital as me there was a gentleman aged around 70 and an older lady who I suspect was pretty close to 80. Both very fit and active and both had had ACL reconstructions. Difference between UK healthcare and German/Austrian healthcare - the former is reactive and rationed, the latter is prophylactic and proactive. Both those older patients were extremely active either in terms of the work they were doing &/or their general lifestyle. If you are fit and active you will rehab your knee way better than your average late teen/early twenties amateur male footie player and be back skiing within the year (the most common age/sex group for resnapping due to poor rehab) or worse still a mid-20s couch-potato.
Find a surgeon who looks at you rather than your date of birth! Carrying on with an active life and relying on a brace is a downward cycle to an completely wrecked knee.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
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Samerberg Sue, good lord! I thought you were a young slip of a thing  Are you still running a chalet/holiday thingy?
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| MontyBlue wrote: |
Anyway, my point is that it would be great to hear from people with experience of these things both in the past and, better still, going through the same as me. A search on this site brings up loads of ACL hits. Is there a forum that I have missed that already deals with these issues? |
I'd echo Samberberg Sue's advice and get over to kneegeeks.
But if it's any comfort I ruptured my left ACL 7 years ago and have happily skied for 3 weeks a season ever since - no reconstruction just good physio and a knee brace (which I ditched this season as I decided it was more a psychological aid).
I have good stability but I do work hard to maintain that and I don't regret (yet) not having the op. But the decision to leave alone was based on fitness and existing stability rather than age and if my knee became unstable I'd have no hesitation in pushing for a reconstruction.
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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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Thanks for all the replies so far and please keep them coming.
johnE, I don't like the sound of the "knee going sideways" bit.
garethjomo, this is what I want to hear
Samberg Sue, not so much what I wanted to hear but I fear you may be right. Thanks for the link, very informative.
pam w, I was at a perfect weight going into the ski holiday. Now three quarters of a stone up due to enforced inactivity, Christmas, comfort eating and consolation drinking!
gatecrasher, the percentages I quote are best guesstimates. The MRI scan is an amazing thing but the damage still shows up as a blurry white mass.
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Yes, snowlamb, that's a great comfort. How do you maintain your stability?
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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| Quote: |
Now three quarters of a stone up due to enforced inactivity, Christmas, comfort eating and consolation drinking!
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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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| MontyBlue wrote: |
| Yes, snowlamb, that's a great comfort. How do you maintain your stability? |
I do a lot of work to keep my quads and hamstrings in good order. Some gym work, some pilates, some cardo classes aimed at leg strength, I walk, cycle and attend 3 core strengthening sessions a week. But I don't play netball, tennis or hockey and avoid exercise that involves any twisting motion and my phsyio gave me a set of exercises to specifically support the knee and I try and incorporate those into my weekly routine.
Think I've also been quite lucky that I have naturally 'stiff' joints - I have never had any hypermobility in my knees and I'm pretty sure that has helped. Not that there's much you can do about that but certainly any work you do to strengthen the muscles around your knee the better you will be.
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MontyBlue, the advice I had when I ruptured mine (aged 37) was that I could do without one but that would significantly increase the risk of osteoarthritis in 10 years' time.
I want to keep using my knees in 10 years' time (I know, I'm weird like that) so I went for the operation. Rehab is tough but you get through it, and 9 months later I was doing 5 or 10-foot drops in Chile and skiing the Super C couloir.
Good luck, whatever your decision.
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You know it makes sense.
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Seeing what snowlamb wrote above - given the amount of tennis that I play (and I like running down every ball), there was no way for me to do without an ACL...
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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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The thing I struggle to understand, is how come some people don't have stability problems without one, and others just give out? Is it just to do with their original fitness/strength?
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Poster: A snowHead
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MontyBlue, Guy I play squash with twice a week done his ACL, 3years ago and decided to just go down the "decent brace" treatment. Think it cost him upwards of £500, but the thing definitely works for him. Has had no real affect on his squash game, which I was amazed at as squash has just about as much twisting and turning on knees as any sport. Sure you'll be fine
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Any advice on knee braces? Mrs WS is thinking of returning to the slopes as the grandchildren approach skiing age and is concerned about her dodgy knee.
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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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Get it checked out by a decent Physio and follow their advice: welshskier,
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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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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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MontyBlue, I did mine last March, had the reconstruction beginning of May on the NHS and have 2 weeks back on snow under my belt.
Based on what I researched prior to deciding on the best course of action (Op or not) it seemed clear that all things considered there was little to loose by going for the Op. You are going to have to go through a physio rehab program whatever so you might as well do that recovering from a reconstruction. Also without the op you may end up with further damage from instability which could cause problems (arthritis) as you get older.
geoffers, Sail boat skiing. I could cope with that 
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You'll need to Register first of course.
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MontyBlue, Graham Rowntree played prop for Leicester and England without his ACLs, I believe. Mind you, he did lots (and lots) of work on the bike to stablise the joint.
But like others say, get a new consultant (and complain about the last one). My granddad had his hip done a fortnight ago, and he was 94.
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i completely ruptured mine when i was 35 and had it reconstructed that year. i too was in powder, just pootling back to a piste after a decent and my right ski caught something under the snow and turned straight right whilst i continued forwards. much agony and cursing, then skied down to my car and drove through 4+ hours of start-stop traffic back to munich. i fell out of the car screaming and a friend came round with a case of weissbier which helped numb the pain! i had intensive physio after the op and was back to normal in about 4 months. didn't ski for a couple of years due to moving to scotland, small children, babies, etc but am back at it now with no noticable difference over the past 4 seasons.
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| grazzenger wrote: |
| i fell out of the car screaming |
I know that feeling.
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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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Wow .. so many replies. Thanks for all your advice. I'm detecting a majority view in favour of the op. I'll talk to the doc about it at my next appointment
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FAQ
I manage some apartments but my main job is Monday to Friday in an office either near Munich or in my guest room 