Thread: ACL Injury

My fifth day out this year, 3rd run of the day at Alpine. I met Splat and Tyrone when i got there, rode the chair up with them, checked out the Bros. A few runs later, drop in to some steeper stuff, feeling good. Get into some real heavy snow, see some rocks up ahead, I try to make a quick turn to the left, get a little backseat, my right ski gets bogged down in the snow, and then it happened. I heard (or at least felt) the pop and I knew it was all over.
I actually saw Kent leaving while I was waiting for my girlfriend to pick me up, he gave me some advice, a phone number for a physio (I think...what is this short for?), recommended Lake Tahoe Orthopedics, and a doctor in South Lake too.

Fuck.
Right now I'm playing the blame game so hard...my shop hadn't sent in my pass info, so rather than wait, I bought a ticket. Money I shouldn't have spent in the first place. Reading some of altachic's and altagirl's posts make me feel a little better, but it seems like everything I was excited about, watching the weather, TGR, etc. is serving the exact opposite purpose just like that. No excitement, only misery.

I don't know exactly what happened, primarily because I don't have health insurance yet. I am waiting on the paperwork from my new job, so it's not set yet. If anyone has advice, I'd appreciate it. Kent said of course, not to do anything until I have insurance. I'm icing, elevating, and taking ibuprofen. How does insurance work if I did it before I have the insurance? Do I just lie and say I did it afterwards?

Fuck.

Damn that SUCKS! I'm not sure about the insurance thing - maybe you can say it happened when it did but you thought it was alright and now (once you get insurance) all of the sudden it's bothering you again? Maybe someone here is a health insurance expert...

Man, what in the hell is up with all the knee problems lately? I hope it's not as bad as you think.

In the meantime, until you have insurance you need to be doing the pre-surgery type rehab. Ice and elevate as much as you can, stretch gently, keep the muscles strong with as much exercise and weights as you can without pain. Watch it though if you have crunching and that type of thing - if you have meniscus damage you can make it worse by doing too much, but I think you'd feel it, so you'll have to go by how it feels.

got to DSHS. i had some weak ass insurance when i blew my acl (something like 1-2,000 deductible, and hardly any PT they would pay for.) my buddy busted his kneecap with no insurance and went to DSHS and they paid for everything. at the very worst the DSHS will give you about the same insurance as i was paying for through the state. i'm sure cali is a little different from WA, but give them a try, that's what they are there for. while your at it, get some food stamps and buy $20 steaks every night when your laid up from surgery.

edit: you can live w/o an acl. shit, i skied a good 30 pow days on a blown knee. the downside is it will ruin your meniscus if you aren't really strong with the leg muscles.

Damn....It really bums me out hearing all this ACL talk, especially early season

no advice here, just think about rehabbing as hard as you would ski...and kill it next yr...

Fuuuuuuuuuuuck! That sucks, dude. I'm self employed, and had crappy insurance. Went to the doc, and was paying out of pocket for visits, so I didn't do an mri or anything. I went to an agent, and told him to find me some f'ing insurance that would cover this deal+ my wife+my kids etc. It took him a little while, but he did find me something at about the same rate I was paying for the crappy stuff. So it is possible. I'm sure it varies state to state. You might have to talk to your employer. Good luck.

That sucks!
Get well soon, dude.

Jesus effing christ...what the hell is up with all this knee shit. darkside, good meeting you today, holy hell that sucks dude. can't write much right now...just got home and need to pack for a 7 AM flight tomorrow....

Is your knee swollen a lot? I'm guessing you can put weight on it?

People do ski on torn ACL's, I mean hell...you saw me skiing today and I have a torn ACL. but like others already said, you're putting yourself at greater risk.

will write more later.....stay positive and keep with the ice, elevation, etc.

Yikes! This is not good news....but not necessarily season ending news. Last December I heard (and felt) the pop in an almost identical situation as you described. I was solo and had to gingerly get my ace down the mountain - I could hardly put any weight on it. I saw Dr. Orr at Tahoe Fracture Clinic (I'm sure he's the ortho your friend recommends in South Shore) the next day. He checked me out a bit in the office - no MRI. Then put me on Bextra (anti inflammatory) for a few weeks. After two weeks off, it felt way better and I was back on the skis feeling pretty good. I was certain I had a blown ACL and was done for the year. I ended up having an awesome year w/o compromise.
But I always ski w/ the knee brace now.

If you can't secure some quick insurance, you should pay for the consultation w/ Dr. Orr, and at least have him tell you how serious he thinks it is. I think a consulation is $80, or less. Bextra for 2 weeks is pretty cheap too.
Good luck.

Are you eligible for COBRA? If so, it will cover injuries retroactively. You just have to be in the signup period.

Otherwise, ask around and see if you can find a doctor or PT (maybe a friend of a friend) who will give you insurance advice off the record.

Best wishes with the knee. As I've told Ty and AG in the recent past, this just means you'll have to go to SA next summer. It's a moral imperative. Good luck, mang!

Darkside - I'm so BUMMED! Sorry we lost you, but we had to traverse high to hit sisters chute. Was it then??? That slope got baked and thick early.

My knees felt pretty fuckin funky at the end of the day from the variable snow out there. Damn, wish I had some advice, cause this will be my third season skiing with no insurance, except when I travel.

Medi-Cal. Do you qualify???

Thanks everyone for your words of advice and such. The place that KK and friends of mine recommended for PT and an intial exam was Bare Bones in Squaw. I think I might go there, sounds like they'll cut deals for locals without insurance. Otherwise, I might just wait a few weeks until I have insurance. Not sure who I'll be getting insurance through, but I do get it through the shop I work at. They literally had just run out of forms when I went to sign up last week. As for Medi-Cal and DSHS, I'm guessing I might qualify, I don't make much money. Zee-bo, how exactly does DSHS work?

Dr. Orr was who KK recommended, and he did my friend's ACL too. S.Cement, if my story worked out the way yours did, I would be really really happy. $80 to see him sounds like a deal, I'll call on Monday.

Splat, I was in pursuit of some peeps who were a few chairs ahead of us. I thought about following you guys, but ended up catching up with my friends at the bottom. It was a few runs later, we traversed skier's left of the Summit chair, maybe it's called Bear something. Had a nasty cornice on top from all the wind, and the snow was decent, but I got into some deep, heavy stuff. It was good to meet you guys though, at the least I'll see you guys out there this spring.

Take care, brother. I hope this is one of those little rips that heals up.
Keep us posted.
If it didn't go all the way, a little prolotherapy might get you through the season.

Darkside - on that insurance thing - a lot of pre-existing conditions are not covered by a lot of policies. Proceed with caution.

Originally Posted by splat

Take care, brother. I hope this is one of those little rips that heals up.
Keep us posted.
If it didn't go all the way, a little prolotherapy might get you through the season.

Darkside - on that insurance thing - a lot of pre-existing conditions are not covered by a lot of policies. Proceed with caution.

Thanks again Splat.

That's what I was worried about as far as the insurance goes...I'll do some research, definetly going to pursue the Medi-Cal and DSHS routes. I still can't believe I was that much of an idiot to ride without insurance. Hopefully my stupidity can be a lesson to others.

It's feeling pretty good this morning, I was good with the ice and I think that minimized the swelling. It just feels like something's not right...

Yeah, you don't want a medical record of that injury to hose you up when you get insurance. Let me know what an MRI says when you get it - or if you don't. I have some alternative healers in Reno that work wonders and can take insurance.

Originally Posted by splat

Yeah, you don't want a medical record of that injury to hose you up when you get insurance. Let me know what an MRI says when you get it - or if you don't. I have some alternative healers in Reno that work wonders and can take insurance.

That's what I'm thinking. It feels pretty good now, so I'm thinking I just wait, and that 1 week after is going to look the same as 4 weeks after. Once I get the insurance going, just go in and say that I did it a week after the insurance started and that it just started bothering me a week after that.

Funny that we were talking about your gf doing massage, etc. I'll definetly let you know when i know a bit more, I'd be very interested.

And if anyone knows a bunch about insurance and has any advice, please, please, please!!

darkside- go find the DSHS or medi-cal (as it may be in you neck of the woods) and go into the office and fill out all their forms possible. i went in after my surgery and within 2 weeks had health insurance, money for rent, and food stamps. sure its kinda ghetto using food stamps, but i swear it was the best i've fed myself in years.

Just talked to Kreitler on the phone. He mentioned talking to you and we both agreed our advice is the same - just give it a while, no worry, and wait til you get insurance before seeing a doc.

Originally Posted by Arnold Babar

Fuuuuuuuuuuuck! That sucks, dude. I'm self employed, and had crappy insurance. Went to the doc, and was paying out of pocket for visits, so I didn't do an mri or anything. I went to an agent, and told him to find me some f'ing insurance that would cover this deal+ my wife+my kids etc. It took him a little while, but he did find me something at about the same rate I was paying for the crappy stuff. So it is possible. I'm sure it varies state to state. You might have to talk to your employer. Good luck.

In some states you can get insurance through the National Association for the Self Employed (N.A.S.E.). Their programs are not available in all states but it's definitely worth looking into. I know that if I lived or had my business (in CT)4 miles from where it is I'd be able to get med insurance for my whole family for under $200/mo. Check it out...

Anyone who knows a lot about health insurance? Please PM me.

yo darkside, I feel for you.-Been out since Feb trying to rehad mine while all my bro's are killin it in Wootah. The only advice I can give is, there always another season around the corner. Make up for it by gettin strong and killing it next season.
Good luck!

Damn man, that sucks, really sorry to hear this. Seems like there's been a constant stream of ACL's popping ever since I went down last December. Anybody else think there's a lot more in the past year than in previous ones, or am I just overly sensitive to it now?

Anyway, it usually won't make a huge difference if you see someone now or in a few weeks unless you're in a ton of pain. They won't want to operate, generally, until you're at least 4-6 weeks from the injury and most of the swelling has disappeared. At that point it will feel almost completely normal and you'll wonder why on earth you're doing this

you should be fine waiting as mentioned. i did mine on feb 29 and due to various snafu's and other anoyances i wasn't able to have the operation untill june 1. as long as you have a good set of excercises that won't lead to continued swelling, but keep your muscle tone good you should be good. biggest problem from waiting longer is increased atrophy due to not using the leg, and that makes it much tougher to rebuild the strenght post op.

wicked bummer dude. i feel for ya.

Thanks again everybody. Since I can't see a PT yet, can anyone give me excercise suggestions? I haven't been in a weight room since I ran track in high school.

do straight leg raises with ankle weights. hamstring curls with ankle weights. you can also get your hip flexors and glutes with ankle weight too, calf raises, and ride a stationary bike. make sure your swelling isn't getting any worse, ice after every session, take mad profen. and PM vinman, he knows this shit better than anyone as its his job.

No pm needed

Basom is pretty much right on the money as far a s exercises go

Goal #1 is to get the swelling down and get your range of motion (ROM) back.
so for now stick with ice 3-4 x/day or more. After the injury is about 3-4 days old up to a week you can begin to use some heat in the form of a hot tub or warm bath tub soaks.

As your swelling goes down your ROM will naturally come back, there is usually no need to force ROM at this point.

But you need to get the swelling down. This will do 2 things. 1 when you finally get some ins. your doc won't do surgery until the swelling is under control and you have nearly full ROM. 2 if will prevent any further atrophy of your quad. I'm sure by now it is looking a bit shrunken.

Exercises:
quad sets: contract your quad and hold for 5 sec. reps of 30-40

strait leg raises: contract your quad, straiten knee and lift 6-8 inches and hold for a 3 count slowly lower back to the floor. reps begining at 20 and increase as tolerated

Hamstring curls: do these standing up bend knee and hold for a 3 count slowly lower reps begining at 20 and increase as tolerated


calf raises: self explanatory reps begining at 20 and increase as tolerated

Things to stay away from for now: Leg extensions: reason being is you do not know the extent of your injury yet. If it is a partial tear, doing extension places strain on the ACL and can make your injury worse. DO NOT do these.

Anything that has a lateral movement component to it.

Anything that has a rotational, pivot or twisting motion for the lower extremity

Always ice after doing your exercises to prevent any swelling for possible irritation during exercise. You may heat before if it after the 3-4 day upto a week mark I mentioned earlier

Do these exercises 1x/day every day

If the swelling increases from a certain exercise or after you add something stop.

If a certain exerxise causes pain, stop.

If you need more help, ask.

Good luck