What happened? Leg locked up for 5 minutes, then released when unbuckled boots

[cberry]

I had an odd experience over the weekend and not sure what to make of it.

Context: I live in London and don't ski nearly enough. When I do ski, I ski really hard until my legs are shattered. Saturday was my first day skiing this season - we skied backcountry pretty aggressively in deep snow (tough life)

Incident: In the final few runs of the day, my left leg would occasionally feel a bit cramped in the lower thigh. I'd rub it and stretch it a bit, it would feel better, and I kept on going. We were then skiing down to the bottom on a road in the final run. There was a wide open groomed section, so I decided to put in some old-school aggressive ski racing turns - which I proceeded to do until my legs were exhausted.

When I pulled over to the side to stop, my left leg completely froze in a straight position. Not hugely painful, felt like a little cramp in the thigh, but it was 100% unresponsive to any attempts to bend the knee. I'd literally think "bend goddammit" and the knee wouldn't even flinch. It didn't go away after a few minutes, so (with help) I took off my skis and sat down. Leg is still painful and knee is 100% unresponsive to any commands.

I then (with difficulty) loosened my buckles and immediately all pain went away, and I suddenly had 100% normal control of my leg again.

Further context: My boots suck and I've been too cheap to replace them. They packed out way too much in the front of the foot, so a huge % of my foot, from the inside and front, is swimming while the very outside of my foot, the achilles, and the cuff is racing-tight (I also aggressively crank 'em down)

What was this that happened to me? I'd love to treat the issue and prevent it from happening again, but I don't know what it was.

[karpiel]

Sounds like the early stages of HIV.

[::: :::]

What was this that happened to me? I'd love to treat the issue and prevent it from happening again, but I don't know what it was.

it's not much of a mystery. you're an out-of-shape weekend warrior headed for an injury (not trying to be obnoxious)

maybe don't go so hard on day 1?
maybe run 5x/wk with hills?

ice it up
get a massage
& back off a little

[cberry]

it's not much of a mystery. you're an out-of-shape weekend warrior headed for an injury (not trying to be obnoxious)

maybe don't go so hard on day 1?
maybe run 5x/wk with hills?

ice it up
get a massage
& back off a little

Not obnoxious at all. I grew up racing in NH so ski much more aggressively than my fitness now allows for. And I now usually get <5 days a year on snow so normally go all out and don't worry about the consequences.

I'm not terribly worried if it's just a fitness thing, as that can be solved for next year. I'd be much more worried if it's something else.

[Tye 1on]

Could you have torn the meniscus? Recall that being one cause of a 'locked knee'.

Just can't quite match up a shitty ski boot and your knee not flexing...

[Art Shirk]

That's odd. Maybe we shouldn't assume that the leg "release" was a direct cause of the unbuckling. At first I thought that you likely just had a full leg cramp due to exhaustion and dehydration. They go away almost immediately whenever your body so decides, so it could have just coincided with your boot unbuckle. I stayed at a Holiday Inn Express last night, and I think it is certainly related to muscle fatigue/hydration rather than some sleeping neurological issue, etc.

[lookinback]

Commonlaw has a very good point, its a Muscle cramp, you are unconditioned, most likely sweating, and most likely skipped lunch or wernt properly hydrated since you were too focused on skiing. hit the gym, eat a proper lunch, and report back only if it happens again.

Its not a meniscus as the knee locking that occurs with that is quite different. Do you have any creptis? (put your hand over your platella and extend and flex your knee, do you hear any crackles or feel like there is sandpaper in there?)

[Orthoski]

Would be weird for it to be meniscus. Most people whose knee locks from a large meniscus tear actually feel a mechanical block and have to "jiggle" their knee just right to get it to unlock - on the whole, people are very intuitive about what's going on when this happens. Also, the contribution of your boots is likely a red herring; motor nerves travel from near to far, not vice versa. Likely, just like the rest of us weekend warriors, you need to get on a training regimen before hitting the slopes...it's the second best thing you can do to help prevent injury (the best being to ski only deep powder).

Disclaimer being that if it recurs, worsens, becomes assoc with any discharge, blah, blah, blah, then go see your doctor.

[cberry]

Thanks for the suggestions. Next time I'll be skiing is April - and that will be some high alpine touring - so sounds like I need to get started on the workout regime now.

[TWINS]

I had a leg lock up a few years ago in the bc.It was from fatigue/dehydration.I ran out of water/lack of sleep and massive caffeine intake.Never happened again since I carry more water,potassium supplements and stay away from coffee energy drinks before any strenuous climb.

[cberry]

I had a leg lock up a few years ago in the bc.It was from fatigue/dehydration.I ran out of water/lack of sleep and massive caffeine intake.Never happened again since I carry more water,potassium supplements and stay away from coffee energy drinks before any strenuous climb.

Thanks Twins - all very relevant to what happened to me (sleep, water, caffeine), I'll keep all those in mind in the future. It's a pretty surreal experience!