ACL Class of 2011

[tone capone]

Zion, sounds like you are doing really well now after a slow start. Skiing at all at four months would have been unthinkable to me, and without pain? Sweet.

Axelerate, I'm at 10 months and my bad leg is pretty strong now but still noticeably smaller than my good one. That's after lots of weight work in the gym the last few months too. I never had much of a swelling problem, just a patellar pain problem which is very slowly resolving with time and strength.

[zion zig zag]

Another milestone for me yesterday, I have to run 1.5 miles in under 11:40 as part of my pt test to be able to return to full duty at work, ran it yesterday in 11:39 with minimal pain. I had some popping in my kneecap which tells me I had some swelling but it wasn't too bad.

Axel: that might be a little too much time in the gym for strength work, I'd go 2-3 days a week for legs stuff that includes a decent warmup and then 3 x 10's of single leg stuff (presses, hamstring curls, hip flexors) trying to slowly increase weight.

[Axelerate]

I'm not doing just strengthening at the gym on all those days. Lots of cardio - spin bike with some stair master and fast walking on a treadmill in order to break up the monotony. Then I usually go to stretching, then strengthening, then stretching again after that. I'm trying to be responsible and not push the weight too hard. Everything I'm doing I can do more than 20 reps of.
My PT says things like, "you're muscle is coming back a little slow", which makes me push harder with strengthening, then she says stuff like, "the swelling is slow to go away", which is because I've been pushing myself.
I also push myself because my VMO and most of my quad never feels tired on the injured leg. I'm not sure if it's nerve damage (I don't notice any numbness) or if I'm over-compensating with the healthy leg (I try not to), but it's frustrating.
It's good hearing that I'm not the only one with this issue. I have a suspicion that it might be because they're used to treating people that don't do much exercise, so it doesn't take much to re-gain their muscle mass.

[Alpinord]

I just noticed this thread. Good idea Cedrik. It might be good to add 'back in the saddle' dates next to the walking wounded. (I'll read more depth later, but did you add the the other ACL threads to this one?)

FWIW, I've been on skis since early November (XC) and skiing blacks, trees, bumps, crud and fast carving groomers without a brace since Thanksgiving. So...there is light at the end of the tunnel so do the work and take your time and focus on other interests versus the stuff you can't or shouldn't do now. You'll be thankful later.

[FreakofSnow]

Thats a good idea Alpinord.

And like others have said, this a great thread for motivation and comparison. I think also a mention of your age might be worth it as I think that's a got a lot to do with speed.

I'll be 9 months out from surgery on the 5th of January and am at the ripe old age of 37. I've been skiing like a I would have at the beginning of any early season, cautious and on the look out for snow snakes. I'm also skiing with a Don Joy brace and probably will be through the season. I won't plan for me skis to leave the ground much, cliff wise anyway, but that's probably more a function of age any more.

[Alpinord]

Well FreakofSnow, regarding age, if I was more of a hoser in my mid teens, I could have been your dad with a dozen years of skiing under my belt.

Edit: adding how it happened might be useful somehow. Mine boiled down to a split second dumb choice. On a wind blown, funky snow day where you could not tell what was soft and what was firm, I skied down a line of untracked in the trees and took a left turn to find more snow in an adjacent line. After a few turns, rather than continuing down and left, I decided to, for no logical reason, head out of the trees to the right and started to get squeezed between some small tight trees. I got in the back seat trying to shoot a small gap turning right. My left ski tip hit either a log or the up hill side of a firm trough and immediately rotated hard right inward and snapped back outward like a windshield wiper. No pain but a clear pop and certain knowledge I trashed the left knee. To make sure, after getting untangled from the tree I ended up wrapped around, I tried standing on it and it collapsed.

[Piggity]

^I'm trying to visualize that and sounds similar to my injury except I hit some crust under dust instead of a log. I was turning left and it was my right leg, interesting to know if you tore your left?

[Cedrik]

Surgery is scheduled for Jan 4 so that might just make me first in line for the Class of 2012! If Cedrik wants to pass on the torch for this year’s crop of the ACL deficient, I’ll be happy to start a new thread.

Looks like you will be the the first of 2012, so here's the torch!

Zion: that's cutting it close, one second, but you made it. It's been great to hear about everyone's improvement.

For the 2011 thread, ideally there would have been age, gender, accident description, previous ACL surgeries (would affect current reconstruction choice), return to skiing timeframe, graft choice, and lots of other data. But I figured the basics were a start, especially graft choice. Maybe by starting early, bendtheski will set better data parameters.

I learned a few things about ACL's and skiing this year:

1. Lots of people get ACL reconstruction surgery. The ACL Class of 2011 has at least 31 members. I'm not sure what happened to those on deck (GS828, kingdom-tele, funvins, coachjvinson, and kw909); perhaps they'll be in the Class of 2012. Wearing a brace triggers stories from almost everyone you meet about their knee injuries.

2. Most ACL ruptures come from crappy little falls.

3. The graft choices allow you to dial in what's best for you.

4. You get better. Knee surgery is a bummer, but you do get better, sometimes faster, sometimes slower. We'll all ski again, just like before. It's been great hearing about the 2011 members who are already skiing.

Happy New Year!

[Piggity]

Got some WROD turns in today at Winterpark and felt pretty good. Pretty scratchy in spots and was riding my Lhasa fats so was a little nervous about sliding out but my knee held up pretty well.

The ice bumps on the other hand was pretty much survival. I still have a long way to go but I would say I'm about 70-75% healthy while riding groomers (No brace and icy and hard pack spots all over) and about 55-60% on icy bumps. I'll be grooming for a few more months

Overall a very good day and felt good to slide down hill again

[bendtheski]

Nice Piggity,

I've got a brand new, undrilled pair of 186 lhasas with purdy clear topsheets, collecting dust in the garage until next season.

I may have to fondle them from time to time just to keep my focus.

[Gimpy Momma]

I finally worked up the courage to conquer the bunny slopes yesterday. It was 11 months, 3 weeks after I tore my ACL, MCL and meniscus. Still working out the kinks on my new DonJoy brace (can't seem to get it to stay snug on my knee), but I was able to ski the groomers without problems. The idea of moguls has me a bit nervous, but I live by the Sierras, and it isn't looking like we'll have moguls any time soon anyways!

I took a class at the local orthopedic clinic on preparing for ski season. Been working a lot of plyometrics and balance, but when you compare the performance of my gimpy knee to that of the healthy one, I still have a long ways to go.

[Piggity]

Nice Piggity,

I've got a brand new, undrilled pair of 186 lhasas with purdy clear topsheets, collecting dust in the garage until next season.

I may have to fondle them from time to time just to keep my focus.

Thanks man. Hang in there, fondling the Lhasa's definitely increases your motivation for rehab. I opened it up on the groomers today those Lhasa's are $$$, so much more than a pow ski. Good luck on the surgery, BTS


GM, my knee aches just thinking about bumps

[Axelerate]

I went XC skiing last weekend at 4 months post-op.

That was my 2nd time ever. It was sweet just to glisse again. So Nice. Can't beat going from a concrete jungle to this


never thought I'd be this stoked to do some classic kicking...

[tone capone]

I felt like I was doing awesome, skiing nearly 100%, smoother than ever before, being really conservative though, no airs or variable conditions...

Had many great ski days, mostly carving groomers, some powder (shit season) and perfectly smooth chalky steeps.

Minimal pain, no swelling, no stiffness, stoked.

All of a sudden, after skiing 3 out of 4 days last week, (skied harder on some days earlier this year) I have extreme lateral patella-femoral pain, worse than when it was really bad 2 months after acl surgery with lateral menisectomy.

Didn't hurt during skiing, or afterward, but in the days after those days of smooth, consistant, pain-free skiing, I now cannot bear any weight at all on my operated leg when bent between about 45 and 80 degrees. Starting to freak out as it's been a week now. Ibuprofen and icing do NOTHING for this pain.

I can walk fine, there is no instability, just excruciating pain at angles. Stairs hurt, can't stand and pedal my bike anymore, doesn't feel like I'll be skiing again for who knows how long.

I am worried my missing chunk of meniscus is the problem, or I have some kind of cartilage damage or something. Don't really know what to do at this point, as my pt is complete and my strength is near 100%. Do I have an arthritic knee now that won't tolerate skiing again because of the lateral menisectomy?

[Alpinord]

Bummer TC. Any weird torques while carving? I found myself cutting off lock in carves to make sure I didn't hook. Another thing I messed with last week was boot fit. I finally came to the realization that I needed to add a wedge to the inside of the heel so I can get on an edge better on steeper, firm runs. How's your alignment? Possibly an issue for any any of us?

I keep expecting something to creep up, but none so far. Along with doing laps on firm groomers, I've XC skied and skate skied at least 30 km this past week with no issues. The skating hits the knee in different angles and it feels like it's adding strength. Highly recommended....especially if the snow is thin and you're Jonesin' to get on snow in this fair weather.

[tone capone]

I think my alignment is good, my hip abductors and adductors are strong, was doing 10-12 reps of my weight on the leg press with the operated leg. I had no weird torques whatsoever and even felt like I was skiing more effiiciently, with better body mechanics and with less impact than ever before. I was ecstatic, really. I just don't get it. I took a day off after that day, tried to ski just groomers the next day. Painful from the start, tried to push through but it just got worse. Now I haven't skied in a week, but every time I try to squat or stand and pedal my bike there is instant horrible pain deep in the lateral side what feels like the end of my femur. FML. Now I hope it really is the shittiest winter of all time.

[Axelerate]

Tone Capone,
Are you using a brace at all?

I have an Ossur CTi custom, but they also have ones meant for osteo-arthritis like the Unloader One. They're super expensive though (or atleast mine was), but work benefits can sometimes cover them if you get a referral from a doc.
http://www.ossur.com/?PageID=13216

I'm not saying it's a solution to your problem, but it might be something to look into.

[Axelerate]

Tone Capone,
Are you using a brace at all?

I have an Ossur CTi custom, but they also have ones meant for osteo-arthritis like the Unloader One. They're super expensive though (or atleast mine was), but work benefits can sometimes cover them if you get a referral from a doc.

I'm not saying it's a solution to your problem, but it might be something to look into.

(I tried posting a link, but they always seem to need moderator approval if I do that, so just google it)

[bendtheski]

Tone, sorry to hear about your troubles. What does the PT/ortho say?

[tone capone]

They don't really listen to me and my insurance has reset for this year so fuck it, I don't need to spend 200$ to spend 30 seconds with the doc who is just gonna blow me off or the P.T. that is just gonna tell me the same shit as always.

Reality is: There are things I need to keep working on P.T. wise, that's for sure. Definetly not time to give up on that, I just gotta bite the bullet, realize I shouldn't be skiing unless it's perfect, and make it a point to really finish off the medial quad building. I don't know if I will ever be pain free at this point, or even able to ski for many more years, but I know there are steps I need to take to correct muscle imbalance and hopefully this will lead to a reduction in pain in the long term.

Right now I feel grateful I can walk pain free and do my job.

Plus, I sure as hell ain't missing any great skiing right now or in the foreseeable future, so that leaves me with no excuses for not sitting around the house and the gym doing everything I can to strenghten and improve my leg.

Good luck, be careful and realistic. I thought I was out of the woods at 10 months but no way...

[Piggity]

fark dude, sorry to hear it. Keep up the positive attitude

[bendtheski]

They don't really listen to me and my insurance has reset for this year so fuck it, I don't need to spend 200$ to spend 30 seconds with the doc who is just gonna blow me off or the P.T. that is just gonna tell me the same shit as always.

Reality is: There are things I need to keep working on P.T. wise, that's for sure. Definetly not time to give up on that, I just gotta bite the bullet, realize I shouldn't be skiing unless it's perfect, and make it a point to really finish off the medial quad building. I don't know if I will ever be pain free at this point, or even able to ski for many more years, but I know there are steps I need to take to correct muscle imbalance and hopefully this will lead to a reduction in pain in the long term.

Right now I feel grateful I can walk pain free and do my job.

Plus, I sure as hell ain't missing any great skiing right now or in the foreseeable future, so that leaves me with no excuses for not sitting around the house and the gym doing everything I can to strenghten and improve my leg.

Good luck, be careful and realistic. I thought I was out of the woods at 10 months but no way...

I feel ya dude,
I put off surgery until the first of the year, specifically so I would be covered for as long as possible once I met the deductible. Even then, there's no guarantee that there won't be more problems a year from now or much longer.

At 49 I've know for years that I was going to have to start taking it down a notch if I expected to keep doing this much longer. Of course knowing and doing are two different things. It's starting to set in now that even if I have the best possible result from this surgery, fuck it, even it it never happened, my skiing is going to have to be different. The only question now is how much how soon?

This season is a write-off and I guess I'm ok with it, especially after last year's awesomeness! I'm right with you on just focusing on the rehab and making the most of the down time. Of course, I'm only a few days out of surgery. Let's see how reserved and pragmatic I am a year from now! Anyway, I think pain is going to have the final say in where my skiing goes from here. From a pain perspective, skiing is so the last thing on my mind right now!

[tone capone]

Of course knowing and doing are two different things. It's starting to set in now that even if I have the best possible result from this surgery, fuck it, even it it never happened, my skiing is going to have to be different. The only question now is how much how soon?

Same thing goin thru my head this past year, the answers are still not clear yet. It has been a real roller coaster, especially last week, skiing well again, feeling good, and then getting smacked down without incident or warning...I just know now my body is telling me only a couple (half) days a week in good conditions or else...

bendtheski, it will probably be to your advantage that you won't be skiing for a year after surgery. Don't even think of trying this spring. Just do your P.T. and ride alotta bike for reward and fun in the summer. I was starting to think skiing alot would be a good part of my 6-12 month recovery, but maybe not so much anymore. I don't feel hopeless, just learning what 70% (50%?) means for my situation this season.

Thanks guys, always good to hear how it's goin with the rest of you gimps so speak up.

[kingdom-tele]

hang in there tone, still got a leg to work with. couple thoughts, probably redundant, how tender is your TFL, the little muscle just under the front of the pelvis, compare to the other side, in addition to controlling the IT band/quad fascia it is an abductor, frequently in attempts to regain hip strength it gets overworked, combined with the phase of higher dynamic quad loads and the insertion area for the IT band(lateral knee) gets tugged tighter than hell. don't under estimate the depth soft tissue tightness can penetrate . 2. check the rotation of your lower leg (tib), look at the non op side to feel what "normal" rotation in and out feels like, if it is lateral thigh tissue restriction the medial/turning in of the tib, will have a different quality to it, often even less range. its not just a simple hinge joint. on the other end look at the pelvic bone alignment, if it is lateral thigh tissue tightness the pelvic bone those muscle originate from will also likely have limited or a different quality of motion than the non op side, often reaching into the low back muscles on that side.

[tone capone]

I have no pain in my hip joints or lower back, but my hip joints have been "clunking" alot ever since surgery. Especially if I throw a leg over the bike or something like that. My lateral quad is still bigger than medial though and maybe that is what I need to work on before pushing too hard skiing again. Maybe things are just all bound up on my lateral side overall, do you think my hip popping could be a symptom of that?

I know it's hard to diagnose these things over the net. All my pain feels like lateral patellafemoral pain, only when I am going up and down with body weight at angles between about 45 and 80. The exact angles of skiing to be precise.

Thanks again for chiming in, I know I just gotta do more strengthening and stretching no matter what, I just gotta figure out exactly which excersises and streches will be most helpful.