*Calling All ACL Advisors*

[Damnstraight]

So an MRI has confirmed the news, I tore my right ACL with possible meniscus damage. I scheduled surgery for the beginning of March. this all happened last week. Now I already had a small trip planned and have realized that this "ski trip" has turned "drinking trip" or has it? I am 8 days past the injury and have minimum swelling, walking fine, have very little pain and feel like I could go for a run. first of all have you guys felt this good after a tear? and second, have you guys said the hell with it, threw a brace on and just cruised some groomers taking it super easy on it for half day just to get out?

Just looking for your guy's point of view, have you or would you do it?

thanks,

[sidewall]

I'd be protecting that knee as much as I could before surgery.

[tone capone]

I don't know how people ski without and acl. I certainly couldn't have. And knowing what I do now about meniscus debridement, I would never even think of risking more of that than I need to. Every time you have a moment of instability, you are at risk of destroying more of the meniscus and or articular cartilage and that much closer to begging for a knee replacement in 10 years.

As for drinking, I would advise to NOT be spending alot of timing doing it from a barstool. Nothing aggravates my knee like hanging it off a barstool and drinking. Put your feet up if your gonna drink.

[Sinecure]

You MIGHT be able to gimp through it with a good brace on. But it isn't worth it. Take it from someone with almost no cartilage left in either knee. They can repair the ligament, but they can't yet replace the cartilage very well. Preserve what you have.

[Mofro261]

I got another 50+ days in skiing without an ACL, 2 years in a row (2007,2008-sadly same knee). Tore in late Dec and delayed surgery until May each time, it is definitely doable if you are willing to put in the hours rehabbing to strengthen the leg as much as possible and have a good brace. I had good insurance that paid for a brace fitter to come out and "custom fit" a cti brace to my knee that prevented hyper-extention and direct impacts but won't prevent further knee damage from rotational injuries.

No ACL +brace I probably skied close to 90% of normal (see my avatar pic, me sans ACL). Pow and soft snow was no problem, groomers not a problem, touring was ok but the brace was annoying on the ups. I ski raced beer league too, but was about a second per run slower than normal. I had to not take any airs and take it down a few notches while skiing on ice/bumps. Mentally, I thought about the knee all the time and about not hurting it worse and I wouldn't allow myself to fall. I had pretty extensive bone bruising on the tib and fib, so I actually never felt "normal" or pain free when doing simple things like walking.

All that said, losing any meniscus or tearing the cartilage WILL result in some loss of functionality down the road and so you have to weigh the risk with the reward. My doc gave me the go ahead to go back skiing but pretty much told me not to fuck it up and make it worse.

[bendtheski]

I guess it varies from one individual to another, and I guess I would base a lot of the decision on the stability of the acl deficient knee.

I only skied to the road where my car was parked (switch) after my tear, and felt the knee go out of joint several more times along the way. I only had a minor meniscus tear, and my ortho said he has seen much worse on knees that have been used and abused, sometimes for years after losing the acl.

Short answer; from the time I made it to my car to the day I had my surgery (one month later), the thought of trying to get out to ski again never entered my head.

Now that I've had the surgery, I'm not in any big hurry to risk fucking it up by trying to come back too early.

Good luck with your decision.

[Bosco]

I executed your plan once, even rode a 100 enduro before skiing again. If you think it hurt the first time, when until you fuck with it again.

I wouldn't do it again. In my case my blew my other acl he next year and went directly into surgery.

[Cedrik]

have you guys said the hell with it, threw a brace on and just cruised some groomers taking it super easy on it for half day just to get out?

No. I had no stability at all with a full rupture of both ACL and MCL. I did fly to Hawaii the day after the accident for a 10 day vacation and did a lot of snorkeling and hiking with crutches.

[mcwatt]

you shouldn't ski on it...but as for drinking on it on a bar stool, I got shit cocked on a bar stool the night of tearing my ACL...It's obviously not going to decrease inflammation as much as RICE but you are not going to cause any further damage with your knee unweighted.

If you can't ski I see no reason in not at least getting out and having a good time as long as you aren't going to stumble around on it.

[Buzzworthy]

I'd get a brace for the drinking but no to skiing more.
I went straight to surgery as I could not weight bear on mine

[Shogun]

I tore mine skiing last year on the 15th of May... at the time I didn't know it was torn, just thought I sprained it and I didn't end up seeing a doctor until the middle of July. I skied one day in between that time on June 9 and my knee had no stability and felt like a noodle. I could tell I couldn't put weight into turns or anything... I tweaked it again playing frisbee at the beach in July and decided to get the MRI when they discovered it had been torn.

I dont think you should ski on it at all... just cut your losses and start preparing with pre-hab exercises. It sucks when you cant ski the way you want, and the possibility of fucking it up more outweighs everything else IMHO. Good luck with surgery, I'm 5.5 months post-op and I can jog and mountain bike but I still haven't tried skiing. Still wouldn't want to push myself at all but I've been considering seeing how it feels on groomers... still don't really have the desire since I'd rather let this bitch heal up all the way so I can rip again.

[Piggity]

I 100% agree with everyone above, you shouldn't ski on it and you will be happier in the long run.

I am not an advisor nor expert on knees, so make the decision for yourself, but I also thought I should add this info since I asked similar questions to yours immediately after my acl tear. If you do decide to be a rebel and ski without your ACL, then be careful. I tore my right ACl last April and also decided to get an MRI on my left and it confirmed another ACL tear from probably 20 years ago.

With the freshly torn acl, I skied 8 weeks post tear and it was admittedly survival. I learned that you have to ski with your leg muscles firing at all times. Ski with good technique and have both your quads and hammies flexed the entire time to help protect from sublaxation, key word is help. It is dangerous and dumb but possible for some people, not everyone. Avoid getting lazy at all costs, stay over your bindings and take it easy. Groomers are your best bet but it can still be icy or scratchy and sliding out will be very bad. Also avoid mank, mashed potatoes and crud at all costs.

I would never normally post a pathetic POV on here but I'm willing to open the door in this post for ridicule for a couple reasons. A) I know it's a pathetic POV B) It's relevant to the topic and C) There was literally 1 lift open at mammoth for hours and the cam battery died before the good terrain opened, scored legitimate face shots down chair 22 later in the day. It's in the memory bank but not on vid, which is cool with me.

Sans both ACL's, no brace and 9 months since tearing the most recent acl. It is possible to ski without your acl, you just have to adapt.



Edit: to reiterate the point that your doctor should be your advisor. It sounds like you would be skiing really early on this injury and you are certainly risking a lot for a few measly turns. Setbacks can also happen outside of skiing, so always be aware of your knee at all times. Footboard of the bed at night was a huge scare for me, biggest one yet.

[LM]

I had a great day in the backcountry with no ACL today. Skied 7500ft over 2 days of some fast dry powder in the Shames backcountry. I'm just over 2 months post accident and have not been doing much since then other than long dog walks and sessions at the gym. Had a scope where the OS cut all the junk out and prepped me for a mid-April surgery. I bought a DonJoy off the shelf brace as I'm not covered for a custom and felt so strong with it on.

So with a brace I'm game on for the next 5 weeks until I go back under the knife.

But my experience might be different as when I tore it early January I didn't feel much pain nor did it swell.

[skioride]

I'm with you LM,
I skied 2 days after I tore my ACL. Just like you I had no swelling, no limp I thought I sprained it. I got a store bought knee brace and skied one more day without much problem. It happened on April 25th so there wasn't much skiing left anyway.
Mid-April surgery will have you skiing next year. My surgery was June 25 and i was back on the mountain in February. I'm 7.5 months post op and skiing very aggressively. I can't sustain any bumps but I can hit 5 or 6 consecutively.
No problem in the steeps.
The worst thing is I was active right up to my surgery also, biking, yoga and weights and then you're SHUT THE FUCK DOWN!
No way to be mentally ready for it, just enjoy the ski season and realize you'll be skiing again next year

[tone capone]

Or not if you get fucked over with some sweet perma-chronic patellofemoral/ I T. band issues. Then you're whole life will be about as much fun as five weeks out of acl surgery. Awesome-O.

[LoMayn]

My whole focus post major blowout is skiing in 30 years, not skiing next season (or MTB this summer, for that matter). I think for long-term health, mobility, and pain-free living you've got to make some near-term sacrifices. Like not skiing on the dudes' trip.

Acl is one thing - it's getting replaced - but you should treat your meniscus like it's a treasure. You'll be pissed if you end up with bone on bone action because you trashed it skiing.

[tone capone]

Luckily, my major problem is not in the joint space now but more in the above mentioned category. I skied very little this year and it was still too much so no doubt you are right about near term sacrifice. Some times it can just end up being over a year. Hopefully I can beat this Iliotibial band/patellar retinaculum problem before it really degrades my knee though. I really have been quite devoted to all conventional methods of appropriate p.t., but maybe I just need to completely not ski the rest of this year and look foward to bike season.

[leroy jenkins]

My personal take, take this shit as seriously as you can. Both post injury pre surgery and post surgery, take every step to increase mobiliyt and decrease swelling that you can. Drinking on a bar stool or skiing groomers vs recovering stronger which will last the rest of your life. You think pro level skiers ski groomers in your shoes? Nope, they dedicate themselves to their recovery.

[Shelley]

I only skied to the road where my car was parked (switch) after my tear, and felt the knee go out of joint several more times along the way. I only had a minor meniscus tear, and my ortho said he has seen much worse on knees that have been used and abused, sometimes for years after losing the acl.

[NmbrdDays]

I partially tore mine in 8th grade. That was 15 yrs ago, there is def nothing left now. I haven't had surgery I just keep it strong. Use the bands every now and then. Ride bikes, hike, swim..... I have an orthotic brace for skiing and a beater to mtn bike with. Speaking of its about time to get another one a la insurance.

I ski hard but I know my limits. Try to stay off ice and hard bumps as to try to not aggravate it. I'd say gimp out a day or two if your feeling good. Ice, Advil, hot tub, drinks, safety meetings, blow, hookers are your best friends right now. Enjoy the trip

[Piggity]

My post above could be my worst post ever, in terms of length, definitely content and especially that weak ass video. I'll own it for being a Moran.

That sucks Tone, sorry to hear you're still having trouble with your knee. I'm sure you'll overcome it, be patient and it will happen.