ACL? Knee popped in a backwards twisting fall

Oh, I'll definitely be working my ass off to get my quads ripped too.

The idea of skiing is to minimize outdoors downtime. If I get surgery now, I'll be ready for light activity in May/June, which still means nothing outdoors at that time of the year - too much snow still (hopefully!).

For the recovery period, its more about being outside than serious singletrack - big moral boost being on an easy dirt trail compared to sitting in the gym on a stationary bike, wishing I could ski some peaks. Just the Frisco bike path or the dirt trail that parallels it would be enough.

++++++++vibes man, I feel for ya, I know how much you love skiing and I hope you get the best treatment and have an optimal recovery. Montanaskier gives good advice, listen to that guy.

I know some people can ski without an acl and with a brace, but all I can tell you about that is the pain of the acl tear is NOTHING compared to if you have a full on hyper extension and shred half of a meniscus. If this happens to you in the backcountry you will wish for a cyanide pill. You are lucky so far in that you had just an isolated acl tear. It may not feel like you are seriously fucked yet, but the chances of doing catastrophic damage now are very real if you push it. The acl tear for me was no big deal, just a ripping sound and some moderate pain, I thought I was going to ski down. One wrong move however and my knee buckeld backwards and shredded my lateral meniscus. A whole new world of pain. Post surgical pain was not even close to that pain, not to mention the consequences of losing meniscus. You don't want anything to do with it so count your blessings, you might not need a knee replacement at 50.

I did ride town bike paths at 6 weeks and smooth singletrack starting at three months, but I am stupid and lucky. You can do it, but you just CANNOT fuck up. It sounds like your expectations are pretty realistic there, and yes it beats the shit out of the stationary bike.

Still, I was not stupid enough to get anywhere near skis for 8 months and I probly should have waited a year. You can't yet imagine what a useless dumb noodle your leg is going to feel like after surgery. Skiing will be the furthest thing from your mind for quite some time. You may struggle for weeks to learn to walk properly again, it's no joke. As my p.t. told me, Tiger Woods waited a year to play golf after his acl. After trying to ski too hard prematurely (9 months) on my operated knee, I finally understood why.

Another thing, bicycling does not build quad the way you might expect. Do alot of it for sure, but there is much more to building a strong quad than riding a bike. Progress carefully and back off of anything that hurts your kneecap or I.T. band.

Tone speaks the truth as well.

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Originally Posted by Lindahl

Got back from an MRI. Yup, no ACL.

Doc says after a couple PT sessions, I could be able to ski (pow touring) the rest of the season with a brace. Then get the surgery in May and be on my mountain bike by June/July. Likely be 100% by next Dec/Jan.

Gonna work on getting as strong as possible before going under the knife so I'm ready to kick ass coming out.

Overall, pretty optimistic about it all. Probably will use the first month or two to learn how to sew and make/fix my own gear. Maybe hang out in bike shops and learn as much as I can also.

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This is freaking me out. Is there a way to tell if an acl is present without MRI? Our injuries sound so similar that now I'm worried about mine.

The doc did a little knee jiggle that made it seem pretty obvious that it was gone - he almost trusted that over the MRI (didn't really show an obvious complete tear, but it was definitely at least mostly torn). Might be able to just go in for something like that and go from there.

As for skiing without an ACL, my mom's been doing it for 15 years, as has a local patroller here in Breck. With a locking knee brace, I'm not too concerned with some mellowish skiing. The doc seems fine with it too.

I've dislocated my ankle before, which is a much more brutal injury to come back from. I definitely know what it feels like to have a limp dick for a leg, and how painful things are while working your way back up. I'll just take it as it comes, like last time.

Thanks for the advice and support guys.

Lachmans test is the most common test to check for an ACL tear. You could probably have any PT or Doc give you that and know pretty quick their opinion.

Vibes ++++++ sir, have fun out there for the time being and heal fast when surgery-day comes. I'm sure you already know (lots of good advice here), so I'll cease with mine. Be safe, have fun, listen to your intuition, stay strong, and keep looking ahead. Next year is only a year away.

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Originally Posted by Chugachjed

This is freaking me out. Is there a way to tell if an acl is present without MRI? Our injuries sound so similar that now I'm worried about mine.

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I'm going to get my second ACL repair soon - a set of screws in my left knee to match the ones in the right.

Both times the docs have just done a manual manipulation of the leg. You lay on a table and they push and pull and jiggle and can tell from how your lower leg moves in relation to the upper what has popped inside the knee. It's a quick and painless procedure. In this case, because I have so much swelling in my left knee this time around they're going to do an MRI just to make sure there's nothing else going on. they did X-rays and didn't see any bone or cartilage damage. X-rays are quick and cheap and the doc may want to do them just to make sure there's nothing else going on.

As for skiing on a torn ACL - it can certainly be done. Again, both times the docs have told me that I don't *have* to have the ACL repaired but that if I want to continue participating in the things I love at the level I'm used to that it's highly recommended. Also, not fixing it can lead to issues later in life when your muscles start to atrophy. My 86 yo dad is struggling with this currently - his right ACL is gone and he has to be really careful coming down stairs now because that knee wants to buckle.

It's strange - even though my right knee had cartilage damage as well as the torn ACL the pain was brief and there was hardly any swelling. I was up and walking around without a brace and feeling fine within a week. The left knee is still swollen, stiff, and sore over a week post-injury. I'm wondering if age has anything to do with it - the right knee was done 17 years ago when I was 29.