ACL Class of 2013

Hey guys, a 2013 inductee as well. Took an inside edge in march coming out of some moguls at 10mph, gently tumbled to the side and hit the trifecta.

had surgery at the end of may BPTB ACLr, partial menisectomy and notchplasty (MCL took its time to heal and then my doc got ill, so faced a long layoff), nearly 7 months post-op. rehab has been incredibly boring and I hit every complication possible it seemed. post-op infection, long-term swelling, you name it i got it. the knee was progressing badly through rehab and putting any force through it was an issue even at 5months post-op.

i was out on sick leave from my work for 6months, and decided to move back home to copenhagen in denmark which is the land of the bicycle and decided to spend serious time in the pool with flippers to work on the leg. wheher it was just natural healing or the change of rehab from 'boring pointless gym' to 'i bike everywhere and swim an hour a day' finally now at 7 months out i feel that it's going somewhere. due to near total muscle hypertrophy as a result of 6 weeks pre-op bracing and post-op infections, the muscle is still very weak and i'm going to skip this season rather than increase the risk of going through it again.

that said i don't think i'll ever comfortably ski the at the time 9 days old equipment which blew my knee. i've had tons of high speed crashes (once hit a guy during GS training and miraculously both of us walked away) but the little tumble took me out.

Hey guys,

Technically class of 2011. Three day skiing bender on almost no sleep; spun a 360 off of a small jump and caught an inside edge. Tits up in the rhubarb. I was absolutely exhausted and stupid to have been skiing.

I damaged my ACL/lateral and medial meniscus. Surgeon did a hamstring graft and excised of a piece of one meniscus, forget which. Cycled 50-75km five days per week during the summer, been doing mostly strength training since September. Loads of pistol squats and some slacklining, the occasional bike jaunt. Running a lot, and swimming occasionally. I did not know how to form a good workout routine, and am still learning.

My hamstring is definitely not where it should be. I really didn't have much idea where to start with physio, my therapist was pretty lax. Should definitely have read this thread sooner. Going to completely revamp my routine.

Just got onto skis today due to the slow Canadian medical system. I definitely tweaked something. Popping off of jumps became painful after a few hours, and fully extending my leg after getting off of the chairlift caused a sharp pain that subsided when I stretched, which only came back after I sat down for a period. Carving hard turns and doing anything but vertical, joint-separating movement was fine. Now walking around the house is giving me sharp pains.

Going to call the doctor Monday. Any thoughts in the meantime? I really don't want to have to stay off of my skis for any longer, but if I must...

I feel like I may have simply overstretched it, but that pain was reminiscent of post-op pain from moving the graft.

Also, any recommendations on where to start learning about forming my own exercise routines? I've read a few books, but with the wealth of knowledge out there it's hard to know where to start. I have yet to read the previous threads, but I will.

Thanks for all the incredibly helpful posts. Major thanks.

Cole

P.S. this post may or may not come across as completely brain-dead. Exam period will do that.

So you went from no skiing to going off jumps? That might be half the problem. Ease into it man. I spent about a month on skis before getting back to cliffs.

It's been just over a year since my surgery so I thought I'd post an update.

Started skiing about months post-op. First day back skiing was definitely hard on the mind, and knee but things have only got better since then. The patellar pain has mostly gone, only coming back when I really push my knee. On Saturday I managed a good powder day in resort and was keeping up with my buddies for the first time without feeling I was overdoing it. Building confidence every time I go out.

Pleased with the Breg brace. It took a couple of fittings to get it right for me but so far it's already probably prevented a couple of knee tweaks when I've hit ice, or bumps I didn't expect.

My knee since skiing has generally felt a whole bunch better. I'm not sure whether it's the extra intensity, or just a mental thing but it's nice to wake up each morning and not find it's the first thing I'm thinking about.

My first backcountry hut trip since the injury is in 2 weeks. Needless to say I'm stoked for the rest of the season :)

It has been a slow winter in sierras, so as long as I'm recovering from surgery, I am sitting out until we get enough natural snow. I did however ski 2 hrs over the holiday week on the man-made just to test out the knee (it was about 10 month mark).

When I carved a turn and really had to use my edges and my surgery leg was the downhill leg, I still felt mild tenderness in the tibia around where all the drilling and my bone bruise was. Anyone else still feel it a little bit? Sometimes also when I run. Never any pain that alarms me...but just curious who else out there is having similar.

My bone bruise from the accident was significant and they said it would take over a year to clear, so it could be mostly that. Drilling through the whole thing can't help, though!

I still get tightness around the same spot, which used to also be tenderness. When I asked at my year check up apparently it's just scar tissue around the drilling point/insertion of the graft and can take up to a couple of years to resolve. Interestingly the more stress I've put on that area, the faster it seems to resolve. I'm guessing the scar tissue is being stretched when I'm doing more. I had the same issue around my MCL repair which finally seems to be settling down. I also had a similar feeling around my thigh where presumably the upper graft went through although that seemed to resolve faster.

Just want to update with a big FUCK YEAH! for getting back on snow yesterday.

10 months post-op from ALC/MCL/meniscus reconstruction, I snowboarded bell to bell in three feet of fresh. My knee felt a little wierd, mainly in the scar tissue of the Patella Tendon area from the graft. Overall, snowboarding seemed really good for my knee. It felt better at the end of the day than the beginning, and it feels better today than it has since surgery.

I kept it mellow, no airs. Still nervous about skiing with all the torque, but that will come in time.

PT is the key. Hard work pays off. I couldnt even imagine yesterday coming, but it did. And I am stoked.

So awesome to read about everyone coming back to skiing! Just thought I'd do a little update of myself. ACL and meniscus repair surgery was June 25th so the 6 month mark was on Christmas day. My first day out was the 27th (bf's birthday). While I was SUPER nervous, it went better than I thought it would. I was able to ski to about 80% of my ability, probably more now. I got a custom Don Joy brace and that has helped a lot mentally. I am hoping to only use it for this season. The only thing I notice is that my legs get tired pretty quickly, but that could be that I am actually skiing in the correct position rather than making up for not having an ACL. I need to be more diciplined about strenghtening exercises, but I have tried to encorporate running more into my life. Yoga has also helped a ton. I do have stiffness when I sit for longer periods so I try and walk around as much as I can and prop it up under my desk.

Good luck to everyone out there. I know it is super rough at times, but it is worth it end the end.

Great to hear! I'm really impressed w/all you hitting the slopes at 6 months. I wouldn't have dreamed it the way my non-surgery leg was still over compensating!

I will reach my 1 year mark this week. I don't ski with a brace, and am glad I took my time this season slowly letting my surgery leg remember how to do equal work so I build confidence that it could handle skiing again. My first few ski days were 1-3hours on groomers. I'm now back on top of the moguls and able hop jumping in the heavy sierra powder. I stopped feeling the stretching of the last scar tissue buildup recently, so really feeling like I'm finally 100%!

Hi everyone,

First timer here. I joined the club on January 5, up in Aspen. Tore my ACL with a partial tear to the MCL, LCL and meniscus. Last run, last day. Skied alone because my flight was canceled and everyone else in my group got out. Pretty cliche, pretty horrible. Wasn't focused and attacked a cat trail head on from a steep. Made a last second turn and my ski got caught, but my body kept moving. Had to ski the rest of the way down and heard another pop and crumbled to the ground. Skied the remainder on one leg.

It was a pretty rough ride, and had to wait it out six weeks for surgery. Saw a bunch of docs and ultimately had the surgery just over two weeks ago. BTB patellar autograft. Luckily, the MCL and LCL didn't require any work, and the meniscus was a bit torn, but stable, so no work there either. Just the ACL replacement.

The first 72 hours post op was hell. So much pain, even with the painkillers. Was on a CPM machine for eight hours a day until my first post op visit 12 days later. Also had to spend another two hours doing the towel under the ankle leg straightening exercise. Wasn't pleasant, but I just got the stitches out five days ago and started PT. Getting better day by day. Was able to turn the wheel on the stationary bike two weeks post op and I'm told I might be getting rid of the crutches and brace in a few days. Hoping for a speedy recovery.

My goal is to ski Japan over the holidays next year. Any thoughts on whether this is possible?

Skiing Japan is a definite possibility. I was cleared after six months but due to a delay with my brace didn't start skiing until almost 8 months post-op. My knee gets sore after about three hours of sierra cement, but I can go all day on groomers. Don't rule out the trip completely, just feel it out and see how you're doing, After 9 months I'm feeling pretty much normal, just a little pain here and there (mostly in heavy snow or on a longer trail run). I even went on an all day backcountry tour in the mammoth area yesterday. Just be diligent with pt and don't be dumb. Best of luck to you.

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