Season over... torn ACL

**Lonnie** · 02-21-2008, 01:53 PM

Dude, sucks. Heal up.

Good news, if you have insurance and it covers it, TOSH is a great hospital for such things.

Enjoy PT. They call it "physical therapy", but I really think it stands for Pain and Torture....

**gamma** · 02-21-2008, 01:58 PM

dude that sucks. you will be back soon i pray!

**skiHOG** · 02-21-2008, 02:06 PM

yea. i hate being hurt. i'm over it, so i'm just hopping on a plane and gonna live on a boat, in warm waters, sippin on rum for a while.

**Nanuq** · 02-21-2008, 02:12 PM

Sorry to hear it Dickey! Heal well, and you'll get 'em next year!

**buckethead** · 02-21-2008, 02:26 PM

bummer Dickey.
heal fast, heal well,
find good pain relief,
get strong,
and hit it hard next season!

**Crock** · 02-21-2008, 04:11 PM

I feel your pain man as I tore mine back in December on the 2nd day of my season: OVER.... Heal up, you'll be back next season. In the mean time watch a lot of ski porn, and play video games. It's helped me get by.

**Dexter Rutecki** · 02-21-2008, 04:18 PM

Originally Posted by Woodlandclown

I tore mine this year on 11/23 and I felt the same way. Completely defeated and utterly depressed. I was skiing on 1/6 with a brace at about 90%. Seriously--talk to your doc, get into see a PT, get a brace if you have good insurance. Do the whole RICE thing right now. You maybe back. My surgery isnt until April 7--I plan to have a nice march! My only issues are after skiing--my legs are really sore (because I tore mine day 1 of season and never got my ski legs back) and my knee gets swollen. It takes 3-4 days of icing and rest for it to feel good enough to ski again. Good luck!

Yes, give it a few weeks and try to do as much PT as possible, and see what happens. This season is done if you have surgery, so there's no need to rush it (if you have swelling you probably can't even have it for three or four weeks). I don't get any pain/swelling at all after skiing, even with a complete tear, and there is no difference in how I can ski between now and last season (walking in ski boots is sometimes not fun, though--but sometimes just regular walking sucks too).
I do wear a brace, as the ortho told me to, but it does nothing (I assume it might prevent/reduce other injuries if I really wreck myself). Skied a few days without it (forgot it) and it doesn't make a difference.

Good luck.

**Tyestik** · 02-21-2008, 04:33 PM

I tore mine back in 01

It's a process, but you will be back next season. I tried to look at the bright side and got into biking now I ride a few days a week in the off season.

Good luck on your recovery.

**Mofro261** · 02-21-2008, 04:59 PM

Dex, for me I know the brace makes a hudge difference, but that could be just in relation to how long it's been since the tear and whatever else is going on in the knee. Dickey, last year when I tore the ACL in Dec I had pretty bad bone bruising- hurt to walk for weeks. I hit the stationary pretty good, skied 2 weeks later and with a brace probably came back to 90% with very little difference on smooth pow/groomed etc by 6 weeks or so, then had it fixed in early May after ~50+ days of skiing w/o an ACL.

Unfortunately I wrecked the same knee this Jan (most unfair) 8 months post op and tore the meniscus this time as well. I immediately couldn't do any weight bearing and a week later had the meniscus trimmed so I could walk again. Skiing w/o an ACL again this year but so far it's more like 75-80% 6 weeks later. My knee gets a slight burning sensation and swells in the evening regardless of whether I sit on my ass all day at work or go skiing. Walking is still kind of painful and I couldn't run to get out of the way of a bus while crossing the street if I needed to.

At this point, with a brace and a few weeks of rehab you could be back out mid-march, but from my 2x experiences getting back to that 80-90% level really takes at least 4-6 weeks.

Man I hate this club.

**beaterdit** · 02-21-2008, 06:14 PM

Sorry to hear man, but it happens.

Been there X2.

You'll be back. Hit the Pt hard and you'll be surprised at how fast it improves. I'd say skiing this season, once your MLC heals, is not out of the question at all. Time will tell though. Until then, I hope you're a member @ the Sitz and P-Dog.

Heal up!

**Long duc dong** · 02-21-2008, 06:21 PM

Sorry to hear that. Work hard in rehab and get back at it.

**Dexter Rutecki** · 02-21-2008, 06:27 PM

Originally Posted by Mofro261

Dex, for me I know the brace makes a hudge difference, but that could be just in relation to how long it's been since the tear and whatever else is going on in the knee.

Yeah, I wasn't necessarily saying a brace is unnecessary, but I believe it is the case that a brace can't really do anything to compensate for your ACL--the movement the ACL restricts is a few mm, and no brace can help with that. But like you I do suggest he give it a shot with the knee as is, there isn't much to be lost, assuming this injury doesn't cause more injuries.
I feel really lucky that I can ski as I do now since I had been pretty close to doing the reconstruction in the fall--it's good I didn't know the ligament was gone in August when I got injured, as I would have assumed skiing would be impossible for me (it seemed that way with the last two tears).