ACL CLASS OF 2016

**snowgage** · 11-30-2015, 04:18 PM

Looks like I will kick off this year's ACL thread.

I am 34 year old male and ski in the SW Montana region. I had an excellent 14/15 season last year and ended on a great note, feeling super strong. This summer I trail ran, mountain biked and consistently strength trained in the gym.

On November 22nd I skinned up Bridger Bowl with some friends for the first turns of the year. It was a sunny day and we skinned to the top of the Apron. I felt really good on my skins and felt like everything was nice and warmed up.

Three turns into my run I was making a right-hand turn and hopped off a mogul. In the air I initiated a left hand turn and upon landing got tossed a little bit in the backseat. POP.. I knew something weird had happened and skied all the way to the bottom. I regrouped and about skied onto the Alpine groomer where I had to sit down for a sec. I think I was just a little psyched out from the POP and felt nauseous. I skied all the way to the base and was making strong turns on both sides. 200 yards from the parking lot I skied over a bump and got dropped hard from pain in my right knee. After that I had to snow-plow on my good leg to get down.

First doctor, LeGrand confirmed ACL and I am gonna go see Deibert tomorrow. I am really hoping I can get into surgery ASAP to start the recovery process. I know this ski season is shot but maybe I can snowmobile in March?

In the meantime I've been doing some prehab exercises I found online and trying to get the swelling down.

The only thing I can attribute to the injury was being a little tight in the hamstrings. I did squats and deadlift a few days prior and had some deep soreness and tension in my legs. Maybe a better warm up would have helped?

Anyhow, onward to surgery and recovery... I'll post some updates here this winter during the recovery process.

-j

**yeahman** · 11-30-2015, 06:47 PM

Good luck man. Hit the prehab hard and try to keep as much muscle mass as you can because it atrophies quicker than you can believe. The hardest thing for me has been regaining the muscle because it takes a lot of time and work. I'm probably at about 85% strength now; my injury was at the end of January but surgery was not done until March 3. In retrospect I would try to get it done sooner if possible, just to prevent the atrophy. Notice how the professional athletes have surgery like the same day or next day when they have an ACL tear.

Keep your spirits up and drink a few extra brews at the tap room this winter.

Good thing about injuring it first day of the season is that you will undoubtedly be back full strength and ready to roll by the time next season starts (and probably in time for mountain biking too).

**dabaier** · 12-08-2015, 08:12 PM

I am officially adding my name to the list. Saturday I blew my ACL skiing at A-Basin. Got it confirmed by the OS today. Surgery by end of month or early Jan. Really disappointed, especially since my wife was out last year due to child birth.

-Nate

**snowgage** · 12-13-2015, 10:05 PM

Nate.. So sorry about your injury.. I had a similar situation.

Last year busy with a 1 year old. This was gonna be a big winter for me and I tore my ACL on day one. WTF?

At this point a blame the injury on my hamstrings being really sore and tight on the day of injury. I'd been lifting the week before and not warmed up properly. Also bad luck but I blame the hammies.

Anyway, MRI showed a clean ACL tear and a little meniscus damage. I've been working hard on pre surgery rehab and am feeling better.

Tomorrow surgery is at 730am. I am getting a hamstring autograft . I'll update again once the meds where off.

Onward
-josh

**dabaier** · 12-14-2015, 12:10 PM

Josh - nice to hear I have someone to commiserate and who is in the same boat with the injury and life.

Good luck tomorrow. I am still waiting for the MRI but I have a feeling I might not only have a ACL, we will see. I am going with the Patella autograph. It will be interesting to compare out experiences as we rehab.

I have tried to stay as active as possible, as well. Gym everyday... lifting, rowing, swimming. Sucks sitting on the sidelines while the snow flies. I think at this point, the worse part for me is mental.

Surgery isn't until Dec 31, looking forward to getting onto the road to recovery.
-Nate

**snowgage** · 12-22-2015, 02:19 PM

All went well with surgery 8 days ago. I showed up at the hospital around 730am and was out by 3pm. They harvested an excellent hamstring graft and found that my meniscus had very little damage.

The first three days post opp I was just chilling on the couch watching movies. I've now been hitting the PT pretty hard and was able to make a rotation (in reverse) on the bike yesterday. My flexion is at 91 degrees and my extension is back to zero. Pain has been minimal and I am just taking a vicodin before bed to help sleep. I am hoping to make a forward rotation on the bike in the next week. Once I can sit and spin I think it will help with the motivation. It looks like the powder skiing is epic everywhere right now and its entertaining to see my friends getting after it.

Nate - Good luck with surgery on the 31st. You'll be ringing the new year regenerating your ACL.

-josh

**dabaier** · 01-11-2016, 09:07 AM

My surgery turned out not being just an ACL reconstruction, but also a meniscus cleanup and MCL repair. I have been trying to get after the PT but my knee is not too happy when I do. I have some major swelling last week after doing PT. The PT taped my calf to drain it, which worked beautifully. I am starting to put weight on it and walk with crutches. The MCL repair site has been fair more painful than anything associated with the ACL. Where the patella tendon was harvested for my graft is tender as well.

All and all, I am headed in the right direction, I just thought I would be further along by now. Probably have a week or more on the crutches. I am not allowed to Ben my knee passed 90* for month with MCL repair, I was there 4 days after the surgery. My extension is 100% back to normal as well (-10-20*?). Hopefully the healing process picks up a little more this week, I am ready to be walking normally at the least.

Josh - how's the rehab treating you?

**snowgage** · 01-11-2016, 12:27 PM

Hey Nate - Your situation sounds similar to mine. I was really swollen for the first 2-3 weeks. It really limited my ROM and slowed the rehab down. Doing quad sets was really hard with my patella so locked up in swelling etc. In general the first two weeks sucked. I was super bored and Bozeman was getting hammered with powder days.

I am now 4 weeks out and things are going great. My flexion is at 130° and feels good. Extension is tough but I can get to zero and below once I am warmed up. I am now able to do cardio on the exercise bike, rower and stair stepper. I am doing squats and a lot of other functional work to get my quad and calf muscles back. Its amazing how much my leg atrophied after just a few weeks. My hamstring is a little sore but we have not started working it much in PT. I think we'll start hitting the hamstring PT hard this week.

**dabaier** · 01-14-2016, 03:59 PM

I am starting to come out the woods... Pain and discomfort is decreasing somewhat and I am able to start walking with my crutches. I had my first follow up appointment and everything is healing really well and the doc said the stability was great. The only negative was my meniscus which is nearly gone. He wants to put me in a brace that unloads the medial meniscus to prevent arthritis and destruction of my cartilage. If I am still in pain while skiing (or any other activity) I might have to explore the route of a meniscus transplant.

PT has start to remove the restrictions as well, I am now allowed to pass 90* flex. Got to about 100-105 first day, long way to go. Might be able to get on a stationary bike by next week.

Anyone have experience with these compartment unloader braces, specifically for the medial meniscus?

Also, Does anyone have experience with ACL replacement and then a meniscus transplant?

**TeleMiriam** · 01-18-2016, 03:39 PM

I am the newest member of the class of 2016. First day of vacation, first day of ski season. Surgery soon.

In July of 2015, I was millimeters from being paralyzed and had urgent back surgery. In 2012, I had a freak ski accident and tore my vertebral artery and had a stroke. (It's the same injury that killed Sarah Burke. I know I was lucky).

The posts are helpful to know what my road ahead will be physically. But I am at a loss right now on how to think positive. I don't believe that things happen for a reason or God has a plan for me.

**devon** · 01-18-2016, 05:25 PM

Tore my ACL on Saturday in the side county near Vail. First thought as I was tumbling and felt my knee popping was, shit there goes the rest of the ski year. Second thought was my wife is going to kill me--2nd ACL in 4 years.

**dabaier** · 01-18-2016, 05:40 PM

TeleMiriam - you have had it rough, no doubt. But tACL is surgery and rehab is routine these days. Its a long road back, but you will back on your feet sooner than you know. I was really bummed when mine happened, but once I had surgery I really didn't think about the skiing aspect so much and focused on getting healthy.

Devon - 2 in 4 years, shit man that sucks. sorry to hear that.

I am 18 days out and got on the stationary bike today for the first time. That was motivating.

**TeleMiriam** · 01-19-2016, 03:08 PM

Thanks Nate. Congrats on riding a stationary bike so soon. I look forward to that day too. I may have to wait a little while - 2-3 weeks for surgery. May go to beach in Florida or learn to mono ski in VT while I am waiting.

**Bosco** · 01-19-2016, 03:50 PM

I tore both ACL's in back to back years in the late 80's. It's crazy how quick the turnaround is these days. Good luck to you all on a quick recovery. I just got the go ahead to ski again have having my meniscus cleaned and deburred in late December.

The knee design is under-designed and didn't take skiing into consideration. Somebody should be fired...

**johnnyg82** · 01-20-2016, 10:32 AM

Anyone ever had a meniscus tear? Going to see my doctor tonight, but that's what my symptoms line up with. Anything I should worry about after the healing?

**flyman683** · 01-20-2016, 10:53 AM

Originally Posted by johnnyg82

Anyone ever had a meniscus tear? Going to see my doctor tonight, but that's what my symptoms line up with. Anything I should worry about after the healing?

Yeah, arthritis and localized low grade pain made worse by activity. Synvisc helps, as can the Kobe Bryant platelet treatment that fda hasn't listed yet (so not covered by insurance).

**HVskier** · 01-22-2016, 12:15 AM

Checking in...Popped my left ACL yesterday during an epic deep run in Mario world outside of Jackson. I wasn't even skiing anything technical when the crash happened. Just got sucked into a real deep pocket of snow that was also getting heavier as we descended. Kind of got twisted and tossed over the bars slowly with my skis stuck in the snow and I felt a pop. Made a few more aggressive pow turns on the way down and for the most part felt great until it buckled for the first time. Diagnosis is full acl tear with possible meniscus damage-he wasn't too sure on the meniscus. Not experiencing much pain so far and can get around decently in a brace.

Especially rough for me since I broke my wrist about 7 months ago and missed most of the summer riding season too. I was definitely a bit weaker coming into this ski season because of it. Seems like there were a few contributing factors but it the end it was just a dumb crash in pretty basic terrain.

Fairly Certain that surgery is the right choice for me and thats what the OS recommended. Tentatively going in on Wednesday. It seems that some recommend weeks of therapy before surgery to build strength and let swelling go down. Doc wants to do it right away...Not sure on the difference of opinions there.

**Bosco** · 01-22-2016, 12:55 AM

^I'm with your doc. Your not going to build strength in a couple of weeks anyways, just prolongs recovery.

**dabaier** · 01-22-2016, 09:17 AM

I waited for about three weeks, but that was more because of timing and scheduling with the doc. If he can get you in that fast, I might take it. Otherwise, you are just in a state of limbo until you are through surgery and healing.

**TeleMiriam** · 01-23-2016, 12:52 PM

My surgery isn't until Feb 24th. The injury was on Jan 10th.

HVskier - My doctor wants the swelling to go down completely and range of motion to also return completely.

I also switched doctors too so my wait is longer. I feel like I am in purgatory but I know I have to walk, stationary bike something because there is atrophy in the injured quad already.

I was looking uphill on a cat track to a chair lift. My ski got caught on some crud and I fell downhill.. Doesn't get anymore dumb than that.

My doctor said something to me that I haven't read or seen anywhere. Since I am female and short, my hamstring may be too short or narrow. If that's the case the doctor said he will also use an allograph - cadaver in addition to a hamstring graft.

**yeahman** · 01-25-2016, 12:21 PM

Originally Posted by TeleMiriam

My surgery isn't until Feb 24th. The injury was on Jan 10th.

HVskier - My doctor wants the swelling to go down completely and range of motion to also return completely.

I also switched doctors too so my wait is longer. I feel like I am in purgatory but I know I have to walk, stationary bike something because there is atrophy in the injured quad already.

I was looking uphill on a cat track to a chair lift. My ski got caught on some crud and I fell downhill.. Doesn't get anymore dumb than that.

My doctor said something to me that I haven't read or seen anywhere. Since I am female and short, my hamstring may be too short or narrow. If that's the case the doctor said he will also use an allograph - cadaver in addition to a hamstring graft.

I don't think that is unusual. My surgeon said they always have backup grafts on hand when they go into surgery, meaning if the hamstring doesn't look like it will work for some reason, they can use one of the cadaver grafts they also have ready. And sometimes they combine them. All depends on what they find when they get in there.

I didn't have surgery until over a month after my injury, and it has worked out fine. But if I could do it over again I would do even MORE pre-hab exercises before surgery and really try to stave off the atrophy. Regaining muscle mass is time consuming and slow.

Good luck! My surgery was last March and I've already skied 18 days this year, so even though it sucks right after surgery, there is definitely light at the end of the tunnel.

**happytimefunbox** · 01-25-2016, 08:58 PM

Checking in....

41 yo, best damn skier on the mountain. Skiing gad chutes off the cirque near restaurant roll at the bird on Sunday. Freshly tuned (read-hooky) billygoats. 15+ inches of not exactly Wasatch blower but still in your face every turn. Hauling balls toward a line of brush, white stuff all up in my grill, crank a LH turn through a gap in the scrub. As I arch the turn my L ski hooks uphill and the tip grabs the scrub. I try to rotate with my ski but going too fast and there is a jolting pop in my L knee, ski stays on. Spins me around tails first and I ride it out and stop. No pain, did that really happen? Fuck! Ski it out to the bottom, no real pain, knee feels a bit wonky. Spin another lap off of gadzoom. Knee still wonky, doesn't really feel loose per say. A couple sparks of pain over bumps. Bail and head home. No real swelling but hurts progressively worse through the day into the night. Today really hurts when approaching 90 deg bend, aching in the back of my knee but no noticable swelling. Clicking and popping occasionally when I walk. Riceing it as I type. Meet the OS on thursday, not kidding myself about the outcome but not giving up hope till he gives me the news and I cry.

Had R knee ACL allograft done in 2002, quick recovery and it is 100% 14 years later. No harvest site issues and only 4 small incisions. If I have it as an option that is the direction I will go.

+++vibes to all....