Pull a mulligan on ski season - in favor of cleaning up knee & foot?

[CascadeLuke]

Have a knee issue that has been lingering for a long time. I’m embarrassed to say haven’t had it professionally assessed for one reason or another over the years - so don’t have details in that regard. Part of me has held a belief to avoid the knife and just deal with it until I really felt compelled. I’m not exactly there but with current slow life status and the resort season questionable I’m getting a sense to be proactive.
By proactive I mean adjust my insurance plan to better suit surgery expense and have my foot that bothers me analyzed too.
Have by end of month to adjust insurance and also season pass discount for last years days short, expire.
I’m 42. What really put me on alert was that I could hardly wake surf this summer without pain and had super noisy notchy knee action. That’s a low impact activity.

I wonder if people feel like knee work is in a good place right now or if for instance anyone has insight that there’s advancement on the horizon and to hold out. or any other reason to hold off.

Maybe a story of a procrastinator who now feels a new level of knee freedom as a result of stepping up. .?

[2FUNKY]

Personally I wouldn’t mess around and go to the best knee doc I could find and have him/her look at it. Probably have a MRI done as well for proper evaluation. Same goes with the foot, go see a good podiatrist.
Might as well get it fixed now and start the road to recovery and possibly salvage the end of ski season versus skiing on it and having it give out and really destroy the knee and possibly other body parts due to a crash when the knee decides to give out.
Bummer man, major vibes and hope once they look at it, it won’t be all that bad.

[PB]

No personal experience, just 2nd and 3rd hand. Do it now; the longer you wait, the less time you'll have to enjoy it as the rest of your body deteriorates. Knee surgeries seem pretty reliable (although nothing's perfect) and last long enough to get you well into your platinum years.

[Dantheman]

"super noisy notchy knee action" maybe sounds like a meniscus tear and surgery might be good solution.

What's wrong with your foot? You didn't elaborate on that.

If there's ever been a good year to skip skiing and get some shit fixed this is it.

[powdork]

Good time to do it. Good time to recover.

[CascadeLuke]

You’re right funky.
Dropped an olympic 45 lb plate on my foot like a dope years back. Didn’t have insurance at the time. Now lingering issues (and always have to punch boots just that foot).

Have torn acl on opposite knee in my teens so have that experience. This is different. Or at least has carried out differently. That was injury -> surgery — twice.

[phatty]

My wife waited a year to get ACL surgery and now she's missed 3 ski seasons and still has issues. Definitely get it done if it needs it. This is the season to miss the beginning with the current uncertainty.

[XXX-er]

I experianced the " unhappy triad " last January, I worked thru the Medical system PT/ MD/ MRI/ surgeon to get scheduled for september, a Pandemic is a bad time to fuck yer knee up so it was 9 months including the pandemic lockdown which is pretty good for socialized medicine in this country

the surgeon sez 6-8 months recovery SO i will probably miss this season

i found mtn biking which locally is 1-2 hrs in 1st gear up a bluff has been very awesume for the knee,

I borrowed a cryopack for the surgery, make some freezer meals ... I'm all set !

[TheHink]

Do it ASAP - every month you're waiting you put stress on your opposite joints if you're consciously or unconsciously favoring the leg. Ex had her right knee done after putting it off for a while. 3 months before she returned to work (nurse) and 6 before she was jogging. Find a doc that just does knees however in system - don't let your insurance throw you to whomever at the local hospital. Check reviews, and look for the dude or dudette who does the local NBA team.

[CascadeLuke]

Thanks for the contributions. Now have some Dr input after the first appt and images back yesterday. Knee has ‘severe osteoarthritis’ in brief phone conversation. Setting appt with orthopedic and now combing through info on my own. Read the TKR thread which sheds hope and queasy details. Hmm

Maybe too early to call but I guess my ski season is back on. Is there much of an argument against riding it out- until I’m dealing in severe continuous pain? Perhaps anyone have some thoughts on treatment until total knee replacement?

[I've seen black diamonds!]

I'm 43 and had a similar diagnosis for my lower back 5 years ago. Now, when I exercise regularly and do my stretching and PT (which I'll be doing for life) I have little pain and full range of motion. There are some exercises I avoid now, and I pretty much refuse to sit on the ground/floor, but despite the rather terrifying diagnosis I'm far more capable than your typical fat American.

There is a very good chance you can get to a similar place with your knee, or at least find massive improvement. Find a PT who works with athletes/skiers and prioritize the work they give you over all other exercise/fitness goals. It may take time to find the right combination and how much the knee can handle before it tells you to fuck off, but arthritis improves with (intelligent) use. Losing weight helps too.

[schindlerpiste]

Sounds like a regimen of NSAIDS and/or cortisone injections and you will be floating through pow and crud bashing in no time.

What is the treatment advise?

[CascadeLuke]

Haven’t got to the stage of specialist treatment advise yet. That’s next.
My hope was to hear I could get some scope work done to improve and be back in action after PT work. It’s been implied early that the damage cannot be reversed or surgically repaired.
I hear the message of don’t hold off and get surgery done. I was in that camp, if a touch up could be done. Thinking what I’m about to hear isn’t that simple.
It’s probably time for better health care and sugar reduction (ie inflammation) anyway. This news combined with covid make enough for a catalyst to diet better, learn PT and core exercise. Some alcohol reduction.

[Orthoski]

Best vibes towards feeling better.

I'll be honest - there are aspects of this thread in which I hope to encourage caution. Certain symptoms, especially in the setting of a traumatic injury, should not be neglected. Many injuries become much harder to fix if overlooked with time, including fractures, dislocations, tendon tears, etc, and can lead to irreversible damage.

On the other hand, this is a very active community and at some point most of us will find that our musculoskeletal system starts expressing a degree of disapproval. The whole concept of using surgery to "clean xyz up" should be taken with extreme caution. Surgery has risks, generates scar, etc. Unless you have specific anatomic abnormality that one is trying to rectify, taking a knee with arthritis and "cleaning it up" has not been supported in the literature. Sounds like you found yourself a good and honest surgeon, Luke.

Just injecting a more balanced approach to things. Often the alignment of people wanting to feel better and surgeons wanting to help (or, the cynical may argue, make some $) may make one avoid harder conversations about the limits of what modern medicine can do.

Be safe everyone.

[MTT]

Best vibes towards feeling better.

I'll be honest - there are aspects of this thread in which I hope to encourage caution. Certain symptoms, especially in the setting of a traumatic injury, should not be neglected. Many injuries become much harder to fix if overlooked with time, including fractures, dislocations, tendon tears, etc, and can lead to irreversible damage.

On the other hand, this is a very active community and at some point most of us will find that our musculoskeletal system starts expressing a degree of disapproval. The whole concept of using surgery to "clean xyz up" should be taken with extreme caution. Surgery has risks, generates scar, etc. Unless you have specific anatomic abnormality that one is trying to rectify, taking a knee with arthritis and "cleaning it up" has not been supported in the literature. Sounds like you found yourself a good and honest surgeon, Luke.

Just injecting a more balanced approach to things. Often the alignment of people wanting to feel better and surgeons wanting to help (or, the cynical may argue, make some $) may make one avoid harder conversations about the limits of what modern medicine can do.

Be safe everyone.

I used to have a limp all winter for years
I took a year and a half off. Also started doing leg knee exercises that you would do in PT. When o skied in the spring I was a better skier and no pain. Been good ever since. Sometimes you gotta give your body a chance to sort itself out.

[Shredhead]

Best vibes towards feeling better.

Be safe everyone.

Thank you for your input!


I was scheduled for a TKR in April. Covid put all elective surgery on hold.

I had 105 days of lift served when they shutdown in March. My knee was toast and I was in constant pain. I typically ski 3-4 hours and maybe 12-20 runs.
After shutdown, I started skinning 2-3 hours and skiing 1 run. My knee still has some weakness, but it stopped hurting all the time and I lost 10 lbs.

This season I’m going to try to ski less and skin more.

[Deebased]

Haven’t got to the stage of specialist treatment advise yet. That’s next.
My hope was to hear I could get some scope work done to improve and be back in action after PT work. It’s been implied early that the damage cannot be reversed or surgically repaired.
I hear the message of don’t hold off and get surgery done. I was in that camp, if a touch up could be done. Thinking what I’m about to hear isn’t that simple.
It’s probably time for better health care and sugar reduction (ie inflammation) anyway. This news combined with covid make enough for a catalyst to diet better, learn PT and core exercise. Some alcohol reduction.

Add some turmeric to your diet and stretch religiously. Does wonders for my arthritis.