Crank 'em down

Cool..thanks for the info TJ

Yeah, my Doc was talking over my head too....PT dude can dumb it down enough so I get it

I have PT tomorrow, gonna bounce the idea of skiing with a brace off him and see what he thinks. If I can get some more turns in this year and be safe (safety first ), why not??? It's not like I can do anymore damage.

O, you sure can do more damage....  

my friend has been skiing for years with a torn acl..doesn't event wear a brace..
do what ever you can to avoid surgery..

Not a doctor but here's what I know personally.  Whether you can/should ski again depends on how torn your ACL is and how much stability you have in your knee.  You may have also torn your MCL (I did) which doesn't require surgery but does require rest and never quite tightens all the way back up.  If you don't have good stability you will have trouble pushing off and turning even with a brace on.  You could also do more meniscus damage or damage one of the other ligaments.  I for one could hardly walk without my knee buckling.  I felt a pop when it happened but not much pain after.  When my first replacement wore out I could tell because I started to lose stability.  I was running and could feel my knee buckling.  It was subtle, but enough for me to go see a doc.  I personally am a fan of the cadaver replacement.  Its a true replacement and the recovery is much easier/less painful.  I still have a "valley" down the middle of my kneecap where they took a piece of my patella tendon.

All that said, I just skied with a buddy of mine whose ACL is partially torn from the bone.  He is a smaller dude and had a brace made up.  Doc told him it is a matter of time before he needs surgery, but for now he is good.  The lead patroller who took me off the mountain at Whistler 10 years ago when I first tore mine also told me he had torn his early in his career and never had surgery.  Must have been a partial.

Danzilla wrote

Not a doctor but here's what I know personally.  Whether you can/should ski again depends on how torn your ACL is and how much stability you have in your knee.  You may have also torn your MCL (I did) which doesn't require surgery but does require rest and never quite tightens all the way back up.  If you don't have good stability you will have trouble pushing off and turning even with a brace on.  You could also do more meniscus damage or damage one of the other ligaments.  I for one could hardly walk without my knee buckling.  I felt a pop when it happened but not much pain after.  When my first replacement wore out I could tell because I started to lose stability.  I was running and could feel my knee buckling.  It was subtle, but enough for me to go see a doc.  I personally am a fan of the cadaver replacement.  Its a true replacement and the recovery is much easier/less painful.  I still have a "valley" down the middle of my kneecap where they took a piece of my patella tendon.

All that said, I just skied with a buddy of mine whose ACL is partially torn from the bone.  He is a smaller dude and had a brace made up.  Doc told him it is a matter of time before he needs surgery, but for now he is good.  The lead patroller who took me off the mountain at Whistler 10 years ago when I first tore mine also told me he had torn his early in his career and never had surgery.  Must have been a partial.

At my first PT appt. I was quizzing him pretty good about surgery. He said it's different for everyone and there's know way to tell until rehab is done then we'll know wat I can can't do. I'm not a small person. At 6'4", 252lbs (getting down to my fighting weight) I generate a lot of torque on my knee so that has my concerned.

I do like Jasons advise....not a fan of getting cut on, but if that's what it takes sobeit

I knew when I did mine that I wanted to come back and ski at the same level as prior.  I sure didn't want to be thinking, will my knee hold up to this turn....

the problem with not getting surgery while you are as young as you can be and in good shape, is that eventually the knee will give out and you will need surgery, need a knee replacement or just not be able to be active.  That was not an option for me.  Better to get it done and over with.  

I tore my ACL while giving a lesson in 2002.  The first thing the docs will tell you is that depending on your expectations is that you don't have to have surgery.  My expectations were as a professional instructor to ski at the same or a higher level post op than pre.  I told that to the first Doc i went to and he immediately referred me to Dr. David P. Vaneenenaam in Watertown, NY.  Peter worked at Stedman Hawkins Clinic in Vail and was the full time doc for the US Ski team.  He is one of the top 10 knee docs in the US and he is only about 90 minutes away from you in Watertown.

Peter told me that as a pro skier my if i wanted to continue to ski at that level i needed to fix the ACL.  The MCL will usually regenerate itself after a year or so since it has a good blood supply and I known this from first hand prior experience on the other knee.

Peter also asked me how hard i was willing to work on my rehab.  He is used to working on both pro athletes and regular folks and if you are willing to work hard the doc can use some more aggresive surgical approaches.  It turned out my acl broke off the bone and not in the middle.  This allowed Peter to use my existing ACL and reconnect it using a technique called healing response acl repair.  This is only done by Stedman Hawkins trained docs.  Bode Miller had this procedure done on him and won a gold medal 5 months later.  I skied in august at Mt Hood 6 months after my procedure with Peter's full permission.

My repaired ACL is stronger and tighter then my other one at this point.  I had a fall 2 years later and tweeked my MCL but my ACL held.  I was wearing my donjoy brace at the time.  3 years post op I stopped wearing the brace.

Another word of advice that Peter passed onto me.  BUY A ROAD BIKE.  This is the best rehab tool you will have once your PT is done with you.  If you don't continue to build your leg strength post PT you will potentially be facing a repeat.

Peter had allowed me to ski on one leg before the surgery.  I had to wear a street boot on the other foot and wear my brace.  I used the adaptitve ski schools outriggers instead of poles.  It was pretty fun and a good work out for the other leg.

Great advise Coach

I'll be contacting Dr. Vaneenenaam for sure. Watertown is a short drive for that kind of talent. Very much appreciate the tip.

Camp Dr Van did one of my ski buddies 10 yrs ago   the guy is now 79 and  skis like a demon , fast crisp and HAS game . Course he to is a former puck and works out like a madman . Point is Dr Van is TOP SHELF !

GP is rolling my pass to next year for me...pretty cool...they didn't hafta but I'm glad they did

campgottagopee wrote

GP is rolling my pass to next year for me...pretty cool...they didn't hafta but I'm glad they did

AWESOME. That is incredible customer service.

I'll add mine:

Very cool ... I know someone who had gotten hurt at Whiteface a couple of years ago, and Whiteface did the same thing, so I guess it never hurts to ask!!!