Going Under the Knife
- Thread starter Harvey
- Start date
Jim
Well-known member
- Joined
- Dec 22, 2022
My update is nothing compared to what's being discussed here recently (haven't met Warp Daddy but pulling for him nonetheless).
I posted in the Big Snow thread back at the end of August about a left knee injury resulting from an awkward fall when I got tangled up with some other skiers getting off the lift. Ski patrol didn't think anything was torn, ortho urgent care didn't think anything was torn, the physical therapist didn't think anything was torn, but I was still concerned by some occasional instability. My followup with the surgeon (who did my 2021 ACL reconstruction on the right knee) was also suspicious and the MRI showed that it is likely torn. I guess it's a little hard to get a good picture with the hardware in there from the 2009 ACL reconstruction on that knee. His explanation made sense to me about why others didn't really suspect a tear. A reconstructed ACL lacks the blood flow of the original, so the swelling is much less severe. And my knee is otherwise really strong so I wasn't experiencing nearly as much of the instability that I remember all too well from tearing each original ACL.
I've been working it hard in PT and haven't experienced any instability in a couple of weeks. There's no pain to speak of from day to day activities, just some soreness when I work it harder. The plan is to get a derotation brace to use when doing anything that might cause some slipping or twisting, like skiing. Unless it's really problematic when I first try it out on the slopes, I'd at least stick with the brace solution through this season. I can always look at surgical options later.
I posted in the Big Snow thread back at the end of August about a left knee injury resulting from an awkward fall when I got tangled up with some other skiers getting off the lift. Ski patrol didn't think anything was torn, ortho urgent care didn't think anything was torn, the physical therapist didn't think anything was torn, but I was still concerned by some occasional instability. My followup with the surgeon (who did my 2021 ACL reconstruction on the right knee) was also suspicious and the MRI showed that it is likely torn. I guess it's a little hard to get a good picture with the hardware in there from the 2009 ACL reconstruction on that knee. His explanation made sense to me about why others didn't really suspect a tear. A reconstructed ACL lacks the blood flow of the original, so the swelling is much less severe. And my knee is otherwise really strong so I wasn't experiencing nearly as much of the instability that I remember all too well from tearing each original ACL.
I've been working it hard in PT and haven't experienced any instability in a couple of weeks. There's no pain to speak of from day to day activities, just some soreness when I work it harder. The plan is to get a derotation brace to use when doing anything that might cause some slipping or twisting, like skiing. Unless it's really problematic when I first try it out on the slopes, I'd at least stick with the brace solution through this season. I can always look at surgical options later.
