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ACL tears are weird...

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Spritz
Posts: 1162 - Karma: 12
So about a month and a half ago I was skiing at Copper and overshot one of the jumps causing me to fall from about 30 feet in the air to flat. When I hit my right leg wouldn't move at all for about 30 seconds but then I was able to pull myself up and ski down on one ski. Anyways I had x-rays done and nothing was really told from that besides the fact i didn't break any bones. So I took some crutches and used them for about 2 days and then began walking on it again and for the past month i've been walking on it fine, it felt slightly unstable at times and certain motions of my knee would cause some pain but I figured it was just strained still. I went and had an MRI done on it last week though and got a call yesterday from the doc telling me my ACL was completely torn and now I get to have reconstructive surgery in a few weeks. Has anyone else had this happen where you were totally unaware of you're knee being fucked? I just didn't think that was possible to have a torn ACL and still have nearly normal movement of it all.
Apr 25 2007 5:25PM
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lineskis360
Posts: 462 - Karma: 11
ive never heard that or anythign clsoe to that, all ive heard is that when u tear ur acl its close to the worst pain ever and near impossible to use, pretty badass story you got now tho
Apr 25 2007 5:28PM
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Billek
Posts: 5665 - Karma: 98
I am not sure if this could happen quickly but your muscles and other connective tissues can coordinate differently to compensate for your lack of an ACL.
Apr 25 2007 5:28PM
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TheQuailman
Posts: 7382 - Karma: 147
my friend eddy tore his acl skiing recently. It doesn't seem so bad, like he doesnt have cruches, only a brace and he limps around school but seems ok. Hes getting reconstructive surgoery on it too and can't ski till febuary.

he'll probably reply to this cuz hes on the website.

hi eddy
Apr 25 2007 5:29PM
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Spritz
Posts: 1162 - Karma: 12
that's all i had ever heard and seen too is that it was just excruciating pain and there's no way you'd be able to walk away from it, but my dumb ass decided to ski down to the ski patrol office at the bottom of the hill haha
Apr 25 2007 5:29PM
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eheath
Posts: 61601 - Karma: 123,027
I overshot a jump at PC with a strained ACL and i would kind of tweak my knee now and then, but it would get better after a chair ride. So i skied about a month on my knee, and then didn't even get my knee checked til may, and i had a completely torn acl that i believe happened in early march. Your leg muscles make up for your acl is most situations so it works out until you twist wrong then it fucks up your meniscus.
Apr 25 2007 5:31PM
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Spritz
Posts: 1162 - Karma: 12
that's kinda what i figured because the doc said luckily my meniscus was still intact, but it's just weird how that works. I was skating on it a few weeks after it happened and it got twisted again after landing wrong on the board and it felt the same pain as I did when i first injured it, being loss of movement for roughly 45 seconds and pretty bad pain for about 30 minutes until it subsided
Apr 25 2007 5:34PM
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waynewong
Posts: 1359 - Karma: 23
Totally normal - it is a HUGE misconception that you need an ACL to get around.

Many people never get them fixed and many people tear them without ever knowing when -

And, regardless of how bad the initial pain/swelling was, after a few weeks nearly everyone with a blown knee can bear weight and walk normaly...

I skipped around for 8-months after tearing my acl/pcl/mcl - biked, skied, golfed - once in a while it hurt, but really no big deal - after the surgery however, it took forever to get back to normal

Apr 25 2007 5:50PM
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casimiro
Posts: 1350 - Karma: 15
I tore mine in half and had some pain but not much, I went in for a completely different knee issue, I have arthritis, and they did an mri and said mine had torn and healed itself. I have done nothing but pt and ride my bike and it is getting much stronger. I had no idea it was in trouble at all for awhile, knees are funny things.
Apr 25 2007 6:07PM
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maclem
Posts: 2497 - Karma: 17
can be good, can be bad its up to u... here are some examples from another thread,

"Some people have manged to go for years with no ACLs, and still have succesful careers. Lauri Lassila from Finland skied moguls on the World Cup circuit for 10 years and he is ACL deficient in BOTH knees. He was able to ski in braces and still won lots of medals."

"A completely different example is American Evan Dybvig, who skied without an ACL in 2002 in order to compete in the Olympics.

If any of you saw the Olympic event on TV you might remember his unstable knee giving out completely as he landed the bottom air.

There, now maybe people will remember that instead."
Apr 25 2007 6:36PM
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shagalabagala
Posts: 2101 - Karma: 10
anybody whos torn their MCl know how long you took to fully recover?
i tore mine like 3 and a half weeks ago and im walking around like everythings fine except every once in a while i tweak it and it hurts (i didnt need surgery btw).  im just wondering if itd be safe to do this mtb race next saturday or not
Apr 25 2007 6:50PM
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dweezileast
Posts: 9661 - Karma: 276
spriggs did his "540" switchup with no acl
Apr 25 2007 7:05PM
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Palardy
Posts: 176 - Karma: 11
I kind of did the same thing. I tore it doing a 360 on a spine and landing with my right foot higher then my left and caught an edge and it twisted the fuck out of my knee. I didnt fall and it was the last hit, so i skied to the chairlift holding my knee and colapsed at the bottum. 10 minutes later i was on the chairlift, and skied back to the chalet, on 1 ski sideslipping. The next day i could barley walk, but decided to give skiing a shot anyways, and I did 1 run in pain, basically on 1 ski, and called it a day. I saw a doctor, and they told me MCL parcial tear, and that id be on skis in 7 days. When it get much better better I saw a knee doctor who told me to get an MRI and turns out I had a complete ACL tear and both meniscus torn, one pretty bad. but by the time they told me that i was no longer limping, and my knee was just giving out a lot, but other then that it was fine. I got surgury
Apr 25 2007 7:52PM
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Spritz
Posts: 1162 - Karma: 12
yea i tried skiing once after it happened and made it down one green run and had to call it because it was so unstable
Apr 25 2007 10:30PM
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Capt.Flannel
Posts: 10928 - Karma: 36
I tore my ACL in a hockey game, played 3 more games with a bit of swelling but nothing serious and then the 4th day, woke up and my knee was HUGE and black and blue and my coach wouldn't let me play. Made me go to the hospital.
Apr 25 2007 10:32PM
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liukangkid
Posts: 3323 - Karma: 82
refering to the last sentance. i have that hard to pronounce/spell knee growing problem and i didnt limp but sometimes my knee would just give out. 
Apr 25 2007 11:30PM
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Capt.Flannel
Posts: 10928 - Karma: 36
Osgood-Schlatter?
Apr 25 2007 11:31PM
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windhamskibum
Posts: 1193 - Karma: 16
thats a tibial tuberosity disease. which is caused by rapid growth or increased strength of the quads. it will feel like something similar to tendinitis

he could be talking about osteochondral defects. or OCD, which is a fracture of the articular cartilage which gives a giving way sensation.
Apr 25 2007 11:47PM
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windhamskibum
Posts: 1193 - Karma: 16
also in regards to the original post. highly developed athletes with strong leg and thigh muscles can compensate for a torn acl, and are able to function normally.
Apr 25 2007 11:48PM
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Capt.Flannel
Posts: 10928 - Karma: 36
he said he had the knee-growing problem - O.S. is common in growing kids. Did I miss another part or did you just randomly come up with his ssx to say OCD? I was going simply on the words 'growing' and 'hard to spell.'
Apr 25 2007 11:49PM
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windhamskibum
Posts: 1193 - Karma: 16
i was just giving a alternate prognosis, he also mentioned cartilage damage in the previous post, so i put two and two together.

Apr 25 2007 11:51PM
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Capt.Flannel
Posts: 10928 - Karma: 36
didn't see that. Gotcha.
Apr 25 2007 11:53PM
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windhamskibum
Posts: 1193 - Karma: 16
sorry, meniscus tear, not cartilage, but menisci can be considered cartilage as well.


Apr 25 2007 11:53PM
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Capt.Flannel
Posts: 10928 - Karma: 36
as it is cartilage by definition.
Apr 25 2007 11:54PM
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windhamskibum
Posts: 1193 - Karma: 16
indeed. god i love threads like this when studying for my finals
Apr 25 2007 11:57PM
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Capt.Flannel
Posts: 10928 - Karma: 36
haha, athletic training major by chance?
Apr 25 2007 11:57PM
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windhamskibum
Posts: 1193 - Karma: 16
gotta love AT
Apr 25 2007 11:59PM
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Capt.Flannel
Posts: 10928 - Karma: 36
I did for a few semesters - not for me though.
Apr 26 2007 12:00AM
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Paul-o-Rama
Posts: 3301 - Karma: 13
jonny mosley tore his acls, but has strong enough leg muscles so he doesn't need them
Apr 26 2007 12:05AM
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PeteyG
Posts: 2946 - Karma: 49
yea I tore my meniscus and had surgery not to long ago. In fact, im still on crutches...it sucks. But yea, when i tore it I kept on skiing becuase it didnt hurt unless I straightened it, which probably wasnt a good idea. w/e tho it was a pow day
Apr 26 2007 12:58AM
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MADr.
Posts: 2193 - Karma: 27
yep, tore my left acl skiing, it did hurt but i skied back to the lodge ok and it didnt hurt at all a day later. played an entire season of lacrosse, including the championship game at qwest field (fun season) without it giving me too much trouble besides giving out on me in rare occasions. played an entire season of tennis until i really fucked it up between sets during the district tourney. i still played the match out, but it wasnt doin good after that, and would lock up if i bent it too far so i got an MRI and i had no ACL as well as a torn meniscus which was causing the locking deal. i guess it had been torn for over a year and it eventually dissolves if its torn. so i got reconstruction surgery in march 06 and im not a cripple anymore.
Apr 26 2007 6:19AM
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alev
Posts: 7819 - Karma: 410
well your acls arent needed when your a god like johnny mosely is
Apr 26 2007 7:08AM
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michael_bc
Posts: 1386 - Karma: 720
any MCL tear will take 6-8 weeks to fully recover.
before that the scar tissue is not strong enough and you risk opening the tear again.

for small tears this is not a problem. for bigger tears it's smart to sit out those 6 weeks otherwise you just keep repeating the same injury.
Apr 26 2007 9:13AM
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brokebutitsworthit
Posts: 2279 - Karma: 27
complete tears dont hurt that much, you tear the nerves to
Apr 26 2007 9:28AM
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010
Posts: 1427 - Karma: 14
i was bitten by a shark one time. took my knee clean off. didn't even notice for 3 weeks when a guy on the beach saw me walking in a circle with my one good leg and my one stump leg and asked me what I was doing. ahh, that's mexico for you.
Apr 26 2007 9:32AM
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CTD
Posts: 6300 - Karma: 348
my knee was EXACTLY the same way, literally. skied down ok, went in, had it checked by three diff professionals, no one could feel that it was loose, was fine walkin around in about a week. had an MRI, it was completely torn. had the surgery (allograph, cadaver hampstring), and was on my feet in like 5 days. its been about 2-3 months from surgery, and im fine motionwise untill i get into low crowtchs. that takes about 4 months to regain. it sucked when i found out, cause i was all lined up to spend the summer in NZ. scratch that.
Apr 26 2007 9:45AM
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*DwC*
Posts: 1112 - Karma: 28
oh yea i have done this both of my knees, I just got my last surgery like 3 weeks ago, but i have recovered really fast from this one, i can walk already, and even jog. The surgery sucks really bad but it needs to be done in order to ski again. All I have to say is once you get the surgery work that bitch really hard, and you should be able to ski next year, Best luck to you.
Apr 26 2007 9:58AM
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CTD
Posts: 6300 - Karma: 348
dont they say you shouldnt be running/jogging? im not really allowed to.

but yup. definatly do the PT, and sht, it helps.
Apr 26 2007 10:19AM
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Spritz
Posts: 1162 - Karma: 12
jesus, jogging in 3 weeks?? I still plan on hobbling around on crutches by then. The doc told me I'd be running straight lines after 3 months, hopefully it won't take that long though.
Apr 26 2007 11:23AM
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