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Skiing with a torn ACL

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Isabelle
Posts: 947 - Karma: 1,582

so I just went to the hospital and they told me my ACL is torn, but operation is not an good option because I'm still to young and stuff. so they told me if I get a special brace specially made for me I could go skiing, slowly build it up again. so anyone ever done this? skiing with a torn ACL with a special brace?

15 years ago
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TrevorModzeleski
Posts: 156 - Karma: 87
sounds like a bad idea...you dont wanna make it worse and have a gimp leg for the rest of yo life...
15 years ago
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Isabelle
Posts: 947 - Karma: 1,582
they said I couldnt make it worse, and that's a specialist talkin so I'm gonna trust him
15 years ago
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Dhane
Posts: 3866 - Karma: 1,722
i know a kid who had a partially torn ACL and he didnt want to give up the rest of his season so he just slammed a brace on there and kept truckin. the only thing is, landing forward at high speeds he couldnt do because if leaned to much the wrong way he could easily completely tear it. anyway, he got surgery at the end of the season and hes recovering just fine. im not sure how a partial tear and a complete tear would differ in this situation tho
15 years ago
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TrevorModzeleski
Posts: 156 - Karma: 87
then i would say go for it
15 years ago
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Vinci
Posts: 701 - Karma: 1,472
I've skied a whole fucking season with a torn ACL. In fact the best season I've ever had... nothing of a cutback or shit, I was skiing 100% the whole time. I was doing fine till summer when I got a MCL problem as well, but this had nothing to do with the skiing I did. When you still feel fine I would say go for it.

From the time I had the surgery everything went way worse. Since last november I'm in constant pain and recovery is everything but fast.


15 years ago
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Isabelle
Posts: 947 - Karma: 1,582

okay :D

sucks that your recovery is not going well! goodluck!

15 years ago
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MaryO
Posts: 2583 - Karma: 5,996
Just had my ACL replaced 4 months ago. Fact is, torn ACL's DON'T repair, and skiing on it will def. worsen an already bad situation. Granted, I'm wayyy older, but that doesn't change the fact that tears don't repair with the ACL.When your knee is unstable, you end up tearing up the meniscus as well, and suffer greater injury, even with a brace. I guess the question is, do you want a mild tear to potentially turn in to a full torn ACL with possible tearing up the MCL, meniscus etc...But, it is your knee after:)
15 years ago
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libertyskis
Posts: 123 - Karma: 7,863
John Elway played his entire career for the Denver Broncos with no ACL in his left knee. The reality is some people can function fine with a missing ACL, but some are risking HUGE additional injuries if they lack the knee stability that an ACL gives them, the postings on this forum reflect that, for one its A-OK and the best season they've had, for others a risky proposition. You will need to get the best medical advice (certainly a second opinion from another doctor) as well as, perhaps, talking to some experienced physical therapists. if you decide to ski without an ACL, a brace won't really help you, but a ton of weight lifting and strength training so your muscles can take on the role of your missing ACL will be in order.

Good luck.
15 years ago
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CBROOKS
Posts: 4979 - Karma: 10,708
Fact. My little sister lacks ACL's in both knees (a condition she was born with, we just found out a year ago though) and she has turned herself in to a pretty successful little ski racer. She rocks double braces, but do what you have to do to shred!
15 years ago
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RobertBB
Posts: 623 - Karma: 16
My 10 year old brother torn his ACL early this winter.
He couldn't be operated so they made a special brase for him.
He trains everyday and he can go ski, play fotball, ride his bike when he uses the brase they made for him.
But it's not 100% safe to do it.
If you fall and hit your knee it could turn out very bad.
And after training much they have aloud him to start jumping on the smallest jump and hit the box rails.
15 years ago
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Brodie133
Posts: 109 - Karma: 14
I had the same thing tore my ACl when i was sixteen said they wanted me to finish growing before operation. I got a brace and skied to full seasons in it now its definately not ideal and i got banged up but its not that bad i would ski with a brace for sure i did it for 2 years and played football just be a little more cautious and u should be golden
15 years ago
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Isabelle
Posts: 947 - Karma: 1,582

ok! so I'm not the only one haha thats good! I'm curious how it will go.

did you get the operation after all?

15 years ago
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line241
Posts: 236 - Karma: 13
as of today i had surgery 10 weeks ago for a torn acl and some meniscus stuff.  my doctor told me that only 4% of people who tear their acl can fully recover without having surgery.  if you dont get it youll be fine except for not having an acl.  recovery even though it does take a long time can be helped or hurt by the effort you put into it.  you can compensate for the weakness by strengthening the other muscles in the area.  the thing about going without an acl is that youre much more prone to tearing everything else in your knee so really its a personal choice
15 years ago
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Alex_G
Posts: 11902 - Karma: 1,019
brad bulzan does this and can only land sw now...however with that said he does dubs and shit to sw without an acl
15 years ago
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Isabelle
Posts: 947 - Karma: 1,582
awesome haha
15 years ago
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DrZoidberg
Posts: 5676 - Karma: 4,299
I did, for four days in colorado after tearing it in vermont. I didn't know at the time so that was my excuse. Basically I knew it was injured but not that bad, so I went to a cvs, got a brace that probably didn't help and went skiing. I took it easy and didn't ski park (not that I was gonna being in CO) and didn't jump off anything big. I still went fast and made decent turns though. The proper diagnosis was fully torn acl and partially torn lateral meniscus. I decided something was seriously wrong when I tried to skateboard and it collapsed on landing a fakie bigspin. Now I got the surgery and they say it's all going well.

Possible? Yes. Recommended? No. Maybe with a brace, but definitely not without one. I got measured for a brace to prevent it from being injured again that I'm gonna wear skiing, during soccer and probably other stuff.
15 years ago
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charmander
Posts: 10636 - Karma: 373
i would say just get it fixed.

the amount of people in their 50's i know whose knees are just godawful would lead me to believe that you shouldnt fuck around with your knees.

my dad for example, tore his acl, got it fixed, 6 months later he was playing hockey and tore it again... now 30 years later he has no cartledge in his knee. it is 100% bone on bone, and as of now there is 2 options.
1- he takes pain meds and deals with the pain
2- he gets a new knee and has to stop skiing.

so hes in pain all the time now, id just get it fixed.

anddd on the being a specialist thing... doctors dont know shit, for example, i broke my collarbone about 6 weeks ago, a specialist told me i should have surgery... then he scheduled surgery, and then the day before he cancelled surgery. so now my collarbone is fucked up for the rest of my life because a dr. pussed out of an operation.

go with what makes sence not what a "professional" tells you.
15 years ago
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acc
Posts: 4122 - Karma: 222
I rode for an entire winter without one using a brace.  By the end of the winter I stopped wearing the brace because it bugged me.  Definitely wouldn't say it was a winter of skiing hard though.  Definitely felt the knee at times too.  That forward pressure can be a bitch. 
15 years ago
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Isabelle
Posts: 947 - Karma: 1,582

I would get it fixed if they could promise me the operation will go well, but that's not the situation. because I'm young I will still grow, and they need to do a recontruction but they can't take my tendon because its too small or somethin, so I would need to get a donor and then it all gets complicated and kinda dangerous, so I'm going to try this, living without an ACL, cause it is possible, and if it goes wrong, ill do the operation.

15 years ago
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Isabelle
Posts: 947 - Karma: 1,582
if it doesn't goes well this way ill do the operation*
15 years ago
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GuerillaInDaMist
Posts: 546 - Karma: 47
this specialist you talked to is wrong about how you will not mess up your knee anymore. without an acl you run the risk of tearing the shit out of your meniscus which will be bad in the long run. i just tore my acl and had it replaced and it fucking sucks the big D but ill be back next season. personally i would stay away from skiing until ur 100% because fucking with your knee has some pretty bad consequences. 
15 years ago
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Nadia.
Posts: 1124 - Karma: 1,104
I had the ACL repaired in my left knee at 13, and then right knee at 15. Both are still intact and have held up through a lot of abuse. Mind you, I was done growing and hit 5'8" by 13 and my growth plates were fused. How old are you? The reason they don't like to do ACL repairs on young adolescents is because it requires drilling through the tibia and femur, and if your growth plates aren't fused (done growing) it can screw you up.
15 years ago
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Isabelle
Posts: 947 - Karma: 1,582
no the way my ACL lays in my knee won't make anything worse, it's not torn in the middle but at the top, don't know how to explain, but my doc knows what he's talkin about he is like te best one here in the netherlands, he does alot of famous football players and stuff, so he really knows what he's talkin about.
15 years ago
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Lemuel
Posts: 14543 - Karma: 11,148
You can get one of those soft braces that supports the whole knee. I almost got one, but I didn't want to risk doing any more damage, which I ended up tearing my meniscus from falling on some ice. And I have never heard a doctor say that it is bad to get surgery because you are young, it's better to get it when you are young. Much quicker healing and less pain.
15 years ago
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mak
Posts: 700 - Karma: 167
My little brother partial torn his ACL January last year and had to take off most of the year. He did NOT have surgery done on it because he is still growing. The surgeon he was going to see didn't not recommend skiing, but the doctor, and fellow skier, who did say he could see how it felt. By the end of the year, he has back on snow and even doing a few rails, with an ACL brace on. He did the same this year, but backed off of doing rails, because it started botherign his knee. But he still free-skied throughout the season. I don't what to tell you that what he's done is right for you, or for anyone for that matter, for thats not within my abilities, but just how it went for him.
15 years ago
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GuerillaInDaMist
Posts: 546 - Karma: 47
so if u trust your doctor why did u make a thread about skiing on a torn acl. it seems like u have your opinion set on skiing so ski
15 years ago
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Isabelle
Posts: 947 - Karma: 1,582
i just wanted to hear the experience of other people
15 years ago
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Nadia.
Posts: 1124 - Karma: 1,104
Most girls finish growing around 13-15, you can probably take it easy with a brace until then, and have surgery.

Unless you're quite strong and only doing low-risk skiing, you're at high risk for blowing out your PCL, tearing your LCL, MCL and cartilage (Meniscus) if you continue skiing and pushing yourself. Is it worth the long term damage for an extra few months or year or so of skiing?

There are degrees of tears as well. If your ACL is COMPLETELY torn you WILL most likely damage your knee. A "partial" tear is really just a bad strain, imagine a rubber band that has been stretched too far and is fraying.

If it is infact completely torn it doesnt matter where the tear is, both ends are flopping around inside your joint and you dont have any stability holding your knee from hyperextending and damaging itself further (unless you're jacked and your quads/hammy's can compensate, seeing as you're probably less than 13 years old and still growing I doubt this)

If it's "partially torn" or strained, it'll be around 6 months and you'll be right as rain.
15 years ago
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Nadia.
Posts: 1124 - Karma: 1,104
Oh, and if it's "Torn at the top" and he doesn't want to operate, you've probably ruptured the ligament clean off the articular notch in the femur, and it's quite serious. In that case you should sure as hell not be skiing park. Groomers with a brace and lots of physio? Probably ok. They wont want to fix it til your growth plates are fused.

Talk more with your Dr/Physio and find out exactly whats wrong, a first or second degree "tear" is really just either a slight or mild sprain, you've stretched it too far and it needs time off to recuperate. ACL's don't just tear halfway through and stop, they either blow or they dont. A first or second degree (stretching/spraining) is time off and does NOT require surgery.
15 years ago
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line241
Posts: 236 - Karma: 13
i used a cadaver (someone else's ligament) and my recovery is going really well, my physical therapist said im ahead of schedule.  i was faced with eitehr that or taking my part of my patella ligament or my hamstring both of which sound kinda shitty to me.  the only thing is that with a cadaver the risk of infection is slightly higher (fractions of a percent) and theres the rare case of your body not accepting it.  the chance of that is pretty similar to if you used your own ligament because no matter what theyre putting a dead ligament into your knee and it still needs to go through necrosis and be accepted by your body.
15 years ago
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Isabelle
Posts: 947 - Karma: 1,582
well I'm sixteen and still growing, I know what's wrong with my knee and it's not dangerous for me to train my ski and slowly start riding park again, If i do alot of training.
15 years ago
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leahey
Posts: 2548 - Karma: 32
It is extremely painful, for me, but that was MCL, so I'm not sure about ACL but shouldn't be as bad because you aren't usually skiing forward as you are backward with MCL.
15 years ago
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beardedlarry
Posts: 9 - Karma: 24
my brother is 16 and it happened to him. he torn his mcl and pcl. he still skis but with his brace on. he is done with park though all backcountry and touring now. he got some sick pants though becuase they had to fit over his brace, hes steezed out haha.
15 years ago
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Randy_Quench
Posts: 5447 - Karma: 4,348
my friend has a torn acl and miniscus. hes 16 and tore them last summer. his growth plate isnt completely done growing yet so if he goes in for surgery his left leg may continue growing while his right doesnt.
so he has waited since last summer and is hopefully getting surgery this winter.
He skied on it with his brace for a few days and he blades at rye all the time with a brace. cant do anyhting to your knee if you have the proper brace, unless the brace malfunctions of course.

sparknotes: kid tore his acl, cant get surgery cause hes still growing. still shreds snow and skateparks


15 years ago
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Nadia.
Posts: 1124 - Karma: 1,104
Uhhhh... I'm pretty sure you can still tear/destroy your knee with a brace on. I've seen it happen before, multiple times.
15 years ago
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Fischer-Addicted
Posts: 1064 - Karma: 30
then why'd you make this thread?
15 years ago
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Caucasian_Asian
Posts: 2447 - Karma: 1,665
I toasted my ACL last spring 10 days before a four day cat-skiing trip.  I was not going to miss it.  I had to adjust my style a little, and slow down a touch, but I was able to ski just fine as long as I stayed forward on my skis.  I had a hamstring graft over the summer and did a ton of PT for the next six months to rehab it.  I still ski with my adjusted style, to lessen the chance that I will do it again.

You can ski with a torn ACL, but it's probably not a good idea.  If you get a brace, get a proper fitted brace.  Not one of those soft pieces of shit.  It'll be expensive(>$1000), but it's worth it.
15 years ago
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mak
Posts: 700 - Karma: 167
yes, you def can. just because you have a brace does not mean that you're covered for everything.
15 years ago
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deleted5
Posts: 14507 - Karma: 13,510
all i could think of is Skiing with a torn ACL is a great idea
15 years ago
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