Skiing after ACL

[978]

[978]

Member
I tore my ACL during the winter, had my surgery 2 weeks ago and so far everythings going fine except for PT being a bitch, and i should be cleared to ski next winter as long as i dont do anything really stupid... but i was wondering (to people who had ACL surgery before), what is it like to get back on skis after recovering. is it the same as before? is it hard? do u have to ski differently?
thanks to anyone who can help me out and i guess put my mind at rest.
and as always, +K
 
its just like riding a bike man. you'll start slow and everything will feel weird, but after a handful of runs you'll be comfortable again. then the hardest part begins: regaining your confidence. i'm almost 3 years out and STILL not completely confident in my leg's abilities.
 
see if you can get the dr. to hook it up with HGH. It will help you recover soo much faster, plus increase the strength of all your connective tissue.

try and convince him/her that your recovery is too slow and you need to get back to full health to be able to do your job, to support your wife and kids...and parents...and gparents etc.
 
I got my surgery on December 17th and went skiing on April 19th just about 4 months after surgery.

It definately felt wierd and i shouldnt have been skiing that quickly as docs usually say 6-8 months but it was closing weekend and i hadnt skied all year. I did about 4 runs and my knee actually felt great. My quads and hamstrings on the other hand were quivering from being so weak. I say by next season you should be good to go. Take it slow I look forward to seeing how it works out for you.

I was definately nervous out their skiing but that being said i skied 3 full seasons with no ACL and my knee felt 100% better just 4 months out of surgery apposed to skiing with no ACL at all.

Best of luck and vibes for a speedy recovery!
 
for the first couple of weeks your probley going to be careful as fuck on it. i didnt spin jumps for a good 2 or 3 weeks back on skis.
 
i had surgery december 13. Full ACL and MCL reconstruction, meniscus shit, and they did something to my LCL. Since Ive taken it really easy. I went skiing just cruising around 3 months out of surgery with my girlfriend. Felt weird but I wasnt doing anything. Hung it up for another month or so and skied casually last week. Hit a couple of jumps and did some mellow 3s and shit to see how it felt. I was terrified above the jumps before dropping in and they were small. Once you drop in, its all the same as its ever been. It was easy and felt fine. Im not chancing it with this spring slush so Im probably done till next year, but its nice knowing it has worked so far.
 
Had ACL complete recon in May and was skiing mid Nov. I took it easy and was nervous but it didn't take too long before I felt comfortable enough to do pretty much everything. After a few times out I basically had all confidence back in my knee. I was cautioned to stay away from park for a year though, didn't really hit any jumps that season but many cliffs!
 
That sounds like a horrible idea. Your knee starts to feel strong around 3 months, but it's acutally really weak during that time. Definitely wait the full six months at least an check with a doctor before skiing.

I tore both of my ACLs at the same time in march of last year. Got surgery at the begining of May on the first one and end of July for the second one. I skied my first day in January with custom braces on each leg. I took it real easy for a few weeks and I would be hurting pretty bad by the end of the day and had some swelling and shit. By the end of the season I was basically doing everything I used to do, but the hardest thing really is getting your confidence back. I did like a million straight airs and 180s before I felt comfortable enough to do any real tricks, but I guess its different for everyone.
 
I fully tore mine at the end of last season and was fine to do this season. At first I was afraid to fall, but then I got over it after I fell and nothing happened. But performance wise at first I felt funny turning left (I messed up the left one) and putting a lot of pressure on that ski, but again, I got over it. PT sucks cause sometimes it's kinda non-instinctive to put yourself in that much pain. I was actually more afraid to skateboard again.
 
I tore mine last January, got surgery last March 4th, skied for the first time October 19. Couldn't even tell anything was different. You notice when you take big hits though, I landed hard a few times early season that I felt, but first day when the mountain was open (Killy Nov 6 I think when I went) I was doing everything on rails I learned before. You just have to trust you knee and keep up with the exercise. I sent it this season and had zero issues. I have never felt a difference in my overall skiing the entire season, its like I never tore it.
 
Actually, not at all. You could have fucked it up and you would have had to get surgery again. Alot of people ski without ACL's, you can do it. Most of the time all you need is a brace, but going skiing before you are supposed was not a smart idea.
 
Like i said i skied with no ACL for three years with a brace so i know it is possibleI stand by my statement of feeling more comfratable having an ACL in there 4 months out of surgery as apposed to not having one at all.
But im sure you exacly how my knee feels...???
It was stupid to ski just 4 months out it was just a few casual runs. Back to the thread good luck recovering bro hopefully both be shredding hard next year!

 
i m 6 weeks out of patella graph, and i m doing PT, walking on snow to film friends, and even that is hard.

i m just gonna wait next season !

question : is water ramping possible later this summer ?
 
ohhhh man. dude make sure every second that you can you are moving your knee cap around and stretching your patella as much as you can.

i tell everyone that i know NOT to get the patella graft, because its difficult to avoid tendonitis later on. i have it suuuuper bad and it's lame. my knee is sore every second of every day, and hurts like hell whenever i ski.
 
how do you strech the patella ?

i know the physio moves my knee cap around, but how can you stretch the patella ?
 
moving your knee cap around. i would caution against circular motions, more just up and down and side to side. just stratch and hold it for like 10 seconds all four directions probably 5 reps at least a few times a day.
 
thanks for all the help guys... im def glad that my 6 months is up in october so i dont have the opportunity to ski too early. im walking again so im stoked.

+K brahh
 
You should be fine.

I did mine about 6 years ago. At the time, I was living in Tahoe, for the 5th straight winter. I hurt myself on January 3rd, and I knew I was leaving the mountains to go to grad school in the fall. I could not quite accept that skiing 130 days a year was done for me, so I got a brace made, and tried to ski, and put off surgery until after the winter was over. After a few weeks of skiing, I realized I was not going to ski the lines I really wanted to ski(Chimney Sweep at Squaw) so I decided to end my season and get the surgery.

My first year I took it very slow, and probably only skied 10 days. It was also my first year in grad school, and my first year not living in the mountains, so it made sense to take it easy. I was fine, but I was definitely cautious. The next year I probably got about 30 days in, and everything was fine. You just have to regain your confidence. Could it happen again? Or course, but with surgery and good rehab you will come back stable.

I have skied 40 days a year for the last 4 or 5 years, and I have no problems with my ACL. I am not quite the skier that I was before the injury, but that is more due to having an office job and skiing 40 days a year (as opposed to 120+ as a local skiing everyday) than my knew ACL. I knew plenty of guys in Tahoe who got it done, and came back skiing just as well, so there is no reason you can't do that.

Good luck. If you take the rehab seriously, and train on your own like a mad man once PT is done, you will be fine. Just make sure you leave PT with a good exercise plan(your therapist will help with this) and follow it with lots of vigor. Remember, the stronger your legs are, the more stability you will have, so train hard.
 
like eveyone else said it really does come right back to you. I was a bit timid at first but then when I realized my knee whas strong, I started charging again. I have had two 100+ day seasons since my surgery.

When I first started back my knee would get super sore, but I made sure to ice it and treat it right. I would recommend getting on a joint supplement as well, that will help.

It is just super important you do a really good rehab job, work your ass off.

good luck
 
tore mine dec 28, surgery feb 12, rehabed hard, took it wicked serious and i was skiing by november hittin rails the first couple days, jumping a weekend or so later, spinning again by christmas break, and i had a pretty great season. Didn't really learn to many new big tricks, but got a lot better at rails/swaps/kinks/etc, switch tricks, and brought everything i had before my injury to much bigger jumps and started gettin a bunch of new grabs lookin pretty good i think. Also had a ton of fun skiing non-park/bumps/glades which is way better anyways!
 
I tore my ACL 2 years ago.

Had surgery in Feb, a couple weeks after I did it. The doc strung it tight for me, so PT was a bitch, but everything was going great till about May, when we realized there may be something wrong. Turns out I had so much scar tissue that I couldn't ever physically get my ROM back, which made PT absolutely excruciating.

Had another surgery in August to get rid of the scar tissue (the graft was all good and healing well). Hit PT hard, and got done just in time for the snow to fall.

However, this fucked me because I wasn't able to get back into the gym at all. Went into the season super weak. So the first piece of advice is to get that ROM back, and get on a bike right away and ride it hard, every day. Get on a road or road-ish bike if you can, MTB can put more stress on your knee and make it painful. As soon as you are cleared, lift. Do squats and leg presses to build up your quads and muscles around your knee.

So, expect to feel a little weaker. It's not like getting back on skis after the summer, it's like rebuilding your muscle mass and then re-training new muscles to get used to skiing.

Second thing - You may find yourself with a mental block. Some people don't have this problem, but I really did.

I blew mine spinning a jump into choppy Pow. It took me half the season to get used to spinning medium sized park jumps again, the first three I did was such an adrenaline rush that I ended my day on it. It was like re-learning it, but worse... thinking about spinning got me feeling really shaky and anxious. It didn't bother me hitting rails or charging or spinning onto things, even nosebutter 3s and little 3s with bonks in the middle were fine.

I wasn't able to bring myself spin a jump into pow until this season (second since the injury) but I finished this season out skiing harder than I ever have in my life, so I feel pretty good now. I forget that anything ever happened until it's sore at the end of the day, or when I try to stand up straight because I can't straighten it all the way anymore. Scar tissue prevents me from getting back full ROM.

Bottom line, do your PT, hit the gym hard, and you'll be fine. Everyone says that to you, but you have to really hear it, want it, and take it to heart because PT is going to start to feel like a never-ending process.
 
man, i am in the exact same position. i haven't felt safe on a park jump over 20 ft in 3 years. shit is so lame.
 
it sucks man. The mind thing is the worst.

I fell today skiing the mountain and hyper extended my bad knee. Skied scared and slow a few runs and went home because I was too afraid to hurt it at all any more.

Hopefully you can get over it, it's just so quick to come back
 
I really relate to both of you guys....
My confidence has been badly shaken in the wake of two season-ending knee injuries. The physical part is relatively easy, but man, the fear/anxiety/timidity is really tough. For me, at least. Approaching lips of jumps, all I think about is casing and blowing up. It sucks.
I still have a lot of residual stiffness, swelling, and pain dependent on activity level and weather. It's life changing stuff....not debilitating, but in a sense it can be for some people. I have a world of respect for guys like Tanner, Simon, Wilson, etc. who somehow push through injuries that would almost certainly sideline guys like me.
 
^^ same for me as well , My worst fear coming off of surgery was just getting over my own mind fuck. Honestly i dont know anything worse then just rolling up to a jump line an always having that thought in the back of your head that you possibly could blow your knee out again. The anxiety was an still can be the worst part for me even though im 100% strength. But this doesnt go for everyone me being 25 now I def. dont need another surgery , but im sure theres plenty of 18 yr olds that get over the anxiety quicky.
 
i think the reasons you'll hear its weird, takes time getting used to & don't have the confidence, etc is because the leg is weak compared to what is was before. probably for the first season back, you will have to ski with more finesse as opposed to power. then, in your 2nd year, you'll hopefully be 95% of what you were before & once you are at this point, you will have the confidence back, since you have the strength back. usually, even the pro athletes aren't making too many gains until their 2nd season back after ACL recovery, so don't get down on yourself, just try to keep progressing. good luck!
 
I was told that it takes 6 months for the bone to fully fuse to the graft. Regardless how your muscles feel, it might not be a good idea to ski hard before then.
My experience was that the 4th to 6th months out were the most critical as far as rehab. Anyone can get their knee working 90%, but it's pretty hard to get the last bit of stability back. Since its likely that your insurance (assuming you have some) won't cover that much rehab, you'll probably have to do it on your own.
I hit the gym hard the last two months and didn't even put on my skis until pretty close to 6 months out. I probably could have skied earlier, but it made a big difference for my confidence knowing that my knee was fully recovered.
 
Damn - after reading the last few posts, I have to say that my experience wasn't nearly as bad as those posts suggest.
My first season back was definitely my best up to that point, and I felt like my knee was stronger (from lifting weights) than it was before I hurt it. I wouldn't say that you're guaranteed to have confidence issues, either. After about 2 months of skiing (so about 8 months out), I didn't perceive my knee as any different than it was before I hurt it (that's about when I stopped wearing the brace). I had a hamstring graft and meniscectomy for reference.
It seems that it varies a lot from person to person, but you're certainly not guaranteed to be guarding knee for the rest of your skiing days.
 
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