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DO NOT LAND FLAT or straight legged. ACL at risk
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isobars



Joined: 12 Dec 1999
Posts: 20935

PostPosted: Sat Jul 13, 2013 12:41 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

No twisting that I or the MRI perceived, only one leg involved, and ... get THIS ... virtually no pain as long as I very carefully limit the position and stresses of each step with that leg. I use one crutch lightly, mainly to make DAMNED sure I do not let my right heel touch the floor. That sets off fireworks in the knee. I taped a pebble under that heel to keep that fuse unlit. (I don't know how older people, who can't do one-legged squats, manage with a disabled knee.)

The doc sez rehab for about 3 months so that what CAN heal, does, then evaluate further for brace vs surgery. This season's gone, and next year's may start late. Many people can do many sports without an ACL. Mine's severed, they do not heal nor can they be repaired; the choices are replacement, a high-tech brace, or doing without. Replacement surgery rehab takes roughly 6 months.

Yes, I'll be working hard on ... or resting ... the other nagging dings of age and play. Most of the latter are fixable, some of the former are not.

Three knee injuries I've seen were, or at least sound, worse. One was a lower leg carried ashore hanging from its femur and thus its owner only by skin and whatever "dangling participles" remained inside after a leaping Hatchery sturgeon destroyed his planted knee mid-jibe. Another was a fellow who hit the Hatchery sandbar and sheared all four lower leg (tib/fib) bones.

Got milk?

The third was a guy approaching shore who slowed to a crawl, stepped off the board into a hole in the Rowena rocks, and folded the knee up towards his face.

Yet all that pales in comparison to Lisfranc arch fractures due to falling with a front foot caught in its strap.

Ahem. Smile

My fractures are the least concern, as bones heal much better than soft structural tissues due to the latter's very limited blood supply. A ruptured ACL is and will remain dead weight, and menisces heal extremely slowly, if at all. My fractures are "volumetric", in my words, in that there is no gross or hairline crack allowing displacement even under light stress. They're more like a car's shattered windshield held together by its inner adhesive layer, and confined to a cubic inch or so near the joint end of each bone ... sort of a shock wave destruction of the bones' porous matrix without overall obvious deformity. They expect no lasting effect unless it contributes to arthritis some day.

Is this the downside of body armor? Armored from my butt to my face and cranium, I don't give a damn how high I launch. Guess I'd better think that through next time.

You guys' concern is highly appreciated, and my wife is extremely glad I'm still mobile and mostly pain-free.

Mike \m/
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justall



Joined: 30 Jul 2007
Posts: 442

PostPosted: Sat Jul 13, 2013 1:20 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Very sorry to hear about this, Iso. I ceratinly hope that what can recover does so quickly.

I tend to start going straight-legged (get a bit sloppy) when my quads are fatigued ... Did it happen toward the end of a session? Sounds like not ... just some unfortunate timing.

In any case, we need to figure out how to keep your stoke alive with a curtailed 2013 WS season ... dirt bikes are out ... Maybe hand-controlled dune buggies?
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isobars



Joined: 12 Dec 1999
Posts: 20935

PostPosted: Sat Jul 13, 2013 1:56 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Naaah, it was way too early in the day and the session for fatigue. My legs were so straight my quads never even entered the picture. It was just operator error combined with a big jump ... probably the biggest near-vertical ramp I've seen in a couple of years while at speed. I was too occupied with clawing for more altitude to finesse the landing properly.

Writing should keep the stoke alive, at least if the bombthrowers are kept at bay.

I'll be very curious to examine the board's deck at that port rear heel spot.
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noshuzbluz



Joined: 18 May 2000
Posts: 791

PostPosted: Sat Jul 13, 2013 2:16 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Quote:
I simply had my leg/knee fully extended during a normal, tail-first touchdown from a bigger jump
It was just operator error combined with a big jump


When I jumped a lot and I hit much higher than "normal" jump it would throw my timing off a little and I would extend my legs, reaching for the water way too soon. It sounds like you might have done the same.

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isobars



Joined: 12 Dec 1999
Posts: 20935

PostPosted: Sat Jul 13, 2013 2:54 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Precisely. It's easy with no depth perception.
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cgoudie1



Joined: 10 Apr 2006
Posts: 2597
Location: Killer Sturgeon Cove

PostPosted: Sat Jul 13, 2013 2:55 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Having had the pleasure of a blow ACL (ripped it right off), and being a
performance sports guy, and having know a few ACL guys who didn't
get a rebuild, I can say that in my case, the rebuild was a good deal.
I can't say how I would have ended up without a replacement myself,
but I've been pleased with the replacement, and I'm pretty sure I
wouldn't have been able to ski (or sail or play tennis....) nearly as
aggressively, even with a brace, as I've been able to do with a new ACL.

But, you're no spring chicken, and letting them bore into you and rebuild that thing is going to take a lot longer than when you were 20 (I was 24
when mine blew). Wishing you good luck with whatever decision you
make.

-Craig

p.s. my rupture neither hurt nor swelled, though my firends had to cart me off the mountain, but it sure was painful after the rebuild.


isobars wrote:
The doc sez rehab for about 3 months so that what CAN heal, does, then evaluate further for brace vs surgery. This season's gone, and next year's may start late. Many people can do many sports without an ACL. Mine's severed, they do not heal nor can they be repaired; the choices are replacement, a high-tech brace, or doing without. Replacement surgery rehab takes roughly 6 months.

You guys' concern is highly appreciated, and my wife is extremely glad I'm still mobile and mostly pain-free.

Mike \m/
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isobars



Joined: 12 Dec 1999
Posts: 20935

PostPosted: Sat Jul 13, 2013 3:53 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Yes, they tell me the ACL surgery is much worse than the ACL injury. I have a lot of reading to do regarding surgery vs brace, as I'd want to do the former in time to hit the river next April, if possible.
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beaglebuddy



Joined: 10 Feb 2012
Posts: 1120

PostPosted: Sat Jul 13, 2013 7:19 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Sorry Mike Sad
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xander.arch



Joined: 23 Apr 2009
Posts: 217

PostPosted: Sat Jul 13, 2013 8:11 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

No doc here. But I waited on surgery for blown atfl and cfl ligaments in my ankle which was a mistake.

With physical therapy and time off (three months) I could get back to painlessness and full functionality for daily tasks. But once I hit the water it would only take a few sessions before a simple jump would reinjure the ankle and keep me off the water for another 3 months. After going through this cycle a few times I finally gave up and went for the surgery. As one doc put it my decision was whether I would be happy with life having the activity level of a 75 year old at 40.

The surgery has been a total success. I have full functionality and now full confidence in the ankle. No surgery is a guarantee, but if your knee has been structurally compromised I'd say surgery is a requirement if you are to really sail again. Talk to a bunch of surgeons (I interviewed 7) and then if it seems right just go for it. The special attention you will get during the rehab is actually fun!
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isobars



Joined: 12 Dec 1999
Posts: 20935

PostPosted: Sat Jul 13, 2013 8:29 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

xander.arch wrote:
The special attention you will get during the rehab is actually fun!

Naaahhh ... not since the voluptuous PT moved away and got replaced by a dude.

The only scenario in which I'd even consider delaying or skipping the surgery would be assurance from multiple orthos, vetted internet sources, and successful aggressive WSers that a brace would do the same job a replacement ACL would do. And actually, that makes sense, as the ACL's only job, as I understand so far, is to limit knee extension to 180 degrees. Surely some carbon or unobtanium can do that; heck, a 2X4 strapped to the front of my thigh might do that. In fact, maybe it makes sense to crank the limit down to 178 degrees, or some such limit that guarantees no more straight-legged landings.

I have much to learn before the healing and final evaluation are done and a decision is necessary. I may even be so "lucky" that lasting damage mandates surgery anyway, relieving me of yet another decision based on statistics.
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