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Skiing with a torn meniscus

Ski Sine Fine

Angel Diva
I am wondering if anyone has experience skiing with a torn meniscus w/o surgery.

I suffered a complex tear in the “anterior horn of the lateral meniscus” this summer. The knee also has minute tricompartmental osteoarthritis and other degenerative signals, but otherwise the other meniscus and all the ligaments are intact (including the long-ago reconstructed ACL). I’ve been on PT for two months. Other than the knee being a little tight at full extension and flexion, and sometimes almost negligible pain going down stairs, it doesn’t affect daily living. I went back to cardio on my cross-country Nordic track last week and no problems there. I see my Ortho doc in three weeks and will ask for his opinion on skiing this winter. I told both PT and Ortho I want to ski in December and neither immediately jumped to surgery so I am hoping he says I can ski with a brace. With that in mind, does anyone have experience skiing with a torn meniscus and what I should be careful about?
 

Jilly

Moderator
Staff member
Sounds similar to mine. I was in such pain, I had the surgery. Doc snipped the horn and cleaned up some of th OA while he was in there. 3 years now. I'm getting some OA pain and think I might need the Euflexa shots in that knee.

But everyone is different! Go with whatever your health care pro's say.
 

santacruz skier

Angel Diva
In 2017 I had a "flap tear" to the meniscus and an avulsion fracture of the ACL that occurred skiing. Well not really as was forced into snowplow just standing- and bindings did not release . No surgery and lots of PT and followed up with weekly personal trainer, gym, biking and skied last year without issues. At all. Wore a brace that the orthopedic surgeon recommended (small brace covering knee with metal hinges)....
 

nopoleskier

Ski Diva Extraordinaire
I'm another w/torn meniscus and OA in my knee, I opted for no surgery, yest to PT, yest to brace and I know where it can't go when skiing and other exercises.

I had this site saved from other discussions on here from a NY Surgeon with excellent exercises and thoughts on PT vs Surgery. https://www.geneseeortho.com/surgeons/wickline.php

Go with your gut and with what the Dr's say. Sounds like you'll be fine :-)
 

Ski Sine Fine

Angel Diva
Thanks for all the replies. They give me hope! Nopoleskier, I am going to check out the link. Definitely going to be as informed as I can before seeing the orthopedic surgeon again.
 

marzNC

Angel Diva
I recognize those exercises from my knee PT. Lots of videos on YouTube once you know the name of an exercise. Here's a starter video for knee strengthening I found a while back and put into my ski fitness blog. Strong hamstrings are more important than quads for knee support. Also adductors and abductors.

https://over50skifitness.blogspot.com/2016/06/getting-started-with-knee-strengthening.html
 

marzNC

Angel Diva

Ski Sine Fine

Angel Diva
So I got the okay from my doc to “ease back into it.” He said groomers only and avoid ice. Uh, we’re on the east coast and it’s all ice? He said I should go west to Utah. I asked for a prescription to do just that. I was kidding, of course, but just a little. Can you imagine trying to get insurance to pay for that:becky:? He also gave me a brace to wear. Very similar to @santacruz skier ’s description - sleeve covering knee with metal hinges.

I am seeing my PT next week to get on a skiing-specific regimen. Meanwhile, I’m doing some of the exercises I found on @marzNC ’s excellent blog. The journey begins!
 

marzNC

Angel Diva
So I got the okay from my doc to “ease back into it.” He said groomers only and avoid ice. Uh, we’re on the east coast and it’s all ice? He said I should go west to Utah. I asked for a prescription to do just that. I was kidding, of course, but just a little. Can you imagine trying to get insurance to pay for that:becky:? He also gave me a brace to wear. Very similar to @santacruz skier ’s description - sleeve covering knee with metal hinges.

I am seeing my PT next week to get on a skiing-specific regimen. Meanwhile, I’m doing some of the exercises I found on @marzNC ’s excellent blog. The journey begins!
Well, one good thing about skiing in NoVA and southern PA is that the "ice" is nothing like in the northeast after a rain event followed by a hard freeze. At places like Whitetail and Massanutten, constant snowmaking all season means that there is rarely "blue ice" on the trails. Plus can often wait until later in the morning for temps to warm up enough to soften the snow even during Jan-Feb.

Certainly nice to have a doc who skis.
 

Ski Sine Fine

Angel Diva
I got back on the carpet at Inside Ski today. I was really nervous at first, not knowing how I’d react physically or mentally. My knee was fine! No pain, no instability, a little mental barrier but I took it real slow and deliberate. Weirdly, my left foot started hurting (same side as the bad knee). Now back to working on staying out of the back seat. The instructor gave me a simple drill to do on the carpet.
 

Ski Sine Fine

Angel Diva
My knee survived four days at Breck, but with TLC. I skied no more than a dozen run each day, and certainly not from open to close. Started with an ibuprofen each morning :smile:. No pain. No instability. On the third day, however, it started swelling just a little and I started icing. The fourth day I cut it short.

For my next trip, I think I will start a course of ibuprofen anti-inflammatory 3 days before skiing.

What actually bothered me on this trip was I had more trouble adjusting to the high altitude than ever before. I developed period breathing during the night. It was very unpleasant and I kept waking up. Never had this problem. I’m going back in January so need to figure out how to deal with it. I’m going to stay in Denver the first day before heading up to Breck to let my body more time to adjust. I hate getting old ☹️.
 

nopoleskier

Ski Diva Extraordinaire
Glad your knee did well! I'm an arnica lover for my old knees, although it doesn't work for everyone. Ditto hating getting old. When going West I ramp up my water before I go and I drink lots of h20 while I"m there, I put a humidifier in the room, I don't drink alcohol the first day, up until last year I didn't drink at all because I'd get so exhausted the next day. But last year I took Gingko Balboa before I went and while I was out west. I read about the Ginkgo on a Dr's blog about adjusting to altitude..It worked for me. I even had a glass of wine or beer or 2 :-) after skiing without the exhaustion I used to get and it seemed better walking around at 10k. (Taos) It helped some with the disjointed sleeping I get, unfortunately drinking all the water I still have to get up in the middle of the night. While at Taos the cook mentioned they usually give Chorlophyll to people w/attitude sickness.
 

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