knees and skis

[bkk]

any knowledge of continuing tournament skiing after total knee replacement or barefooting for that matter

[billb]

I'm totally back after ACL/MCL reconstruction. Several years ago, there was a guy at INT Nationals who was in his 50s or 60s who had both knees replaced and he was a wakeboarder doing inverts. A guy in my ski club had partial knee replacement last fall and never missed a single set. He was ready to go 100% this spring.

[skistrom]

Had a total knee replacement 6 weeks ago. Plan on hitting the water next spring. I know others have had knee replacements and are skiing great!

[Bulldog]

My old ski partner had both of his knees replaced. He ran 28 off after coming back from the surgeries. His knees were way better than the "original ones:...

[DanE]

@Bulldog‌ What was he running before the surgeries?

[Bulldog]

@DanE an occasional 35 off prior to having both done. He was in his early 60's!! He did not feel the need to risk hard falls so he was happy to run 28's all day.

[A_B]

I am wondering, do the knee replacement guys wear a lot of bracing? I can just imagine twisting a knee or something crazy. My wife had both replaced this Spring. Feels great now and happy she did it, but the first couple months were killer. (on me too).

[klindy]

A top Mens 4 overall skier had a replacement in the last year or so and still slaloms deep 38, tricks 3000+ and jumps 140. Listen to your doctor and listen to your body.

[jimbrake]

You can definitely continue tournament skiing after barefooting. For sure.

 

After knee replacement? Definitely that, too. I know because I will be there in a few years and will continue tournament skiing afterwards.

[mwetskier]

i would like to offer an alternate view point. to replace your natural knee with a mechanical one requires what amounts to amputation of the bones at the knee itself and that bone can never grow back. not every single knee replacement goes well and if yours does not go well you are in a world of trouble. so you need to decide what percentage of failure vs success you are willing to gamble with. i am not a particularly ' lucky ' guy and i would rather work on my muscle strength and ski technique to get me by with bad or arthritic knees than risk the remainder of my life in a wheel chair or worse.

 

on behalf of a client i researched knee replacement. statistically 1 in 400 do not survive 30 days after surgery -99 % survive 1 year -90 % survive just 5 years -and 84 % survive 10 years after surgery. the numbers for survival but with prosthetic failure are not any more encouraging. i realize that 1 in 400 is only 0.25 % but if its you in that 0.25 % it represents 100 % of the patients you really care about.

 

every one is different but i intend to never have a knee replacement and i would encourage any one i care about to look long and hard at physical therapy , behavior modification , and ergonomic solutions before putting their fate in the hands of a knee replacement specialist. just my semi educated opinion.

[Drago]

With respect to @mwetskier‌ , I absolutely hate getting cut on. I have a great friend who has two fake knees . Ran occasional 32s prior to surgery, now runs 28s all day, doesn't cut to 32 much

[MrJones]

As a PT I have rehabed hundreds of total knees. If you are relatively fit and healthy you should have no problems.

 

With respect to mwetskier. Of course anytime you go under general anesthesia there is a risk. When looking at those statistics you should consider that many patients who have total knees have them done when they are in their 70's and even their 80's. With other general medical issues and simple age, of course the 5 and 10 year survival rate is not going to be what it is for a patient population receiving ACL's (Likely 16-40 yoa)

 

As a PT of course I believe in conservative care, but there is a time when it doesn't work anymore. I had back pain for 15 years before surgery because the signs and symptoms made me believe I could rehab my way through it. Then there came a time when those same signs and symptoms said "it's time".

[Stevie Boy]

With respect @mwetskier I do not know where you are with your knees, but I experience so much discomfort I do wonder if I would be better off biting the bullet and having surgery, pain everyday is not much fun.