Wakeboarder :: ACL

malibu_inverted · Outlaw Joined: 27 Jan 2004 Posts: 110 City: Schofield

I'll just tell a lil' story from last week. So sadly last Wednesday my cousin ended up tearing his ACL and two other things in his knee while riding with us in our boat. It was on just a simple w2w jump and he landed on the crest. it looked so harmless but when i drove back to pick him up he was in horrible pain and then managed to kick the board off still. I would have never have thought he tore something. Lucky for him we were filming so i guess he got to see his knee bend and almost hit his right knee.

I feel bad cause he loves snowboarding way more and now he lost that. Plus he blamed my Murray bindings which i got him to try that day. i agree that the toe seems too loose on the Murray's usually...but finding out it was a knee thing i rule out the fault of the binding:).

I guess i'm just wondering from other ACL torn people on here, is it something you can recover from and ride again the next year? or is it too haunting or always weak? I got a feeling he won't wanna ride next summer cause he won't wanna miss snowboarding again. It kinda puts a total mind-block in my riding now too cause the knee injury is in the back of my head.

jpminter · Posted: Aug 12, 2005 4:41 am Post subject:

If he rehabs the right way, he would probably be ready for next wakeboarding season. I doubt he'll be doing much snowboarding this upcoming season; maybe towards the end of it.

Adam Greer · Posted: Aug 12, 2005 4:47 am Post subject:

If he does PT like he is supposed and really works hard his knee will be better than before and he will have around a 6 month recovery before he will be back at it. Usually around 8 months you are back to normal. However there is a pretty big mental battle to over come....

Also make sure you have the surgeroy done by a sports medicine knee specialist, i made the mistake of going to the local orthopidic and payed the price for that.

So if i count right, and he has the surgoery by the end of the month, then he should be able to catch the tail end of snowboarding season depending on where you live.

I found snowboarding to not be very stressful on my knee. Apparently my doc messed up my surgoery and i didn't have a acl for a 8 months after the surgoery and i really didn't have any problems snowboarding with my brace on. But if he tore other ligaments (not just his meniscus) then it may not be the same.

K_POPE · Newbie Joined: 28 Jun 2005 Posts: 44 City: Milledgeville

i tore my left one a month ago doing a backroll...(tore my right one 2 years ago playing soccer)

8 months after sugery if the proper rehab is done then the ACL will be 100%...About 12 months after surgery you new ACL is 200% percent stronger than the one you are born with. My orthopedist has done thousands of ACL surgerys and only had one re-torn ACL. And that's b/c the guy didn't do any rehab. So i trust him and his knowledge b/c after 2 years my right knee is doing great...couldn't be better!

malibu_inverted · Outlaw Joined: 27 Jan 2004 Posts: 110 City: Schofield

A shocking update on my cousins ACL:

To me it seems like he has an idiot of a doctor, but that's just my opinion. First the doctor tells him that his ACL completely snapped and he no longer has it..i can understand that. Then he talks about his PCL being damaged and something about some bruising with the bone or something. So i guess his leg was pretty f'ed up.

The thing is, the dumb doctor then tells him that if his PCl would have torn like his ACL it would have left his leg dangling with nothing to hold the joint together. Which could have caused the bones to cut his artery in his leg which would have led him to have to have his lower leg amputated. Maybe this is true?? but what type of idiot doctor has to even bother telling you what DIDN'T happen but what maybe could have in one in a million. It makes people terrified. I have no problem hurting my leg or something boarding, i love boarding. But i dont' love it enough to lose a leg Very Happy

Now the dumb doctor even has it in the back of my head causing me to ride somewhat terrified.

Oh to top it off, the doc doesn't want him to have surgery. Told him to do rehab first to strenghten his quad muscles, etc. That he doesn't even need the ACl and that he could already start snowboarding when the season starts with a brace and he'd only be a little washy in the leg. How come when football players get hurt they are out forever it seems. Sure the doc said if he was a pro they'd have to do the surgery..but still. I don't know, all seems weird. If i were him I'd have the operation.

lcap · Ladies Man Joined: 13 Nov 2003 Posts: 10973 City: Homeless

malibu_inverted,

1. You don't need an ACL to do most sports. Football is an exception but by the time you have ACL surgery you've lost so much speed and are damaged goods your career is over anyway.

2. Doc's are people to, I'd much rather have one that gives me the straight up skinny rather than the watered down b.s.

3. You can loose your leg, or your ankle (me), or your knee, or your ear drum, or your bicep, or your ........ wakeboarding. Of course you can loose all of the above driving a car, playing football, getting out of bed, etc.

Everyone feels bad whenever someone is hurt behind our boats. Wouldn't have mattered if it was your boat or someone elses, it still would have happened.

P.S. Yes the mental block is gigantic. No matter how many times you tell yourself while cutting to the wake you aren't going to scrub, something deep inside makes you do just the opposite.

auto · Newbie Joined: 05 Apr 2005 Posts: 30 City: HOA HELL

echo skipping the orthoped, go for a sports med guy that only does knees, don't want a jack of all trades.