Are You a Denver Skier Who Tore Your ACL This Season?
Skiers and ACL ruptures go together like peanut butter and jelly. Knee and anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) related injuries account for nearly 1/3 of all alpine related injuries. Add in MCL, LCL, and meniscus related injuries, and things start to add up. I’m here to tell you, it’s not a death sentence and doesn’t mean the end to your skiing career. Let me introduce you to one of our patients Matt.
Matt started working with us this past Summer in the lead up to the 24/25 ski season. Matt’s history included 4 different surgeries on the same knee, 2 of which were ACL reconstructions and 2 meniscus arthroscopies. What lead to Matt working with us, unfortunately, he tore his reconstructed ACL an additional time the previous season. While Matt’s case certainly isn’t the middle of the bell curve, his story isn’t an isolated one.
Upon injury, Matt faced the same questions a lot of people face. Do you continue to ski? At what level and intensity does that look like? What will it take to get back there safely? Is it worth it?
When we assessed Matt’s knee, not only did we have to identify where his baseline was but we had to define where his true deficits were. The biggest factors that stood out were his strength, while not actually terrible, could use some tuning up but specifically was lacking strength in the deeper ranges of his squat and lunge, crucial to skiing and carving. Secondly, he was lacking brakes to the race car. Upon higher forces of deceleration, both sagittally and in the frontal plane, his knee couldn’t slow down. This combination when trying to ski over cliffs, ski down shoots, and making his way through deep powder wouldn’t ideal.
We started his physical therapy re-establishing his strength, specifically in lunge and single leg squat patterns. This allowed us to not only avoid compensation from his non-injured sided but allowed us to explore deeper ranges of his knee effectively. After achieving this, it was time rebuild the brakes.
By re-introducing first some simple depth drops and drop lunges, he got to learn what it felt like to decelerate in his knee versus his hip. We took this and progressed to lateral movements such as skater jumps and depth jump variations that included multiple directions and planes. This is where things got a little difficult. Matt being strong, did really well in ranges and forces that he was previously exposed to, however, when we upped the ante, he would fall back into his previous compensation patterns.
Through persistence, lots of sweat and effort on his end, Matt put in the work and time to re-establish the proper mechanics to slow down at high velocities and forces. This was the biggest difference maker when getting back into skiing. If we don’t expose patients to these high forces, were almost throwing up a prayer that his knee will do what we want it to. Versus, by exposing his knee to the stresses and strains of where he wanted to go and what he wanted to get back to, he can attack his ski season how he wanted to.
Knee injuries and ACL tears don’t have to be the end. While not ideal and absolutely suck to endure, sometimes they present an opportunity to put yourself in a better position than you’ve ever been in.
These days, Matt’s back on the mountain chasing powder all over Colorado. He’s amassed 22 days and counting without issue. He’s stronger than ever and even turned it up a notch from last season.
If this story sounds like you or have an old knee injury, please reach out to consult with us at Tundra Performance and Physical Therapy where we are experienced at creating customized and individualized rehabilitation programs fit to you and your goals.
If you are currently struggling with an injury or unable to perform in the activities you enjoy. Please follow the link below to schedule a consultation call to discuss how we can help you.
