MCL, ACL and their functions in finning and diving?

[pdoege]

I had posted earlier that frog kicks really made my knee hurt. I've been practicing them for about a month now and things seem to be just peachy.

Not sure why I was having the pain earlier. Perhaps the supporting muscles were weak?

I can frog kick like a mother now. No problems.

Good luck with the surgery Spectre. I think you'll enjoy diving more with the repaired knee.

Peter Doege

 

[mddolson]

I am not a Doctor.
I am a diver, and instructor with 25 years experience.
Last year I had a total knee replacement. See jpeg.
This operation sacrifices the ACL, to replaced dammaged, or arthritic cartilage with metal and a plastic wear surface.

My experience is; I can use, perform and demonstrate all the normal diving fin kicks, flutter, frog, scissor, dolphin etc without difficulty or discomfort or change in performace or appearance as viewed by my co-instructors.

My conclusion is the ACL has little to contribute in fin kicks.

Down hill skiing, that's not the same however.

Mike D

 

[wheezy]

I feel a little better now. I blew my knee out on Monday night... been only 4 days now. MRI is scheduled for the 8th of April.

I race Motorcycles and am pretty bummed out that I won't be riding for quite some time. The preliminary diagnosis is that there IS damage to the ACL and Miniscus... how bad we won't know until the MRI.

At least I'll be able to dive. So my questions (which I'm sure my doc will tell me when I ask in a week)

How long after surgery before you guys were back in the water diving???

SPECTRE: What knee brace are you using for diving? I've got some really trick CTI2's but theres no way they'd work for diving... is it over the suit?? or under??


Uhhhhgggggg... this sucks I'm only 26... wayyy to young for this stuff

 

[12voltman]

I blew my ACL and had it repaired in '95 (the center third of my patella tendon was used). It had no affect on my diving when it was gone (several years), or after it was repaired. That leg is a bit weaker, but strengthening the muscles around the knee is what helps provide the needed stability for the knee. Even more so if you don't have it repaired, as an unexpected mistep can cause further trauma to the knee....it does/will hurt, and sometimes it ain't pretty.

Rehab is a grind, especially if you're older, but if you are persistant and dedicated to it the results are usually good. I used a lap pool to run in once I was weight bearing as part of the rehab. I had lived for years without the ACL, but had re-injured it twice (non sports related) and finally decided to get it fixed. I was out of work for 4 months and not 100% (> or <) for about another 2 to 3 months after that, but I had the surgery in my late 30's.

New surgeries are making it even easier to fix and less intrusive scalpel wise. By the way, John Elway tore his ACL in high school and never had it fixed. Didn't seem to bother him.

 

[Spectre]

wheezy once bubbled...
How long after surgery before you guys were back in the water diving???

Well, I was in the water on monday, three weeks after initial injury. I tried to go in the wednesday before, but the pool time was changed and I didn't know. However I also was walking without crutches the day after, and I had quite a bit of muscle built up from this ski season, so the strength lost took me back to pre-season strength.

I talked to the doc yesterday, and he said surgury recovery time will be a little slower; but not much because there won't be a 2 1/2 week gap between surgury and PT, as there was between incident and PT.

Also I'm going with an allograft, so I don't have to worry about the recovery time of my hamstring or patella tendon. One of the overriding reasons for the allograft is my age and planned activity level in the future. I won't have any weakness in the tissue where a graft would have came from, and if I blow the ACL again, there isn't the issue of where to get the next graft.

SPECTRE: What knee brace are you using for diving? I've got some really trick CTI2's but theres no way they'd work for diving... is it over the suit?? or under??

I've got a DonJoy brace at the moment. Adjustable length. It's long, and it's annoying [the first night it was cutting off my femoral artery and it wasn't until well into the afternoon on the next day before I had feeling in my foot]. I believe the model is T-ROM, or at least it says T-Rom on the hinge.

Later I'll end up with a custom to use skiing and all that, which will be _much_ smaller.

I wore it under the drysuit, so it wouldn't get wet. That was the reason I had issues w/ the squeeze digging it into my calf.

Uhhhhgggggg... this sucks I'm only 26... wayyy to young for this stuff

Definately! Best of luck. Make sure to grill the doctor. Decide what you want your future to hold, and make sure the doc is on the same page as to where you want to go, and has experience getting people back. Everyone I've talked to that has delt with the doc I'm seeing have said they are better skiiers now then pre-accident.

 

[mddolson]

I had arthroscopic surgery prior to the knee replacement on Oct 1, and was back in the open water water in November. I was in the pool in two weeks.

The Knee replacement was another story,

Sugery was Feb 15 last year,
I was in hospital 5 days.
Physiotheorapy started 2 weeks later.

I was in the pool in 4 weeks but could not push a fin! I lost two inches in circumference in my thigh due to atrophy (lost muscle mass due to inactivity)
I was agressive and did 1 1/2 hor physio 3 days a week at rehab gym and home exercises as well.
I was prononced fully fit to dive June 6, after my check up and xrays.

Mike D

 

[wheezy]

thanks for the info guys... I'm nervous as all hell.... the 8th will tell.

Spectre: make sure you check out the CTI's for skiing... the absolute best braces out there PERIOD... as with any brace they do take some getting used to.

I'll let you guys know how things go next week... good luck to you to Spectre..

 

[Spectre]

wheezy once bubbled...
Spectre: make sure you check out the CTI's for skiing... the absolute best braces out there PERIOD... as with any brace they do take some getting used to.

I'll check into it. Thanks for the lead. The guy I saw at Killington swore by the Townsend; something about the proprietary hinge. I'm not sure what Tierney promotes, but I'll have to talk to him about it.

 

[wheezy]

Townsend are O.K., they do the same thing.. but the quality is not even close to the CTI2... the CTI is the most copied design in the world

CTI-2 Custom Knee Braces

many professional athletes use them... Unless your insurance covers them or you have deep pockets... the Townsend might be a better choice as they are about $1,600 EACH (buy hey you can get cool paint jobs on them too )

Good Luck

 

[beepbird]

I popped my ACL skiing a couple of weeks ago and finally went in for the MRI today. I think the MRI hurt just as much as when I initially injured it because I couldn't straighten it. I have a surgical consult on Friday and am trying to figure out what I can do with and without surgery. The injury is really screwing up my summer plans as I was going to take a rescue class and dive in Honduras later this year.

I'll ask my surgeon for one of those Cti braces. Your links have been really helpful and you are helping me know what to expect. Good luck with your surgeries and rehab!