My husband and I went skiing yesterday and I wasn’t on anything that I hadn’t done a thousand times before. It was just a fluke. It’s a run called the ‘Rock Garden’, so you can imagine there are small humps and jumps. I was near the bottom of the run when I caught an edge on my ski, my binding didn’t release, and as I twisted and fell, my foot stayed put, causing significant torsion on my knee.
I felt and heard a pop and had a lot of pain. My husband got my ski off and moved me down and out of the way. After about ten minutes, the pain started to subside, so I decided I would try to ski out on my own. He helped me up and as soon as I put weight on my injured leg, my lower leg went right, and my upper went left. Grossest feeling ever. I have never dislocated anything before and I never want to again.
I sat down quickly and started panicking. My husband went in to medic mode and was fantastic. We sent another skier for ski patrol and they came and packed me up on the ski stretcher and skied me out (that was a bit unnerving, considering where we were and the sort of sketchy terrain). Went to the hospital in Banff and had a brace put on and got some crutches.
It slipped out again last night, which really worries me. I’d like to avoid surgery, especially right now (we’re in the middle of an IVF - I have my baseline appointment tomorrow and should start the injects tomorrow night). Pretty bad swelling and pain with even the slightest lateral movement. I’m avoiding taking anything other then Tylenol, but sort of wish I had asked for some T3’s at the hospital. I’m considering paying for a private MRI (the wait list for public is 8 - 10 months) this week to see how bad it is.
That severe of a dislocation could be much more. You won’t know until the inflammation quiets down and you do some therapy. The good news is that most ligaments can be rehabbed except the ACL. If that were torn, they should have been able to tell. So good luck, but don’t be totally surprised either.
I’m not allowed to post on “medical-type” threads anymore: per ME. I have a skewed sense of what’s needed. But if you want I can tell you about the time I dislocated my knee, which went untreated, and how many years it took my body to fix it.
Go to the doc and take care of yourself. Hopefully it’s not too bad but if there are problems, rehab centers do a great job. I’ve never skied but always thought it would be like flying on the ground instead of up in the air. Is it like that?
Thanks for the stories and advice everyone! After some research, it sounds like I have a torn MCL. I’m going to see my doc ASAP and have contacted the acute knee injury clinic at the University’s Sports Injury Clinic to see if I can get in with them. I really hope it’s not my ACL, but I certainly did some damage. My knee is very unstable.
Oh you poor dear!!! Rest up and feel better soon, please! My right knee always slips out of its’ socket, but I just have to turn my leg to get it back in…
My brother did the same thing a few years ago except on a snowboard (his first time out; famous last words= “Nah, who needs lessons?”). I think he partially tore his ACL, MCL, and LCL, or something like that. Maybe one of them was a PCL instead. I can’t remember, but it was a lot of ligament damage.
The bad news: it took about 8 months before he was okay. And he had to wear an absolutely humongous brace, the kind that makes the airport people bring wheelchair assistance to your gate even when you didn’t ask for it. But the good news, he was okay, lots of PT and no surgery. He was 19, so he had the advantage of youth, but he’s very active and has no limitation with that leg 3 years later. Good luck!
Thanks guys. After doing my own research, I am pretty convinced I tore my MCL. From what I can find, it can often be conservatively rehabilitated (physical therapy only). Today is a holiday, but I’m going to try to get in with my husband’s physical therapist tomorrow and get her to assess it.
A friend of ours went skiing with his buddies. Same story - “we’ll teach ya!”.
That was the first AND last time he ever tried the sport. Tore 3 of the 4 ligaments, if I remember correctly.
EmAnJ, I would definitely try to get in to see a sports-med specialist or at least a regular orthopedist as soon as possible. Possibly they can get you bumped up in priority for the MRI since this is something that could be pretty damn disabling right now, as well as the possiblity longer-term effects like arthritis and knee replacement.
Yup, that’s the plan! The PT I’m going to try to get in to tomorrow is a sports therapist and has worked with my husband on his knee and shoulder issues for years. I’ve also contact the University’s Sports Therapy Department as they have an acute knee injury clinic that I can get in to in less then a week (in most cases). I need to take care of this ASAP! I’ll even pay out of pocket for a private MRI if I have to.
