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Knee brace for skiing trip next year

R

RichardA

pfm Member
I haven’t been skiing for 10 years after a silly accident that cost me the ACL in my right knee. I have a hankering to restart albeit in a more modest way and after getting my fitness and leg strength up. I wont be going until next year.

Has anyone got experiences to share about getting a suitable knee brace. Any recommended clinics, medics or suppliers?

My knee doesn’t give me any pain or discomfort day to day, but clearly there is weakness there and I want to be careful.

Thanks
Richard
 
Out of prudence, take some good books and find a location with other things to do in case it doesn’t work.
I damaged my knees playing football in my 20s. 20 years later I was taken on a skiing weekend in Switzerland, By the end of day 1 I was in real pain. Day 2 I suited up, went to the slopes and managed 5 mins before needing to retire to the coffee lounge.
 
There is a (seemingly well regarded) device called a Ski-Mojo. No experience myself (though I have seen quite a few wearing them), and maybe much more (both functionally and cost wise) than you are looking for...?

How it works

ski-mojo.co.uk ski-mojo.co.uk

It won't stop silly accidents though... ;)

Take a look on the Snowheads forum and search for brace/knee etc. Probably a fair bit more experience and ideas on a ski forum (no disrespect fishies!).
 
I'm certainly no expert, but I don't think MTB body armour is going to do much in the way of protecting ACLs when skiing... just my tuppence worth (as a skier and MTB body armour wearer).
 
My wife had an incident skiing over Xmas 2022. She was knocked over on a gentle blue in hard packed conditions. This didn't cause the injury, but she removed her remaining ski to side step up the slope, to retrieve the other. Unfortunately a slip of the lower leg whilst the upper (right) leg stayed put, bent her knee sideways. Despite (straight) skiing to the bottom of a lift, she needed the 'blood wagon' to take her down to the Medical centre. Long story short, she ruptured her ACL and MCL, & tore the LCL (and fractured the tibial plateau for good measure).

Back home she got diagnosed pretty quickly and opted for the physio route (vs ACL reconstruction) as soon as she could (her preferred fitness activity is running). She's continued the physio (no surgery), and went skiing again this Xmas (2023). She used the Össur CTi3 knee brace, which was a bit of a compromise for her, as she would have been better with a custom fit (the bottom of the brace was 'in' her ski boot). She's only 5'2", so maybe the std brace would be OK for average height.
Apart from some obvious initial nervousness, she was fine skiing full days all week. (The black bumps run was a bit much on her knee!)

We are regular skiers, but only once a season.

The Ossur was recommended by the physio, as it has the most research behind it.

We used Travel insurance attached to our Nationwide Flexplus account (which paid out fully for the incident, but we did have to stump up first). They had no problem covering for the next year, with no increase of premium for declaring the knee. But she can run 5k without pain, etc.

I mentioned Össur to a mate at work (who had knee problems in the past), and he can now join his son playing basketball.

Good luck, but you'll need to do lots of strength work/physio beforehand, (her words, not mine).

Graeme.
 
Tore my ACL skiing in 2001, restrictive but didn't have surgery. In 2009 after an assessment at Covent Gardien Physio bought a CTi knee brece. Have been skiing 5 or 6 times since without a problem. Needs to be fairly tight but can be worn the whole day with minor discomfort, adjusting in ski clobber can be a bit faffy. Nothing to compare it against but worked for me. Plenty of strength work also as advised above essential.
 
I had knee damage including torn ligaments in a motorcycle accident 14 years ago, and it still gives me regular problems and varying levels of ongoing pain. As with the OP I suspect it will never fully recover, so ways have to be found to mitigate the issues. I have found that types of knee brace to help reduce pain and add stability.
I can generally sleep and go about my normal working day without any kind of support, but if I am doing anything remotely strenuous (like a recent trip up mt. Vesuvius) then I use a Neo G neoprene knee brace like this:

Neo G Stabilised Open Knee Support - Universal Size - Boots

Browse Neo G Stabilised Open Knee Support - Universal Size. Available online today at Boots.
www.boots.com www.boots.com

This one has springs in the sides that add stability without restricting movement, and the neoprene & velcro construction make it adjustable and reasonably comfortable. If I was thinking about skiing though I might ask a physio for some recommendations in advance, as I suspect something with stronger bracing / hinges might add more strength and you would want to avoid sudden shocks and excessive twisting of the joint, which I imagine would be agonising! There will definitely be products out there that can help, but I would consult a sports physio in advance.
 
Damas said:
Tore my ACL skiing in 2001, restrictive but didn't have surgery. In 2009 after an assessment at Covent Gardien Physio bought a CTi knee brece. Have been skiing 5 or 6 times since without a problem. Needs to be fairly tight but can be worn the whole day with minor discomfort, adjusting in ski clobber can be a bit faffy. Nothing to compare it against but worked for me. Plenty of strength work also as advised above essential.
Click to expand...
Great recommendation. Easy for me to get to from north London. Thanks.
 
Good news, hope it works out.

The fitness/strength seems to be key here (I'm sure the physio has given you plenty of exercises).

Wishing you well, and hope you enjoy the skiing.

Graeme.
 
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