Tibia Injury

I recently had a season ending Tibial Plateau fracture with minor
Meniscus tear. I have opted not to get the surgery as it wsa diagnosed
3 weeks on & my orthopedist has advised against it. The damage of the
compression fracture is just below where it would definetely require
surgery (5mm).I have been told that there is now a good chance of
getting arthritis and/or knee replacement down the line.I am using a
brace a cane for the next 2 weeks.
Any info from someone with same or similar appreciated.
TIA !

"Old Man Winter" wentBigwentHome.com wrote in message
...
I recently had a season ending Tibial Plateau fracture with minor Meniscus
tear. I have opted not to get the surgery as it wsa diagnosed 3 weeks on &
my orthopedist has advised against it. The damage of the compression
fracture is just below where it would definetely require surgery (5mm).I
have been told that there is now a good chance of getting arthritis and/or
knee replacement down the line.I am using a brace a cane for the next 2
weeks.
Any info from someone with same or similar appreciated.
TIA !


How much of a meniscus tear do you have? If you do not get the meniscus
repaired it will get worse as time goes on, it will continue to rip and get
larger causing more knee damage. With the current state of surgery with a
good up to date surgeon you will be better off having the knee surgery to
repair the tear than not. There's not much they can do for the compression
fracture from what I gathered. I didn't take of my knees when I was younger
and now regret not doing so, but in the earlier days they used to cut your
knee open which many times caused more problems than it solved. My last
surgery on both knees was just a temporary solution to delay total knee
replacement.

The next best thing you can do is make your knees as strong as possible and
keep them as flexible as possible.

JQ
Dancing on the edge

Old Man Winter wrote:
I recently had a season ending Tibial Plateau fracture with minor
Meniscus tear. I have opted not to get the surgery as it wsa diagnosed 3
weeks on & my orthopedist has advised against it. The damage of the
compression fracture is just below where it would definetely require
surgery (5mm).I have been told that there is now a good chance of
getting arthritis and/or knee replacement down the line.I am using a
brace a cane for the next 2 weeks.
Any info from someone with same or similar appreciated.


I had a compression fracture of about the same
depth two years ago. I was told to keep weight
off of the leg until it healed using crutches.
That took about a month. After that it was
many months of physical therapy to restore
the range of motion to the knee. That is
the hard part.

I skied fine the next season.
I am more focused on control
and less likely to "ride it out"
when I lose it.

-- Mike Treseler

From the MRI repot : "There is a grade 2 signal involving the posterior
horn of the medial meniscus.The lateral meniscus shows thin horizontal
longitudinal tear extending into both anterior and posterior
horns.There is a grade 1 MCL sprain."
I'm seeng a sports Ortho Dr. who only does knees & shoulders. He told
me he sees injuries like this "one a day " during ski season. I did not
get a good diagnosis until after I walked around on it for 3 weeks. I
had thought it wsa a sprain.
He has decided that I should use the cane & brace & return in 2 wks. I
think the meniscus tear seems to be minor. Exploratory 'scope was
discussed then put on back burner,pending follow-up.
I would rather do it sooner than later for your stated reasons.
How would you have taken better care of your knees? What is the cause
of you requiring knee surgery/replacement ?
TIA !




On 2007-03-30 22:46:34 -0400, "JQ" said:





"Old Man Winter" wentBigwentHome.com wrote in message
...
I recently had a season ending Tibial Plateau fracture with minor
Meniscus tear. I have opted not to get the surgery as it wsa diagnosed
3 weeks on & my orthopedist has advised against it. The damage of the
compression fracture is just below where it would definetely require
surgery (5mm).I have been told that there is now a good chance of
getting arthritis and/or knee replacement down the line.I am using a
brace a cane for the next 2 weeks.
Any info from someone with same or similar appreciated.
TIA !


How much of a meniscus tear do you have? If you do not get the
meniscus repaired it will get worse as time goes on, it will continue
to rip and get larger causing more knee damage. With the current state
of surgery with a good up to date surgeon you will be better off having
the knee surgery to repair the tear than not. There's not much they
can do for the compression fracture from what I gathered. I didn't
take of my knees when I was younger and now regret not doing so, but in
the earlier days they used to cut your knee open which many times
caused more problems than it solved. My last surgery on both knees was
just a temporary solution to delay total knee replacement.

The next best thing you can do is make your knees as strong as possible
and keep them as flexible as possible.

JQ
Dancing on the edge

Unfortunately, I didn't know I had the fracture until 3 weeks later.
Did you have other tissue damage as well ? What did your physical
therapy consist of ?
Glad to hear you have not suffered lasting effects. Did you get the
arthritis/knee replacement prognosis ?
TIA !



On 2007-03-31 11:18:55 -0400, Mike Treseler said:

Old Man Winter wrote:
I recently had a season ending Tibial Plateau fracture with minor
Meniscus tear. I have opted not to get the surgery as it wsa diagnosed
3 weeks on & my orthopedist has advised against it. The damage of the
compression fracture is just below where it would definetely require
surgery (5mm).I have been told that there is now a good chance of
getting arthritis and/or knee replacement down the line.I am using a
brace a cane for the next 2 weeks.
Any info from someone with same or similar appreciated.


I had a compression fracture of about the same
depth two years ago. I was told to keep weight
off of the leg until it healed using crutches.
That took about a month. After that it was
many months of physical therapy to restore
the range of motion to the knee. That is
the hard part.

I skied fine the next season.
I am more focused on control
and less likely to "ride it out"
when I lose it.

-- Mike Treseler

Old man Winter wrote:

Unfortunately, I didn't know I had the fracture until 3 weeks later.

I was lucky that my knee hurt so bad
that I never even thought about putting
weight on it until I knew not to.

Did you have other tissue damage as well ?

I had an MRI as soon as the swelling went down
and that that showed no ligament damage.
It was pure vertical compression.

The orthodoc then ordered a cat scan to
see the bones better. He decided that
there was not enough junk between the
bone surfaces to justify surgery.

What did your physical
therapy consist of ?

While bones were healing, the exercises
were easy. Leg lifts and such from the floor
to keep the supporting structures strong.
When the doc declared the knee "healed",
I complained that couldn't bend it far
enough to ski.

He then gave me an Rx for more PT.
Each session involved warming the
joint up on an exercise bike,
doing ankle pulls and knee pushes
on the floor. Then I got on the
table and the PT bent my knee for me
to break up the gunk that was
restricting motion.
This was very intense, and I left
each session in a sweat.

The PT soon got the "bent" angle into spec,
but he never quite got the "straight"
angle straight enough for his liking.
I still work on this at home using a 50 pound bag
of play sand. Luckily, the imperfectly straightened
knee affects my walking gait, not skiing.

Glad to hear you have not suffered lasting effects.

Thanks. Me too. I think the key was getting
an orthodoc with good access to MRI and CAT
imaging, and a sports oriented PT willing
to work hard.

Did you get the
arthritis/knee replacement prognosis ?

Not yet. Good luck on your therapy.
Skiing is worth it.

-- Mike Treseler

"Old Man Winter" wentBigwentHome.com wrote in message
...
From the MRI repot : "There is a grade 2 signal involving the posterior
horn of the medial meniscus.The lateral meniscus shows thin horizontal
longitudinal tear extending into both anterior and posterior horns.There
is a grade 1 MCL sprain."
I'm seeng a sports Ortho Dr. who only does knees & shoulders. He told me
he sees injuries like this "one a day " during ski season. I did not get a
good diagnosis until after I walked around on it for 3 weeks. I had
thought it wsa a sprain.
He has decided that I should use the cane & brace & return in 2 wks. I
think the meniscus tear seems to be minor. Exploratory 'scope was
discussed then put on back burner,pending follow-up.
I would rather do it sooner than later for your stated reasons.
How would you have taken better care of your knees? What is the cause of
you requiring knee surgery/replacement ?
TIA !

(snip)

I was a national level Collegiate middle distance runner (track and cross
country) and a International level karate competitor. I had injured my
knees several times but never took off for recovery, I would train through
the pain in the day the mantra was, "no pain, no gain". In 1977 running up
the steps to bed I planted my left foot and made a hard pivot and severely
tore the lateral meniscus, I continued to train and compete for a year
before I couldn't take the pain any longer and was not able to train either
in running or karate so I went to see a knee specialist at Temple University
Hospital that was treating the Philadelphia Eagles and other pro sport
athletes. At first because of my knee strength and knee flexibility he
thought the knee damage wasn't that severe. I had a cist that had developed
and was causing pain and was interfering with joint movement. He gave me
some medication and told if the cist didn't go away or if the pain persisted
to come back after 2 weeks. Well the pain didn't go away not did the cist.
I waited 3 months and went back. He asked why I waited so long, I told him
I was trying to avoid knee surgery. He had the surgery schedule the next
day. It was the beginning days of arthroscopic surgery, they would use the
scope to look at the knee then do a small incision to do the surgery. At
that time they completely immobilized the knee with a full leg cast. which
stayed on for 4 weeks then the knee therapy. My knee hurt more than it did
before the surgery for about 6 - 8 weeks and I was wondering if I did the
right thing. Then gradually the knee pain went away. I went back to
training but I was never able to run again and my running competition days
were over. I kept trying to come back but my knee was never able to take
the pounding from running. I was able to continue the martial arts training
and competing but I had to modify my training slightly.
I opened a weight training gym and started to powerlift and bodybuild. I
had re-injured the bad knee and the good knee a few more times. In 1995,
the pain in both knees were worse than ever, I couldn't sleep or walk many
of days and nights. I had been training for another international karate
championships to be held in Puerto Rico and decided that after the
tournament I would get my knees looked at again. After the tournament I had
a very hard time walking because of the pain. I went and seen another
sports orthopedic that worked on many of the Philadelphia Pros. I had MRI's
taken of both knees and was prepared for the worse, as before when I seen
the doctor with the MRI's he scheduled me the following days to have both
knees done (I was and am self-employed and couldn't afford to take off twice
for prolonged time), plus knowing myself I would have most likely not gone
back to get the other knee worked on later. I was prepared for pain after
the surgery as with the first one. To my amaze, I was able to walk out with
crutches and with very little pain. The doctor told me at my post operation
visit, that he didn't know how I was able to train or walk with the amount
of knee damage that I had. He told me my knees were one of the worse that
he had ever seen and could really use a total knee replacement! The
procedure that he used was to clean out all the debris in the knee, repair
both meniscus in the right knee and repair the remaining one in the left
knee. He had to scrape and clean both knee caps, top and bottom of both
knee joints then drill small holes in the remaining cartledge. This
procedure was to give me some more time before total knee replacement. It
was an attempt to cause scare tissue to form and make a sort of new
cartledge. I was put on a passive motion machine for 8 weeks for a minimum
of 8 hours per day and was to stay off my legs during this time and to do
therapy. I was happy that I didn't have any knee pains. I thought I was
going to be able to go back to training and competing again. I was never
able to train as I had intended and competing was totally out.

I started skiing in 1996 just after my father passed away as a challenge
from my best friend that had been skiing for over 15 years to this time. I
had no control at all but I got a natural high like I did when I was
running, training and competing. So I stuck with it, and have been skiing
at least 20 days per season averaging 25 days or more. Knee replacement are
getting closer as the pain is getting worse skiing is getting tougher due to
pain and it is making work a little more challenging.

I was told when I was younger by a few older men that if I didn't take care
of my knees that I would pay the price when I got older, I played their
advice off as they didn't know what they were talking about. They were so
correct, I wish I had listen to them but that is hind sight.

So the moral of this long story is to take good care of those knees and with
the new and improved surgical techniques today total recovery is highly
possible.

JQ
Dancing on the edge

On Mar 31, 5:27 pm, "JQ" wrote:
I started skiing in 1996 just after my father passed away as a challenge
from my best friend that had been skiing for over 15 years to this time. I
had no control at all but I got a natural high like I did when I was
running, training and competing. So I stuck with it, and have been skiing
at least 20 days per season averaging 25 days or more. Knee replacement are
getting closer as the pain is getting worse skiing is getting tougher due to
pain and it is making work a little more challenging.

My knees are a bit flaky, which hasn't stopped me from starting to ski
again (apparently I hate myself.) I notice that skiing bothers my
knees more than snowboarding with properly adjusted bindings, so while
this may be rec.skiing.alpine I'll still urge you to try it out - at
worst, you won't like it, and it might let you have more fun on the
mountain.

Andrew

"Andrew" wrote in message
ups.com...
On Mar 31, 5:27 pm, "JQ" wrote:
I started skiing in 1996 just after my father passed away as a challenge
from my best friend that had been skiing for over 15 years to this time.
I
had no control at all but I got a natural high like I did when I was
running, training and competing. So I stuck with it, and have been
skiing
at least 20 days per season averaging 25 days or more. Knee replacement
are
getting closer as the pain is getting worse skiing is getting tougher due
to
pain and it is making work a little more challenging.

My knees are a bit flaky, which hasn't stopped me from starting to ski
again (apparently I hate myself.) I notice that skiing bothers my
knees more than snowboarding with properly adjusted bindings, so while
this may be rec.skiing.alpine I'll still urge you to try it out - at
worst, you won't like it, and it might let you have more fun on the
mountain.

Andrew

I did try it once but didn't like it. I also have a major problem trying to
stand up with the board after falling. I cannot bend my knees enough to get
up from the sitting position and when I roll over to the kneeling position
it is easier but very awkward. Thanks for the thought though. I even gave
monoskiing a thought but after speaking to a few monoskiers I decide it was
not the right move either.

JQ
Dancing on the edge

SORRY I am going to top post since I was so late in responding.
Concentric stopped the newsgroups server service the other times when I
was out here at my garden --been working in the garden with water leaks
in filter system and bamboo division since the plants are dormant and
the ground is not frozen..
It has been about 13 months since I crashed while wearing number 13 and
training for the masters Super G race at Mt Snow. I clipped a gate in
the flats the ski stayed on and the knee rotated I had a complete fracture.
It has been a nightmare of immense proportion on top of a horrible ski
season.
I received heavy metal poisoning from the stainless steel plate, it
bothered me in a way I did not understand until we realized it was
killing me. the plate came out at the 6 month mark not after the normal
year of healing. That operation nearly killed me I had been prescribed a
anti-inflammatory by the surgeon the week before as he scheduled the
operation.
Then I spent the next 32 days with a IV hanging out of my arm and the
warning if you get anything in it you will kill yourself, I have 10,000
gallons of water in my fish ponds/watergarden and it requires weekly work.
But the best part started after all the antibiotics and poisoning
finished. I have had major GI issues still continuing till today which I
will not go into detail.
I am fifty and believe that you get out of life what you put into it.
Along with you must give a little to get a little. The body gets chewed
up as you get old I hobble a bit from my years of hockey but you
should be enjoying what your doing or you should do something else. I
have watched people wait to retire then realize that life is nearly over.
My knee is getting better in the last month or so I have been feeling
pain or tingling in the area, so my nerves are starting to repair it
never really hurt. I suspect after a summer of workout and chasing my 2
year old I will be ready for full race schedule now if the weather will
cooperate.
My suggestion is not to get a stainless steel plate if surgery is
required. On healing I pushed it I did laps about the hospital on my
crutches, when I got home I did a couple of blocks a few times a day. I
had the injured knee go through the walking motion but putting no
pressure on it. Hard enough to get a breathing rate change. A fear that
was with me would I at this age start backing off when I raced.
Hell no it was full tilt boogie until I tweaked booth knees on a
ungroomed nastar race trail at snow. It was kind of mentally necessary
to have a hard crash and get up and hobble away.

michael
I know the knee is mechanically strong I use my left foot for shovel
impacting when I divide bamboo.

JQ wrote:

"Andrew" wrote in message
ups.com...

On Mar 31, 5:27 pm, "JQ" wrote:

I started skiing in 1996 just after my father passed away as a challenge
from my best friend that had been skiing for over 15 years to this time.
I
had no control at all but I got a natural high like I did when I was
running, training and competing. So I stuck with it, and have been
skiing
at least 20 days per season averaging 25 days or more. Knee replacement
are
getting closer as the pain is getting worse skiing is getting tougher due
to
pain and it is making work a little more challenging.

My knees are a bit flaky, which hasn't stopped me from starting to ski
again (apparently I hate myself.) I notice that skiing bothers my
knees more than snowboarding with properly adjusted bindings, so while
this may be rec.skiing.alpine I'll still urge you to try it out - at
worst, you won't like it, and it might let you have more fun on the
mountain.

Andrew


I did try it once but didn't like it. I also have a major problem trying to
stand up with the board after falling. I cannot bend my knees enough to get
up from the sitting position and when I roll over to the kneeling position
it is easier but very awkward. Thanks for the thought though. I even gave
monoskiing a thought but after speaking to a few monoskiers I decide it was
not the right move either.

JQ
Dancing on the edge