What knee brace after surgery??

I am looking for a bit of advice about what the best kind of knee brace to wear after anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction. I know various knee injurys have been discussed here before by Caron and Pavel but was hoping for some good advice.
I had the opperation 10 months ago and the knee seems ok. I have a few days in Cervinia to look forward to in 8 weeks :D and this will be my first time on skis in 21 months. I have a feeling that on piste will be ok but deep snow is a no no.
Any ideas???
Thanks Gar.

Gar, go with the advice from your consultant. He/she should have passed you on to a specialist physio after the surgery. They are the folks who will need to measure and fit a good quality brace (not a support) for you.

As far as no no's this is my OH, who opted to not have his ACL rebuilt, as it had been missing too long, and he gets along without. He uses a Cti Edge brace, ordered by his consultant and fitted by the physio he appointed.

If you have 2 months, keep up daily strength exercises on the quads. Stay on the piste this year, well maybe, just off the edge. :wink:

Thanks Bandit. My physio finished a few months ago and I have been in the gym or on a bike about 4 days a week so the knee is strong.
I will look into what type of knee brace to get.
Gonna be hard to stay on piste :wink:

Gareth Fair wrote:Thanks Bandit. My physio finished a few months ago and I have been in the gym or on a bike about 4 days a week so the knee is strong.
I will look into what type of knee brace to get.
Gonna be hard to stay on piste :wink:

You can start your search here:

http://www.ossur.co.uk/Products/kneebraces/ligamentbraces

These folks offer an advice service, it's free to ask. What is your budget?

It's great that your knee now offers full range of movement, and is strong. A brace will only inhibit movement in a particular direction.

Hi Gareth
There are a lot of different opinions out there but the advice I was given by my consultant was that the acl knee is as strong as the next person's. He advised me to wear a neoprene on the acl knee and a brace on the more susceptible mcl damaged one, I wore a Donjoy fitted by my physio. This is what I've done for two trips and both knees have survived.
I'm actually considering not bothering with a brace at all next trip, it takes something to make you realise that your knees are normal and, for me, it took a really bad fall off a bike. My knees and elbow are still bruised three weeks later but they're intact, a real confidence booster.
On the unpisted note I skied in extremely heavy unpisted snow 9 months post op in Niederau and it wasn't a problem, slush in Tignes 3 months later wasn't great though. Suck it and see I say. The best advice I was given was to keep the knees warm.
Enjoy and don't worry too much :thumbup:

Thanks Caron. Good to hear from someone that has had a lot more problems than myself and can still really enjoy the snow :D. I am a little nervous but I am sure that I will be fine once I do a few runs.

My daughter got her ACL ripped apart on her last days skiing on a school trip 6 years ago. The idiot ran straight into the back of her, she was in a group lesson at the time for advanced kids. She had to be stretchered off the slope and came home on crutches.
She had no surgery and underwent physio, no braces or supports the next time she skied, and she now plays regional league hockey.
She did however say that the first time she skied after it was fine, once she overcame the doubt in her head. I am sure everyone is different, but I can understand there is more of a mental issue to deal with after something like this.