Skiing Knee Injuries

Have you ever injured your knee while skiing? Do you have knee pain when you ski?

While the development of release binding has been very useful in reducing the incidence of fractures to a person's lower leg bones, knee injuries are still common for skiers. The knee joint and its associated ligaments, menisci, and bony structures has been sited as causing 30-40 % of all alpine ski injuries.

While most knee injuries have a good prognosis (prognosis : probable course and outcome of a disease), some injuries can lead to significant functional impairment and may terminate a person's skiing career. Appropriate treatment of such an injury is essential for the best recovery possible. Read On...

The majority of knee injuries that happen to alpine skiers involves one or more of the knee's ligaments. The MCL (medial collateral ligament) and the ACL (Anterior cruciate ligament) are most common among this group. If you feel like you have injured your knee and are curious as to what your physician will test for, read through our list of sprain "Grades"... Below is a list of "Grades" that your physician may give to such a knee injury.

Grade 1 : No laxity (ie. give) in the ligament when stressed. This essentially means that few if any ligament fibres are torn.
Grade 2 : Moderate laxity in the ligament, but there is a definite endpoint present. This means that some but not all of the ligament fibers may be torn.
Grade 3 : A complete give in the ligament occurs All ligament fibres torn.

If you notice any of the following symptoms after you have injured your knee get to a physician asap!

1.)Obvious deformity occurs at the knee
2.)Absolute inability to weight bear on the involved limb.
3.)A large degree of edema (swelling) in the knee joint within a couple of hours of injury
4.)An inability to bring your knee into full extension - ie to make it straight. This is sometimes referred to as "locked knee"
5.)Lastly, there is a severe tenderness when you press on a specific area of the knee.

Once an injury like this occurs, the need for knee support becomes self-evident. If you are worried about the stability of your knee while skiing, or you need to help reduce your knee pain, you should seriously consider a well designed knee brace. If you would like to learn more, visit us online at : http://www.drbraceco.com