Conditioning Makes A Huge Difference To This Skier’s Post-Op Experience. A lifetime of abusing my body never really bothered me until it did. Coming down a blue trail five miles long at Park City, UT, one of my all time favorites because of the killer views, suddenly posed a problem. My knees were killing me. The pain traveled into my[Read More…]
Advice From An Orthopedic Physician. A reader asks: I need a knee replacement. Is there one implant (Zimmer, Depuy, Stryker, etc.) that is better for returning to skiing? Here’s the reply from Dr. Peter Schmaus, Orthopedic Spine and Sports, Paramus, NJ: Thank you for that interesting and timely question. There are nearly 700,000 knee replacements done in the United States[Read More…]
If you want to get back to skiing, learn to love your physical therapy. It took my expert knee replacement surgeon one hour to cut, saw, hammer and install each new knee. It took me a year to rehab them. I was astounded by how long it took. I was in good physical condition before surgery, and I had the[Read More…]
How To Identify An Athletically-Empathic Surgeon. I’m lucky to live in Salt Lake City. There are 10 ski resorts nearby, and there are opportunities for an active lifestyle year-round. Because of that, there are many top surgeons here who put athletes back together when they get injured or need replacement parts. But when I needed to have my knees replaced, I[Read More…]
Tips to Kick Start Your Research A Brighton, Utah, ski patroller with two artificial knees assured me there’s definitely life – and skiing – after knee replacement. Her unbounded success motivated me to launch into research. I’m glad I did my homework. What I learned affected the direction I took, the outcome and ultimately my success. Here are some tips[Read More…]
Inspiration Is The First Step. There’s a saying: If you can’t run with the big dogs, stay on the porch. I had to stay on the porch. My knees had quit, and I spent ski days mostly on the deck of the ski lodge while everybody else went skiing. I slathered on the sunscreen, drank hot chocolate and chatted with visitors.[Read More…]
An ingenious invention extends your ability to ski well on not-so-great knees On the high side of usefulness for seniors, we find CADS, a remarkable body weight suspension system for skiers and riders that reportedly helps relieve knee pressure by acting as a spring between your butt and your knees. Instead of gravity relentlessly pressing down—using your knees as a fulcrum—CADS[Read More…]
