About ten years ago a physio told me to never snowboard again. In those ten years I’ve done two seasons and only missed one snow trip. I’ve had a couple of physio courses, some doctors prodding them and a couple of threats of operation’s {which have clearly been ignored}.
This year however I think I might have been beaten by my knees.
They’ve had the tendency to make me stop riding earlier in the day than i’d have liked. They’ve had me on crutches. They’ve been clad in neoprene and velcro with metal supports. But they’ve never had me in tears, not before this holiday.
Whats wrong is that the kneecap sits in the wrong place at the moment. Ballet and swimming have meant that the muscles on the outsides of my legs pulled the kneecap outwards, which has meant the cartilage has moved all wonky and the tendons and ligaments are all screwed up too.
This week I’m going to be taking myself off to the doctors to get a recommendation letter for a specialist. Then I’m going to have a serious chat with said specialist about the consequences of having the op they’ve mentioned before.
If it still means there wont be full movement or that I’ll not be able to snowboard again then I’m going to have to have a BIG think about it, but I have to do something about this – it takes me way too long right now to walk up a flight of stairs right now and I am like an old lady when I try and stand up. Its just not fun.
As someone who is skeletally challenged too, you have my utmost sympathy. Hope it gets sorted soon and you can have many more snowboarding trips!
Lets hope so. I am not a good patient so fingers crossed that they can fix it fast or it'll be a grumpy few weeks for everyone around me.
Oh, gosh Em… I hope you can achieve improvement without too much pain and hassle. From a fellow boarder, I can really sympathise.
Keenie – I have an apt with a knee specialist, {the one I saw 10 years ago and who also operated on my dads knees} on Tuesday. Fingers crossed I can get some way to getting them sorted this time.
My biggest fear is that they tell me I'd be better off skiing. I was a truely rubbish skier!
FWIW, I can't see how controlling two disparate sets of edges could possibly be better for your knees. I've got some odd problem with my left knee that aches due to all sorts of sport and activity… but snowboarding is no problem. So you'll probably just have to ride carefully.