Question about an permanent ankle injury condition....

Question about an permanent ankle injury condition....

Postby Billy Dee NJ » Tue Oct 31, 2006 7:50 am

A good friend suffers from severe osteoarthritis in her right ankle and would like to get back into skiing. The condition is from a fracture of the tibia about 25 years ago which has left her with almost no cartilage in the ankle. The long term recommendation is fusion but she's not opting to go there now.

She has been a skier in her lifetime and did minimal skiing in the last 10 years on older equipment.

I'm wondering if starting over again with some PMTS-based lessons would be a good thing and not make her condition worse or cause pain while skiing. She's enthusiastic to get back into it and in great physical shape otherwise.
The ankle looks a bit deformed and swollen so boot fit might be critical too.

Any thoughts would be appreciated, thanks.
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Postby Harald » Thu Nov 02, 2006 9:00 am

Hi Bill

Although we would all like to have a functional subtler joint, so that the ankle can move freely toward the boot wall, that just isn?t the case for most skiers. So even skiers with very rigid ankles can still ski well as long as some foot movement forward of the ankle joint is still functioning. A properly constructed footbed can help to balance the foot so not much effort is required to tip it toward the medial boot wall. There may be some pain associated with the arthritics, so movement may be limited anyway. Sounds like some boot modifications will be necessary, but I think skiing can be still achieved without much pain or effort. Fusing the ankle might be the best solution in the long run, as it can be fused in a neutral stance. As long as the upper joint isn?t fused, that?s the talocural joint, which allows for forward flexing of the ankle.
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