Gentle downhill skier thread. Need ideas

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pilot1

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Jo, I know this is the recovery thread but hope its ok to post this. After all, you know you are feeling better when you start thinking ahead..

I am planning to snow ski gently down hill. I will however not do it without some protection for the hip.
I have been looking into ideas.
There is an exoskelital device that has been patented but not produced.
I think I have come up with a better idea.
I will lay it out and see what you skiers think.
If we ski gently there will be minimal wear on the hip.
The only worry I have is dislocation or too much stress at the femoral implant area which could cause fracture in extreme conditions.
The Governor Arnold of CA fractured his artificial hip skiing slow.
He caught an edge or his pole and ski did not come off.

I have a simple idea I am going to perfect over the next year before I go.
Instead of something connected to skis or boots I propose this.

Special ski pants that are connected between the knees that allow you to do all the normal ski movements but would never let the legs come apart far enough to dislocate the hip and when or if you caught an edge would transfer stress to the leg all along the thigh down to the knees.
I am looking for suggestions and ideas.
I know I never fall when skiing but dont want to go unless I feel I have extra protection..peace of mind knowing that I could ski gently and have a blast with minimum risk.

My thinking hear is that if the legs never can spread too far apart the risk of dislocation is minimized as long as your boots set up correctly.
I also plan on using shorter skis.. .
I think it can be done safely.. YOUR Thoughts please
Pilot1
 
Re: Gental downhill skier thread. Need ideas

Well, as much as i would love to ski again, I figure I dont want to go thru a revision in my first year, so I am willing to wait a while,and if I figure I am physically able might try some recreational skiing then.I dont want to be a fraidy cat, but discretion is sometimes the way to go.I think water skiing is definetly going to be in my future.
 
It's fine here - it does kinda fit. Kinda!
 
Hey,

Well, I was pretty nervous about getting back to skiing (understatement of the year!). I had taken all of last season off skiing to get surgery and rehab. While in the rehab gym, I ran into a lady one day who walked with a pretty bad limp. I asked her if she was also recovering from a total hip and she smiled and said "sort of". Turns out she had a thr 7 yrs before and had a low-speed fall skiing, binding didn't release and left her with a horrible thigh fracture, revision, etc. Yikes! Of course, she was in her late 60's, she was a she (osteoporosis risk) and I suspect her equipment was less than modern (why replace your 20 year old skis when you're just testing the waters?). Anyway, I didn't even get a season pass because I wasn't sure how it was going to go. I scheduled a special visit with my OS to review xrays, range of motion, safetey of skiing on different angles of slope, etc. Well, needless to say, just like biking, it feels better and, honestly, safer than before.

I, too, considered a harness system to limit my range of motion (ROM). I felt in extreme steeps I would really be in a bad position for dislocation (very flexed - say 120 degrees - internally rotated). I envisioned something like a climbing harness with webbing running from the back of a waist belt down over my buttock and then secured to a thigh loop. The thought was to only allow the hip to flex so far before it hit a "hard stop". Maybe this would limit internal rotation while flexed also.

Well, I never felt the need and as the season has progressed, I feel it is even less necessary. FAR more important, I think, is proper strength training before you get on skis in a controlled environment (i.e. gym), starting on easy to moderate terrain until your body re-learns these long-forgotten body positions, and lastly, putting your brand-new-modern-multidirectional-release bindings in a reasonable DIN setting for a recreational skier (maybe 6-8).

I'll post more pictures soon. I'm a horrible picture taker (too busy skiing, I guess)
 
Thanks Dave,
I appreciate the info. lets stay in touch.. I may come to Utah to ski one day. Maybe we can get together. My wife loves to ski and I was always waiting on her.. maybe now we can ski together.
Looking forward to those pics.. sounds like we were on the same page with ideas to keep hip from getting in extreme positions.
Pilot1
 
I'm so jelous pilot, I enjoy skiing but am so bad at it that its probably not a good idea with two hip replacements. I'm looking forward to seeing your pics.
 
You know, Jaz....I might have agreed with you in the past, but these days I'm changing my thoughts about what people can and can't do with joint replacements. We have so many people here on the forum that defy the old logic and do just fine. So I think you'll just have to see how you feel about it when you have a little distance between you and the surgery. While you might not want to do the bone-jarring moguls, it might be possible to do some (as pilot says) "gentle" skiing.
 
I'm so jelous pilot, I enjoy skiing but am so bad at it that its probably not a good idea with two hip replacements. I'm looking forward to seeing your pics.


Jaz,
Well I hope you find fun other activities to do with your new hips.. just being able to go to the mall with my wife and walk around without pain excites me.
I love to ski but it will be a risk even for an experienced skier.. heck, its a risk for anyone regardless with or without new joints.
Pilot1
 
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