pronation and acl injuries

I was wondering how many people who have suffered acl injuries on the forum (no, not people who injured their acl when falling over after reading post on this forum) had uncorrected pronation. There is a lot of stuff on the web about this connection in many sports, but it isn't something that's talked about much with regard to boot fitting. Maybe cem has some insight ?

Trencher

will make this quick as the phone won't stop..... if the sub talar joint is unstable ansd the foot is pronating then there is more likeyhood of the knee being misaligned and therefoire more chance of injury... need to remember the other factors such as weak glutes, hip flexors etc etc as they can all add to the instability.... right now if i could get people to stay centred on their skis rather than thinking that one week in ski school makes them a world cup competitor then we would have had a great week

also woirth noting that most ACL injuries in skiing are caused whilst people try to recover from a backwards twisting fall

I've just checked the pairs of shoes I wear the most and can't notice any difference on the edges. Does this mean I don't pronate? I do get twinges on the arch of my foot on the mountain quite regularly though.

My 13 year old overpronates very badly and has corrective inner soles for his shoes. Strangely, especially given the comments on another thread covering this subject, he has never complained about ski boots.

Thanks for the reply cem. There's been talk in post recently, about improvements in skiing, after setting up alignment in ski boots. I thought it would be worth mentioning this acl connection, as another possible benefit.

Trencher

It may be a factor but probably less significant than physical knee structure, natural ligament structure (collagen quality), physical strength and being female (I've excluded high energy trauma in contact sports which are played mainly by men) . There is a significant familial link which probably ties in with knee structure and collagen quality.

I worry for my daughters - 2 paternal uncles, a maternal aunt and a mother with ACL injuries. At least they don't play rugby!

This is what I found on the subject, by googling it.

http://sportsmedicine.about.com/od/women/a/Q_angle.htm

According to this article, the chance of future acl injuries can be reduced by specific exercises, and one of the reasons more women get them than men is because we have a wider pelvis.

Incidentally, I played rugby at Uni, and no-one in our team had trouble with this type of injury :D

Ally

An ACL or any Ligament injury in my knees has been one of the things I have most thought about, not feared,when taking up and indeeed whilst skiing, mainly because I have been very active and playing regular league football until this season, at 43 knocked it on the head but still play 5 a-side. I have been very lucky that I haven't suffered any major knee issues apart from a twist when landing once, that took about 2 weeks to sort out and get back playing, but probably 2 weeks early!!

I guess for me apart from the pain and inconvenience it was the thought of not doing what I enjoyed on a regular basis, this year it is not a major issue and will be interesting how I approach my skiing!

If boot set up might help limiting the chances it may be worth my while popping over to see CEM as he is only 15 mins down the road, but sadly I think a bit late for this trip as I leave Saturday.

As cem said, this is only one factor. The important thing is knowing the position where you are most at risk. Avoiding being in the back seat, and not fighting the type of twisting fall that can result from that out of balance position, is by all accounts, the best protection. Any time your butt is below your knees, is risky.

Trencher