I am a fit 94 kg, 65 years old Australian male who collected multiple sports injuries over the years. The result is all bone on bone with only one partial, lateral meniscus on right leg and some torn articular cartilage in the same spot, which is loose and moves about. I have a lot of pressure loaded on this area from a previous open osteotomy surgery on the right leg. I have no ACL on the left leg and a partially torn ACL and PCL on the right leg and I have all the OA changes that come with this sort of damage.
How do I ski? Thoughtfully, often with a good deal of fear and trepidation😊
Doctors told me my only option is to have both knees replaced with artificial ones, but I not keen, as I can still walk, swim, and ride a bike etc and I am hoping for a better solution to come along😊
I am a good intermediate level skier (no expert) and love skiing and want to continue without further damaging knees and then having no choice regarding knee replacements.
The Test.
I was a bit sceptical that the ski mojo would work for me. However, apart from offloader braces, which I have already used for years, there are not a lot of options. My issue with offloaders, is moving the pressure from one side to other does not help me if both sides are problematic.
I currently use two shock doctor knee braces and they stabilise the knee and relieve some pain but do nothing to alleviate the bone-on-bone pressure in the joint when skiing.
I took the leap and have recently returned from using the Ski Mojo (Gold for heavier weights) for 3 weeks of 6 hours per day skiing, on all sorts of pistes (including the black runs) in Japan.
The Result
BIG SUCCESS! 😊 It does what it says on the label😊
It does not turn an intermediate skiing into an Olympian, however the reduced force on my knees enabled me to ski my best with reduced grinding of my wobbly joints. The brace enabled me to ski more comfortably while preserving my knees.
I used Ski Mojo comfortably with my shock doctor offloader knee braces underneath and benefited from a complementary effect increasing stability, unloading the forces on my knees, and reducing shocks and vibrations.
I am now a definite fan and recommend it to anybody with damaged knees and wants to keep skiing while preserving their knees.
The Service
I bought my Ski Mojo Gold from Mojo Technologies in France, and they provided an excellent service. The answered all my questions promptly and professionally and the purchase and delivery was quick and painless.
In addition, after sales, I had a minor problem with a ball connector for my rental boots. The issue was dealt with promptly and professionally. They provided a brilliant service.
Some Suggestions to others
• I use rental boots so use the temporary clamp connectors and it may be useful to by a spare set of connectors in case you lose or have problem with one.
• I wore the ski mojo with my knee braces under ski pants fine, but it is worth checking your current pants will comfortably fit. I bought a pair of pants that zip right up the sides but although helpful, not necessary as once it is setup you can engage and disengage through any ski pants.
• Although it is easy to put on after you are familiar with the ski mojo, I recommend you do not do the IKEA thing and look at instructions after. Before you go to the ski hire room, setup harness, weight and telescopic rods (one – off) and have a practice attaching boot connectors. You can always tweak afterwards.
