Riewoldt knee - bone on bone?

[spiral2]

Just read this in a piece on AFL.com re Lance Whitnall, I recall Nick having a some knee probs when first drafted but didn't realise it was the dreaded "bone on bone"? can this be right?
can anyone shed more light on this, how can you run like Roo with a dodgy knee??

from http://www.afl.com.au/Default.aspx?tabi ... wsId=52479

But Nixon did not think his client's knee condition was career-ending.

"Everyone's known that Lance has had bone-on-bone for probably four of five years," Nixon told Southern Cross Radio.

"But a lot of players play with it. (St Kilda's) Nick Riewoldt has had bone-on-bone since year one in the AFL. Some people are able to cope with it, some have it worse et cetera.

[kp83]

I can't believe this is true. He's only 25. No way could he have lost ALL the cartiledge in his knee. I'm sure it's just an exaggeration.

[Enrico_Misso]

Roo has obviously learnt to manage it.

Whitnall, by eating like a pig in a buffet, didn't.

[saintm]

Was a very good explanation given regarding "bone-on-bone" knees in a post in the last couple of weeks.

The explanation related to Aaron Hamill, who has had to retire due to the condition.

Would have no idea what thread it was in but this may prompt the posters memory.

[spiral2]

Whitnall, by eating like a pig in a buffet, didn't.

lol


god I hope we steer clear of Whitnall, got very scared a few years back when his name was linked to saints in trade period
can't imagine we'd be interested though seeing as we've allegedly let a similar slow forward in Watts go

[joffaboy]

I know knees are knees and they dont regenerate, or to any great extent, but to equate an 18.y.o. with nee trouble to a 29 y.o who has played 12 seasons of AFL football, most of the time pretty unfit for theat type of career, is a bit rich isn't it?

[spiral2]

I know knees are knees and they dont regenerate, or to any great extent, but to equate an 18.y.o. with nee trouble to a 29 y.o who has played 12 seasons of AFL football, most of the time pretty unfit for theat type of career, is a bit rich isn't it?

seems a bit outta left field and hard to believe...
Nixon agenda?

[joffaboy]

I know knees are knees and they dont regenerate, or to any great extent, but to equate an 18.y.o. with nee trouble to a 29 y.o who has played 12 seasons of AFL football, most of the time pretty unfit for theat type of career, is a bit rich isn't it?

seems a bit outta left field and hard to believe...
Nixon agenda?

Well it should be put in context. Roo was a No.1 dp who hadn't started his career. He is also exceptionally fit and gives his body the best chance to perform at AFL level.

OTOH Whitnall is an old AFL player. His body has never been given the chance to carry him to expected AFL levels and now his knee is shot.

Also what evidence is there that the knee has ever troubled Roo after the initial problem 7 seasons ago.

Nixon is clutching at straws with this and what i have read.

[ausfatcat]

I find nixon to be a very hard person to trust. Just about everything he says has an alterior motive to it. A very good player manager but you wouldn't trust him.

[Munga]

I remember a few years ago hearing about Roo's knee. Haven't heard anything since so I thought it was BS.

[Saints43]

On the subject of Nixon..

Heard him on the radio disgusted that carlton would not write a clause in LW's contact in the case that he "did not present in proper condidtion".

Says plenty about Lance. And something about Ricky.

[super dooper]

Gave me a heart attack there, still calming down

From what i know bone on bone means there is nothing you can do to fix it, unfortunately anyone who has that problem should give the game away.

The fact the Roo has played every year except his first makes it vry unlikely that this is the case

However i have heard that Witnalls case is bone on bone and a cause for concern why he would be delisted at CARLTON of all places, im sure there were plenty more players that could have got the chop ahead of him

[ausfatcat]

Voss played with a bone on bone knee for 4 years. They can have injections into the knee of a lubricant every fortnight I think to allow them play. Doesn't work for everybody thou (Hamill this year).

[ausfatcat]

Oh also I read an article about a month ago that the AFL was looking at slash partnership with a medical organisation that will pioneer stem cell recovery for exactly this condition, to be implemented maybe 2008 but probably 2009. If i remember correctly they would use the stem cells to regrow the cartlidge in the knee.


And before everyone talks about how stem cells are unethical, they were going to use the stem cells from the bone marrow of the person getting the procedure done. I'll see if I can find the article.

[ausfatcat]

http://abc.net.au/news/audio/2007/09/06/2025765.htm

not the article I read but says the same stuff.

[cwrcyn]

Riewoldt had a cartilege trimmed in one of his knees during his first season.

Eventually, it will give him some grief later in his career, but I wouldn't be too concerned at this stage.

[ausfatcat]

heres anther article


http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/story/ ... 64,00.html


this is the one I read

http://www.smh.com.au/news/national/ste ... 20031.html

[nicko016]

When someone tears their ACL it cannot be repaired itself thus the recovery. But is it sewn back together or is it replaced with some other kind of connective tissue?

[_7777777_]

When someone tears their ACL it cannot be repaired itself thus the recovery. But is it sewn back together or is it replaced with some other kind of connective tissue?

i think you can have a bit of your hamstring or you patella tendon grafted on. i think.

[nicko016]

When someone tears their ACL it cannot be repaired itself thus the recovery. But is it sewn back together or is it replaced with some other kind of connective tissue?

i think you can have a bit of your hamstring or you patella tendon grafted on. i think.

If they can do that couldn't they do a similiar thing to help players who are bone-on-bone?

[dborsky]

When someone tears their ACL it cannot be repaired itself thus the recovery. But is it sewn back together or is it replaced with some other kind of connective tissue?

i think you can have a bit of your hamstring or you patella tendon grafted on. i think.

If they can do that couldn't they do a similiar thing to help players who are bone-on-bone?

When an ACL goes, the snapped ligament needs to be cleaned out completely to prevent the knee from locking up. It then needs to be replaced as there is insufficient blood flow through that part of the knee for it to regenerate in contrast to a medial ligament which in most cases does heal on its own.

The acl can be replaced by taking a graft from either the hamstring or patella tendon, two strips are removed, folded over and either twisted or plaited, holes are drilled through the femur and tibia and the new ligament is secured at the other end by either staples or screws.

While a patella tendon graft can be more painful in recovery, if the patient has had hamstring troubles, a hamstring graft may not be possible. The other major difference is that with a hamstring graft the replacement ligament needs to fuse ligament to bone, whereas when the patella tendon is used, small parts of bone are removed at each end of the replacement ligament from the donor site so the body is trying to fuse bone to bone which can be a sligtlty quicker process. The overall recovery time and strength of the new ligament however, is similar in both cases.

A third and less common option is called an allograft. This is where tissue is taken from a cadaver (usually an achilles tendon) and, as very hard tissue is used, heals significantly more quickly, 2 or 3 months until full strength (as long as there wasn't too much peripheral damage done when the knee was injured). This third method is only used in extreme cases (olympic skiers for example who will miss their only opportunity if they can't come up in time) as this kind of graft tends to weaken and stretch over time (usually requiring another reconstruction at some point, often inside 5 years) and there is also a small risk of contracting a disease from the donor tissue....... These are all fall into the category of a knee reconstruction.

A knee replacement is when the cartilage (or buffer) between the knee bones is replaced with a synthetic (never as good as the real thing, we are not yet able to completely replicate the characteristics of cartilage. While a reconstruction is keyhole surgery, a replacement is not. It is quite significant surgery where the entire front of the knee is opened up and the cartilage is replaced. Whereas a reconstruction will see you in hospital for a night or two, a replacement will see you there for a week. This kind of surgery is usually only performed on older patients who suffer from severe arthritis and is not able to restore functionality back to that which is required to play top level sport.

Unfortunately, many people who have recos early in their lives will need a replacement later in their lives as small amounts of movement and grinding through the knee over long periods of time will wear the cartilage down.

I am not a doctor, just a curious guy who recently had a knee reconstruction and spent a month in bed reading about knees and knee surgery.

Cheers

[Animal Enclosure]

Lance's biggest problem was that his 'bone on bone' problem was in regards to the KFC hot and spicy drumstick bone that was permanently attached to his thumb bone.

[Dan Warna]

Reiwoldt >>>> whitnall its not funny.

[Oh When the Saints]

Thanks for that dborsky, interesting info ...

[nicko016]

Great post dborsky. I guess it's feasible that a player could have an allograph if they were at the end of the career and 4-5 months out from finals and GF with their last chance at a premiership. I wonder if any player has ever had one of these to recover from a torn ACL?