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Sports/overuse knee injuries?

Posted: Oct 28, 2014

Hi,

I've recently had a knee injury - something I've never had before, so I'm unfamiliar with what to expect. Have any of you ever had a knee injury such as a sprain or ligament tear, and if so, what were your symptoms and how long did it take to heal? Did it ever feel normal again?

I'm in my 60's, and am still an avid rollerblader. My knee problems started about 2 months ago, when I was getting a little tired near the end of a 12-mile group skate I was on. When I get tired, my right ankle pronates a bit, even with an arch-support orthortic. The pronation annoyed me, so I started physically holding the leg so that the ankle wouldn't pronate. Big mistake, as then the lateral posterior part of my right knee began to bother me. So, I stopped doing it.

About three weeks later it seemed fine. Our skating group was going through downtown, and in the financial district there is a very small, 3-step flight of stairs that some of us (myself included) like to jump. I'd never had any problems with the landing before, but this time my right knee buckled upon landing, and I veered off to the right, hit a wall, and fell. No problem, I just laughed, got up and continued on for the last 2 miles. I never had any pain, there was no pop when it happened, and my knee didn't feel unstable.

However, over the next 2 weeks it got progressively sorer and stiffer. No heat in the knee, no bruising, and no swelling. The pain is mainly in the back of the knee, and when I walk downhill or down stairs, or when I skate, the pain can go all the way down to my heel. I'm doing the rest, heat, cold and elevation for it, and periodically work on passive flexion. (Most of the pain is with flexion, too). Extension seems to be fine, only slightly painful). I've read everything I can on the symptoms, mechanism of injury, etc., and my guess is it's the planteris muscle. Everything I've read so far says NOT to use a knee brace for back-of-knee muscle/tendon injuries. (I tried a knee brace when I took a short walk one night, and it made the pain much worse.)

Anyway, it seems a little better after rest, elevation, ice/heat, NSAIDs, range-of-motion and skating more conservatively. But I'm starting to get discouraged with how SLOW the healing process is going! Have any of you ever had a similar injury, and if so, how did you treat it, and how long until your knee felt completely normal again? All input on the subject will be very much appreciated! :)

;

My experience with - injuries

[ In Reply To ..]
First of all, I love that you are an active rollerblader! How cool!

I'm mid-50ish and ride my horse just about on a daily basis. She's young and exuberant and I've come off a couple of times, about 2 years apart. I have to say the last time I came off and hit knee, hip, back (at speed about 5 feet off the ground), the injuries took a very, very long time to heal. Had negative x-rays at urgent care.

I hobbled around for a couple of months with the pain which very gradually went away except for a twinge now and then I still get in my back.

It takes a long, long time to heal these soft tissue injuries as we get older but they do, eventually, heal.

In the beginning, I iced a lot and then used the ThermaCare stick-on heat pads after icing the areas and that helped immensely. Very gentle range of motion helped as well.

The most helpful thing was getting back on and riding. The movement of the horse is wonderful for massaging aching muscles.

Time and patience is the key. Good luck!

By the way, I ride at a barn with a group of women that range in age from the youngest at 21 to a couple who are 68 and most are in between and over age 55. No sign of us slowing down at all!

Thanks for the info, esp. about ThermaCare. - I'll look for some! (sm)

[ In Reply To ..]
I skate with people ranging in age from little kids, to 60s and 70s, and everything in-between. One guy is 83, but he doesn't do the long group skate, but I see him in the park sometimes. He's Austrian, still an avid skier, and looks 55, not 83! Amazing!

I, too used to have horses and ride. My last horse died of old age in 1994, and later I wasn't able to afford to get back into it. I sometimes had low back problems (started with jumping off the back of a truck when I was 21), and when it flared up, nothing made it feel better fast than simply riding a horse, especially at a walk. I rode hunters/jumpers, and had lots of spectacular falls. The only time I got hurt was when I went through a jump and snapped a rib. Still, I rode for 2 more days before finally giving up and going to the doctor. I have a friend who is probably around 60, maybe 61, and she's always ridden. Went from hunters to cutting horses, then recently bought a new jumper. She's a pretty amazing lady... probably weighs 100 lbs. soaking wet, and yet she can left a 135 lb. hay bale like it's nothing!

I found ice helped a lot, heat a little less so, but am still alternating. Sitting near a space heater while I work is helping, as well. I skated briefly on Sunday, took it really easy, yet had a ton of pain driving home. (Driving a car seems to hurt the worst.) Still, after ice, rest, heat, etc., on Monday I felt better overall. Took a long walk on Tuesday, felt pretty good for the first half of the walk, terrible on the second half, but I live in a hilly area and there's no way to walk around the block without going up or down at least one steep hill. Yet today it's pretty good. Not as good as Monday, but close.

Still - what an annoyance soft tissue injuries are! At least with broken bones you can put a cast on it and get going! A couple years ago I broke my wrist, and brought my skates with me in the car to the clinic to get the wrist casted. I didn't specifically ask, and he didn't specifically say, "Don't skate", so as soon as the cast was on I went to a favorite spot nearby and skated all afternoon. I've also ridden my horse with my leg in a cast, too.

You're right about keeping on with moving. I've continued skating, I just hate that it's currently painful. I want to be able to get back out there and zoom around the city with all the boys! ;)

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