• Women skiers, this is the place for you -- an online community without the male-orientation you'll find in conventional ski magazines and internet ski forums. At TheSkiDiva.com, you can connect with other women to talk about skiing in a way that you can relate to, about things that you find of interest. Be sure to join our community to participate (women only, please!). Registration is fast and simple. Just be sure to add [email protected] to your address book so your registration activation emails won't be routed as spam. And please give careful consideration to your user name -- it will not be changed once your registration is confirmed.

Ugh, are you serious? My knee is injured again

bounceswoosh

Ski Diva Extraordinaire
On Sunday, I stepped into a binding. Well, I went to step into the binding. I heard a POP and my knee started hurting. I tried to step into the binding a few times more, but no. It hurt too much and I could feel the POP coming on.

I managed to cadge a download on the lift - insisting I wasn't injured, just having a binding malfunction. If I were injured, I'd have to ride down in a toboggan. And I was not going to do that. I'd have rather tried to ski down on one leg (and no, that skill is not in my repertoire).

My knee has been poppy, swollen, and only moderately painful since then, unless the kneecap "catches," in which case the pop is pretty awful. I saw my ortho doc today. It's not a ligament. They're all in great order. He says it's "exacerbated patellar femoral chondromalacia" - he readily admitted we could use the word "exasperating" rather than "exacerbated."

When I had an ACL rupture and a meniscus tear, my doc was unfailingly cheerful and optimistic, and I never saw him look worried. Today, in contrast, he told me he was Not Happy with this development. I am to do PT for 3-4 weeks. If it's not getting better, we get an MRI and go from there.

This is unreal.
 

VickiK

Ski Diva Extraordinaire
Ugh, how awful this is to read and of course worse for you. Hope some time & PT make it better.
 

vickie

Ski Diva Extraordinaire
What a horrible development. Hope this improves on its own.

In the past few years - maybe since my own knee injury - I have developed a heightened awareness of people who have been sidelined by illness or injury. One particular case is a lifelong friend who has diabetes. It has prompted me to not only appreciate my health but try to improve it.
 

bounceswoosh

Ski Diva Extraordinaire
I saw a PT this morning. It seems that not only do I have scar tissue to clear up at the front of my knee (I was already getting this worked on), but the back of my leg is incredibly tight and could be causing the patella to not move as smoothly as it could be, thus making any issues much worse.

So, more Graston, more foam roller, fingers crossed ...
 

Jenny

Angel Diva
Well, that sounds somewhat positive? I mean, better than them looking at it and going - yep, torn again.

Next year I might consider skipping Mother's Day at A-Basin. Your track record isn't that great the last couple of years . . .:frown:

(JK)
 

bounceswoosh

Ski Diva Extraordinaire
Next year I might consider skipping Mother's Day at A-Basin. Your track record isn't that great the last couple of years . . .:frown:

(JK)

I hate to think that. I know it doesn't matter rationally. But yeah. If nothing else, I don't want to be the bummer at the beach 3 years running.
 

santacruz skier

Angel Diva
I saw a PT this morning. It seems that not only do I have scar tissue to clear up at the front of my knee (I was already getting this worked on), but the back of my leg is incredibly tight and could be causing the patella to not move as smoothly as it could be, thus making any issues much worse.

So, more Graston, more foam roller, fingers crossed ...
My PT gave me some good calf stretches that are easy. Also now doing ball stabilization exercises like wall squats and bridging. All trying to strengthen muscles around the knee. I asked if I should wear a brace. PT (knee specialist here in SC) said no you need to get the muscles around your knee stronger.
 

bounceswoosh

Ski Diva Extraordinaire
My PT gave me some good calf stretches that are easy. Also now doing ball stabilization exercises like wall squats and bridging. All trying to strengthen muscles around the knee. I asked if I should wear a brace. PT (knee specialist here in SC) said no you need to get the muscles around your knee stronger.

Yeah, I am suspicious of braces at all times because of this. Of course, in some situations, it's what you need - but if I have a choice, no.

Right now, wall squats would put too much pressure on my knee cap. My exercises are targeted at specific muscles, and boy do I feel it!
 

santacruz skier

Angel Diva
Yeah, I am suspicious of braces at all times because of this. Of course, in some situations, it's what you need - but if I have a choice, no.

Right now, wall squats would put too much pressure on my knee cap. My exercises are targeted at specific muscles, and boy do I feel it!
Knee cap issues are tricky. Good luck to you.
 

newboots

Angel Diva
Oh, Monique! (1) how awful! (2) after PT, this sounds a little more optimistic? I hope so!

I wonder if the weekend warrior thing is destroying our bodies. Actually, I am destroying my body with work, not with weekends, now that I think about it. Sitting, writing, listening through the trap at a door in a noisy lockup and taking notes for long periods of time, head tilted, shoulder crunched. Ugh.

But wait, this post is about you. I can only imagine how incredibly disappointing this must be. I'm sure you'll do what they tell you in PT, unless they tell you to take it easy. But do what they tell you, even if they want you to take it easy! You'll need that knee for many years to come.
 

bounceswoosh

Ski Diva Extraordinaire
But wait, this post is about you.

LOL! Well, every thread wanders. We are each of us of course our own favorite topic of discussion ;-)

The weekend warrior thing isn't great for our bodies, but I'm not sure I could have anticipated this one. Well, if myself had training as a PT I might have seen it coming, but I'm not sure. There have been pops, and there has been tightness, and maybe if I had a full knowledge of all the things that can happen, I might have anticipated that it would escalate. Or maybe I wouldn't have.

And I've been confused about the acute onset (a sudden POP and since then it's been bad), but maybe @pinto is right and something actually broke loose. In which case that something was bound to break loose at some point - it just happened to be while skiing. In which case, lucky me that it didn't, say, happen 5 miles up a trail, rather than a few hundred feet from the top of a lift.

What's weird is that I've been fine, emotionally, no reaction. I think on some level it "confirms" my fear that I would hurt myself again Mother's Day weekend. I suspect I will have a severe emotional reaction coming at some point when I least expect it.
 

snowski/swimmouse

Angel Diva
After I shattered my femur two years ago, I was finally getting truly functional again that September on my Vermont vacation and did a little light hiking. I aggravated the heck out of the hamstring in that leg then and again at Christmas time returning to therapy both times. This past September almost all of the swelling finally disappeared from my initial injury and so again in Vermont on vacation I did a bit more hiking (for me, not the average hiker). This time I aggravated the ~other~ hamstring!!! I'm in my third round of therapy and recovery for that hamstring! Until today, I was worried it'd mean another surgery as I did a knee cleanout on the other leg 3 1/2 years ago because a Baker's Cyst was causing me similar pain. So, while you situation sounds more serious, I can sympathize with both you and newboots. As said above, I hope it's a scar tissue issue that can be resolved with PT. Our hospital's PT had a machine that did deep tissue massage for me last year that was like a miracle. Might that be an option there?
 

bounceswoosh

Ski Diva Extraordinaire
After I shattered my femur two years ago, I was finally getting truly functional again that September on my Vermont vacation and did a little light hiking. I aggravated the heck out of the hamstring in that leg then and again at Christmas time returning to therapy both times. This past September almost all of the swelling finally disappeared from my initial injury and so again in Vermont on vacation I did a bit more hiking (for me, not the average hiker). This time I aggravated the ~other~ hamstring!!! I'm in my third round of therapy and recovery for that hamstring! Until today, I was worried it'd mean another surgery as I did a knee cleanout on the other leg 3 1/2 years ago because a Baker's Cyst was causing me similar pain. So, while you situation sounds more serious, I can sympathize with both you and newboots. As said above, I hope it's a scar tissue issue that can be resolved with PT. Our hospital's PT had a machine that did deep tissue massage for me last year that was like a miracle. Might that be an option there?

Hmm. I don't think deep tissue massage is the answer - I've been getting it all along. The Graston they've started doing does seem to help, so that's probably my route.
 

Members online

Forum statistics

Threads
26,233
Messages
497,563
Members
8,503
Latest member
MermaidKelly
Top