advice on daughter's knee injury

[SpaMama]

I am new to the board but have been lurking for a few weeks! What great info, I feel like I don't have to ask my daughter's coach a million questions, most of the answers are here!

11 yo DD is taking privates, is at Basic 3 level. She was practicing forward crossovers on Good Friday, caught a toe pick and fell on her knee (sure that sounds familiar!) X-rays were negative, but she hasn't been back due to pain. She can now fully extend and walk without limping, is wearing a brace, but was running around tonight and made it very sore again. How long in your experience does it take for a knee to heal? She did not twist it, it did not swell a bunch, I think it swelled up on the inside and she jarred her kneecap. She is dying to get back on the ice, but we canceled her lesson for tomorrow. Her next lesson is Tuesday. I am just not sure how long we should wait. Just when we think she is good to go, she does something to hurt it again.

Any advise would be great - she is so bummed!

[VegasGirl]

Tell her that if she really wants to get back on the ice on Tuesday she has to rest the knee and not aggrevate it further... meaning no running, jumping, skipping etc over the weekend. Have her keep the weight off that leg/knee as much as possible. Hopefully that will do the trick. I would certainly not let her go back as long as it still hurts.

[cassarilda]

ok.. advice from hubby who is gym instructor in training (and student chiropractor)... from what youve said....

Fully imobilising it is not a good idea because if she has any internal swelling/bruising this will solidify/harden, which is not a good idea at all.. so GENTLE bending of her knee (whilst watching tv, sitting etc).. reduce the total amount of exercise but maintain movement

It will probably be sore/tender for about a month... she can still skate, but of course to be careful and to fully warm up prior to hopping on the ice or any other exercise (gentle stretches etc), and also a gentle warm up once she gets on... focussing on gently bending and extending her knee (so for eg. crouching down into a sitting position when gliding on two feet and then rise back up to extend it)....

main thing is to be gentle and easy on it... hard for children I know ;) Make sure you tell her coach what you are doing and keep them up to date on her knee's progress... you dont want them inadvertantly re-injuring it by the simple fact that its overworked before its fully healed (which can happen if your daughter doesnt say anything, or says its fine, so dont be afraid to be an over cautious mother! :D )...

otherwise, if you want, you can try Arnica cream... it helps with by current knee bruise, but its up to you...

Of course, if it doesnt get better, make sure you see your doctor again...


ETA: other thing to be aware of is that if she has any fear, she might be scared of crossovers because of the painful fall (I know ALL about this from my experiences on crossovers)... so just to be aware, and approach that as you will :) however, children bounce, and tend to have less fear so Im sure she will be fine :)

[garyc254]

Also remember R.I.C.E.

Rest
Ice
Compression
Elevation

VERY IMPORTANT!!! Ice pack the knee for 20 minutes 3 times a day. Reduces swelling and relieves pain. I'd have her ice her knee on the way to her next lesson.

It took me years to get my oldest to use ice packs on injuries. Finally at 20, he started listening to me and now will grab a gel ice pack from the freezer readily.

8-)

[jenlyon60]

The bruising caused by a fall like that (or a similar fall onto concrete or stone tile) can take awhile to heal. In the meantime, the knee will hurt at odd times and may be difficult to flex because of the internal bruising.

I tripped and fell in mid-December on stone tile running into my office building, and it took 6 weeks before I was able to fully kneel onto that knee with no extra cushioning. I had a bit of swelling and I iced the bruised area and took it easy for a couple days, but 3 days later I was back out skating. (I did choose to cancel the lesson I had scheduled the day I fell, though.)

[Perry]

Did she hit her toepick? I actually had a similar fall on forward progressives (by the time I got to my international dances, you'd think I'd be able to do progressives without falling...). I skated an hour after the fall (including freestyle), but by the time I got to school, I couldn't go up the steps without significant pain. The doctor ordered an MRI and found a significant amount of soft tissue damage. After two weeks on crutches, my knee was pretty much back to normal, though even a few months later, it still bruises easily and aches occasionally.

[SpaMama]

Boy, you guys are great! Thanks for all the great feedback. Yes, she caught her toepick. She hobbled to me after it happened, but pretty much couldn't put any weight on it the rest of the day. The next day she could put weight on the ball of her foot, the next day more, etc. She could walk normally after about 4 days, but hurts pretty good if she over uses it, or turns it wrong, or doesnt wear the brace all day. They just did an xray - no MRI. It looks fine on the outside. It's her first ice skating injury (I warned her there would be more, we just have to work around it!), she is just so bummed she hasn't been able to skate. I wrote her a note to excuse her from running in PE class, but I may need a docs note to excuse her next week, not sure how long they will take my word!!

I'll show her what you all wrote, I think it will encourage her that it happens to others too and they are still skating.

Thanks!

[luckeylasvegas]

When I did athletic training in college we used to do an "ice massage". Take a styrofoam cup and fill it with water,put in the frezzer over night. The next day tear the top portion of the cup away so that the ice is sticking out, but you can still hold on the the bottom of the cup. Massage the area with the ice tearing the cup away as needed. It gets the blood to the area which needs the nutrients to heal.