Hi everyone - I've been reading this forum for a little while but haven't ever posted. But now I have a question
Has anyone else ever popped their knee out of joint - while skating or otherwise? If so, what did you do for it? Did you need to go to the doctor, or did it get better with rest and ice packs? And how long did it take before you tried to skate again?
It happened to me today. I was doing a lunge and was headed for the boards, so I tried to turn myself a little to the left. My torso turned, but nothing else followed. I heard a "crack!", my right leg went out at a weird angle, and then it hurt so badly I could barely catch my breath. Luckily, my husband was there, so he managed to get me off the ice. Now I'm propped up on the couch with an ice pack. It still really hurts, especially when I try to bend my knee. Then I get a shooting pain right under my kneecap.
I did this a couple times as a kid, but never on the ice.
Thanks!

Hello and Welcome Morgail

Yeow!!!
Get to see a doctor as soon a possible. Meantime dont use it and continue treating as you are already doing, but first thing tomorrow see a doctor.

Good Luck
Samba

Hi,

The exact same thing happened to me when doing a lunge, except I hit a rut and twisted my knee. I tore the medial meniscus or basically I tore the cartilage in my knee. I heard a crack as well then had shooting pain up my knee and under the knee cap hurt like hell. Rest, ice, compression, elevation until you get near a Dr/Physiotherapist asap.

As for me two months on I'm still having problems and can't skate properly.
I'm on a public waiting list to get an mri done on my knee to see if I need surgery. Torn cartilage takes months and months to heal.

Good luck
kiwisk8er

Seriously, don't wait to see a doctor. Last year, I fell onto my kneecap, and it took me a couple months before I saw somebody, and then another couple months until I got a second opinion. Now, a year later, it's still bothering me, and it turns out that I tore my PCL. If I went right away, I might not be in this mess of knee issues that I'm in right now.If you can't bend it, and heard a crack, I would def. get it checked out as soon as you can.

Thanks guys
It still hurts. I'm going to call the doctor tomorrow & try to get in then or on Tuesday.
Of course, all this coincides with the start of fall semester classes tomorrow (law school)...I have such good timing

so sorry to hear about your injury...but don't wait- go to the doctors ASAP because sometimes waiting can make it get worse and cause permanent damage.

good luck with it and just ice it in the meantime

welcome Morgail

sounds like you dislocated it or tore/damaged your meniscus. both aren't much fun but a dislocation would be much better than having torn your meniscus. if it's dislocated, you should be back on the ice in a few weeks. (I dislocated my right knee skating about 7 years ago). A meniscus tear could keep you sidelined for longer.

at any rate, RICE - rest, ice, compression, elevation. take lots of advil too! physical therapy wouldn't be a bad idea either for rehab.

good luck!

the injury rate in ice skating appears to be much higher than any other sport I know?

One thing is for sure, lunges scare me now!

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I can't do them, anyway!

No, skating has no higher a rate of injury than any other sport - and an awful lot of our injuries are incurred off-ice, anyway!

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Mrs Redboots
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Ice dancers have lovely big curves!

The injury rate is pretty high in roller derby, too! I know someone who does roller derby and she and her teammates are regularly getting all kinds of bad injuries. But they love their sport and at their practices, they regularly work on safe techniques (and at bouts unsafe actions are penalized).

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Then again, I hear of just as many back, knee, and other problems from people who sit at a desk all day and don't do any sport at all.

Thanks everyone for your advice! I did go to the doctor and she referred me to an orthopedist. He thinks I tore the medial meniscus. I'm getting an MRI tomorrow morning, and then have to go back to the ortho next week. It's not hurting as badly now as it did earlier in the week. Now it just hurts when I twist my leg (such as getting in and out of the car or rolling over in bed) and walking up/down stairs. Mostly it's just stiff and really swollen.

Ortho did tell me no skating for a while Guess I'll find out next week exactly how long it will be before I get back on the ice. I was supposed to be testing in October too

If it makes you feel any better, I'd done this twice before when I was younger - and neither time while skating Once was walking with a basket of laundry, and the other was just twisting to talk to someone while waiting for the bus. I skated for 14 years as a kid/teenager, and about 7 months now as an adult (I'm 27), and this is the first real skating injury I've ever had (aside from bumps and bruises).

Glad to hear you saw a doctor! Maybe you'll be lucky and in a week or so they'll let you skate with a knee brace that limits lateral movement.

The sports medicine doc I saw for my shoulder plays hockey at my rink, and he said the figure skaters are nuts, because at least the hockey players have padding on, and we all hurl ourselves to the ice and jump around with no padding. He definitely had a point but all that hurling and jumping is kind of fun.

I partially subluxed my kneecap two years ago. I was off for two months and then I think I wore my knee brace skating for 6-9 months. On occasion I can still feel the difference.

Plus, we have a much better foundation than hockey players when it comes to our edge control. We learn edges before jumps and the jumps aren't dangerous as long as the edges are solid.