Hi folks...

About two and a half weeks ago, I took a fairly nasty fall (of course, on the axel in my program ) and injured my knee (the one I land on). Minor contusion to the LCL was the first diagnosis, and after two weeks of skating without jumping and doing some exercises for it, the LCL seems to be doing OK. It's pretty stable now, not too much pain, and I was given the green light to jump with it braced.

When I started jumping again, I noticed an intense pain in my knee when I did two jumps: axel and double salchow. The pain hit exactly at the moment of "converting" the jump. I am no longer doing any more double sals, but the axel is something I DO want back before nats. There is also some discomfort in doing scratch spins, and I cannot do a forward layback with my leg bent behind me at all.

So I went back to the doctor and he re-examined my knee, and figures that since the pain is in the back outside part of my knee, it's popliteus tendinitis. Now I'm on another anti-inflammatory medication (Mobic), and I was told to basically "take it easy if it hurts," stretch the hamstring out, and to come back in another week if the pain doesn't go away. I said okay, and left the office, but I forgot one small detail:

I'm supposed to be at nationals in another week!!!

So... I most likely will not be able to get another appointment in until Tuesday or Wednesday this coming week. In the meantime, have any of you had this condition? What can you do for it to help it along? I've been trying to find information online, and I've seen everything from taking basic NSAIDs to injecting cortisone or lidocaine right into the knee.

If anyone knows of good exercises or ANY additional information, please let me know...namely, how long does it take for the pain to go away?

Are you seeing a physical therapist? he/she would be able to evaluate you further and give you a home excercise program.

Ice, Ice, Ice!!!! Before and after you skate and any time you strain it a little. Lots of it!! It will get to the point where you actually LIKE the cold on that area. You can get gel packs that you freeze and attach them to your knee with an ace bandage so you can ice while driving to and from the rink to save time, also while at your desk, etc.
(they call me the Ice Queen, and not because of being on the ice)
Hope this helps!
Becca
(my Orthopedic's favorite patient)

Oh, Pennybeagle, I'm sorry to hear this.

As Beccapoo says, ice, ice, ice. Also, stretch a lot - both legs. I haven't had any knee injuries, but I've dealt with overuse injuries to my right hip flexor and left hamstring. I warm up a bit and stretch lightly before I skate, then I do a deeper stretch after I skate -- every time.

My sports med doc said it was the only way to help ensure that I wouldn't be seeing him all the time for overuse injuries, and so far he's been right (I've been able to work through the hamstring problem without a doc or PT).

Good luck - hopefully we'll get to see that beautiful axel of yours at AN! Remember, you already know how to do it, so you shouldn't have to practice it a whole lot in the next week .

__________________
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"Never give up on a dream just because of the time it will take to accomplish it. The time will pass anyway." -- Unknown

pennybeagle--
I hope your knee is feeling better soon!

As far as injections go, I'd stay as far away from them as possible unless there are no other options. From what I've heard from PTs (this is secondhand info so my facts may not be 100% straight)--with cortisone, the body can only take one or two injections in a certain location before there is a risk of the cortisone crystallizing in the injection site and causing further trouble. One PT I saw for tendinitis in the knee said he observed a surgery to repair a ruptured Achilles tendon, and the orthopedist doing the surgery showed him pieces of the crystallized cortisone.

Good luck, and I hope AN goes well for you.

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This has nothing to do with Pennybeagle's situation, but it is a scary testimony about what cortisone shots can do to a person....

One of the coaches on my son's hockey team spent 12 years in the NHL. He was known for playing physical defense. As he got older (read in his early 30's) he started having problems with his hips. Cortisone shots before each game kept him going. Now he's in his 40's, and he has had one hip replaced. The cortisone ate away at the bone, and they actually had to take 2 inches off of his leg bone to get rid of the shattered stuff. The surgeon asked if he could keep the joint to show students the damage, since he had never seen one this bad. The other hip is scheduled to be done soon.

He said he wouldn't have changed a thing about his hockey career. I can understand that.

__________________
"The only place where success comes before work is in a dictionary." -- Vidal Sasson

"Never give up on a dream just because of the time it will take to accomplish it. The time will pass anyway." -- Unknown

Thanks for the replies.

Being as needle-phobic as I am, and seeing as this is my first ANs, and I'm doing this for "fun" (supposedly), I will NOT be taking any kinds of cortisone shots. I'll just water down my program and suffer the consequences of a silver I freestyle with no axel attempt. Heck, there's no guarantee that I'd land one even if I COULD attempt it.

Anyway, I will continue stretching and icing, stretching and icing... Otherwise, I will keep my fingers crossed about getting in an early appointment this week. They probably think I'm a hypochondriac of sorts.

Here's a question of vanity: do judges take off points if I skate my free with an ugly black brace on my knee? I had learned to tape it before, but I think the taping I learned was for the LCL and not for the tendinitis (although maybe the brace is also for the LCL? I dunno, but I feel so much more "secure" with it on).