Of knee pain and skates

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MarkR_2013
MarkR_2013 Posts: 43 Member
edited April 2016 in Fitness and Exercise
A short background: I developed patellofemoral pain back in my twenties, and it went misdiagnosed/undiagnosed for seven years. It turned out to be caused by IT band syndrome. The rehab exercises I was given reduced the severity of the symptoms. But, because it took so long to get a correct diagnosis, I'm left with two permanently screwed up knees that cannot tolerate repetitive bending past about 30 degrees under load without causing a flare up. Probably scar tissue and cartilage damage, but under the circumstances, I'm reluctant to go near another doctor.

I'm looking at rollerblades and/or quad skates as a form of exercise and transportation, but I have no idea what they will do to my knees. I intend to skate outside to avoid having to deal with the teenyboppers at the local rink. Can anybody who has experience with skates and knee pain give me some feedback?

Also, will taping or wrapping my knees help?


EDIT: I'm 41 years old, originally screwed up my knees bicycling, and have gone hiking and backpacking without aggravating my knees. So, it's a range of motion problem.

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  • rosebarnalice
    rosebarnalice Posts: 3,488 Member
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    In my late teens and early 20s I was a badass roller skater (it WAS the 70s disco-skate era after all .. .)

    I had one really bad outdoor skating accident that led to knee reconstruction. After about a year of physical therapy, I went back to skating, but I had lost a lot of my fine motor control, balance, and stability in that knee, and didn't have nearly the moves I had before, so gave it up as I reached 30. I've tried several times after that to put on skates, and frankly, I just don't think I'll ever have the confidence in that knee to ever feel comfortable again.

    Hope your experience is different!
  • hill8570
    hill8570 Posts: 1,466 Member
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    Well, blading is a lot easier on my knees than running, but, done efficiently, you're pretty much always in a half-squat position while stroking off to the sides, so it may cause you issues. Can you tolerate bicycling? I find biking slightly easier on my knees than blading.
  • MarkR_2013
    MarkR_2013 Posts: 43 Member
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    Cycling, because of the amount of flex required (100-110 degree bend when I kick the pedal over the top), is completely intolerable.
  • kshama2001
    kshama2001 Posts: 27,981 Member
    edited April 2016
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    I've had knee issues since 2009. On rainy days, I go ice skating at the local rink at lunch time. I check the school schedules to avoid the kids - I have a much better experience when it's just me, the figure skating coach and her student, and the inspirational 79 year old man.

    Skating hasn't bothered my knees. My hips and feet do get tired. I take a short break per song.

    What about walking? This is what I did on non-rainy days until gardening season got going.

    I've been doing these knee exercises, which I think are good for the ankles as well. The first time I did the whole video straight through and it was too much. I've since dropped Tree pose and break them up, for example, I will do one side of one exercise in between weight lifting sets at the gym.

    (Obviously for you skip the ones that involve too much bending.)

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yLoMA7I7HOQ&list=PLUXvX9BaxgqG9yO5XWB3gA_QshvrrcjVr&index=1



  • briscogun
    briscogun Posts: 1,135 Member
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    Swimming is a great zero-impact activity, if you have access to a pool. Easy on the knees...
  • MarkR_2013
    MarkR_2013 Posts: 43 Member
    edited April 2016
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    kshama2001 wrote:
    What about walking? This is what I did on non-rainy days until gardening season got going.

    I've been doing these knee exercises, which I think are good for the ankles as well. The first time I did the whole video straight through and it was too much. I've since dropped Tree pose and break them up, for example, I will do one side of one exercise in between weight lifting sets at the gym.

    I currently walk, but I'm looking for a faster form of locomotion so I can keep up with the wife and kids on their bikes. Some of the larger wheeled inline and quad skates (Rollerblade Macroblade 100, Skorpian quadline urban, Cardiff S1) look to be able to do this. Unfortunately, most of the medical literature concentrates on trauma based injuries (to which I am very familiar with), and few on overuse and repetitive strain injuries.

    I currently do stretching exercises for the IT band/hip abductors, hamstring, calf, and quads. And, calisthenics for the arches (flat footed) and hip abductors. I will be adding in foam rollers in the future to break up the existing scar tissue.

    Typical stretches and exercises.
    http://www.summitmedicalgroup.com/library/adult_health/sma_iliotibial_band_syndrome_exercises/
  • hill8570
    hill8570 Posts: 1,466 Member
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    Unless your wife and daughter are extremely slow, you're not going to keep up with them on skates. I'm an ex speed skater and I'm hard pressed to keep up with my 12 year old daughter unless the pavement is baby butt smooth.
  • MostlyWater
    MostlyWater Posts: 4,294 Member
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    I also did, from doing step aerobics without proper warm up, and from doing cardio without the leg muscles to support it. Basically, my body wrote checks that my legs couldn't cash.

    My therapist taught me exercises to do with ankle weights that I did for years, until I joined a gym. I have not even though of that kind of pain for many years now.

    Do you have a therapist or trainer that can help you?

  • MarkR_2013
    MarkR_2013 Posts: 43 Member
    edited April 2016
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    I have no illusions about keeping up with the kids at that age. My kids are going to be 4 in a few months when they get their own two wheelers. Once they get the hang of it, I expect them to be able to move at jogging speed (5-7 MPH). I tend to cruise (walk) at about 3-3.5 MPH. I figure that the typical recreation inline skater cruises about 7-9 MPH.

    EDIT: I doubt like heck that my insurance will PT because of the age of the injury, and because I went out on my own coin to a private doc to diagnose it. I can check around for private trainers, but unless I want to pay for a CT scan out of pocket, I'm kind of limited.
  • hill8570
    hill8570 Posts: 1,466 Member
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    MarkR_2013 wrote: »
    I have no illusions about keeping up with the kids at that age. My kids are going to be 4 in a few months when they get their own two wheelers. Once they get the hang of it, I expect them to be able to move at jogging speed (5-7 MPH). I tend to cruise (walk) at about 3-3.5 MPH. I figure that the typical recreation inline skater cruises about 7-9 MPH.

    OK. Yeah, I could jog alongside my son until he was out of training wheels (albeit damn fast jogging towards the end), so your speed estimates are reasonable. Since my knee issues aren't of the same magnitude as yours, it's hard to say how well you'd tolerate blading. If you're a newbie, you'll probably keep to a pretty upright position with short stroke length for a while, which would limit your ROM, perhaps enough that your knees could tolerate it.

    You could simulate skating by wearing socks on hardwood, going into a quarter- or half-squat, and balancing on one leg while pushing off to the side with the other. Not an ideal simulation by any means, but might give you at least a gut check to see if your ROM is up to it.
  • MarkR_2013
    MarkR_2013 Posts: 43 Member
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    hill8570 wrote: »

    You could simulate skating by wearing socks on hardwood, going into a quarter- or half-squat, and balancing on one leg while pushing off to the side with the other. Not an ideal simulation by any means, but might give you at least a gut check to see if your ROM is up to it.

    I can drop my hips about 6 inches and slide side to side.without pain. With my leg measurements (19" hip to knee, 17" knee to ankle), that means about a 25-30 degree bend at the knees.

  • hill8570
    hill8570 Posts: 1,466 Member
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    Sounds like you'd be able to give it a shot, then. That's more hip drop than a lot of beginners will do. Luck to ya!
  • MarkR_2013
    MarkR_2013 Posts: 43 Member
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    Flip it. I need a landgoing kayak or something where I can heep my legs mostly straight.
  • hill8570
    hill8570 Posts: 1,466 Member
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    MarkR_2013 wrote: »
    Flip it. I need a landgoing kayak or something where I can heep my legs mostly straight.

    Well, I still think you could pull off skating. There's always the outdoor elliptical routine (eliptigo / streetstrider), but those suckers are expensive as all hell.
  • MarkR_2013
    MarkR_2013 Posts: 43 Member
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    Oops, our messages crossed.

    1) Inline skates are OK to try, and I can resell them if it doesn't work out. Speaking of skating, do you have a favorite make/model of knee and wrist pro? I have a history of low angle re-entries (spectacular crashes) with human powered conveyances.

    2) You're not kidding about the elliptical bikes. I can have a custom built Cannondale with ultra-short crank arms for what one of those cost. If skates were out, I was going to give some consideration to the Trikke carving scooters. They're supposed to be very easy on the knees, and are priced the same as conventional bikes.
  • hill8570
    hill8570 Posts: 1,466 Member
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    MarkR_2013 wrote: »
    Speaking of skating, do you have a favorite make/model of knee and wrist pro?

    'fraid I can't help you there -- haven't worn pads or wrist guards in years...just biking gloves and a helmet. No clue who the good brands are any more. Good idea for you 'tho, especially with a knee already in bad shape. When I was just learning (geez, like over 25 years ago...makes me feel old...), the armor saved me from a number of visits to the doc.

  • MarkR_2013
    MarkR_2013 Posts: 43 Member
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    Dear Wife put a kibosh on the skates idea :/ , so now I'm rehabbing my knees in the hope that I can get them stable enough to ride with braces (Cho-Pat dual action knee strap), and a hamstring heavy modified pedaling technique. Wish me luck....
  • hill8570
    hill8570 Posts: 1,466 Member
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    Wives...killing fun by the application of excessive common sense since the beginning of time. Luck!
  • MarkR_2013
    MarkR_2013 Posts: 43 Member
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    Updating an old thread, so (technically) not a thread necro.
    The kids got their two wheelers, and everybody spent about an hour tooling around the neighborhood (maybe 1/2 hour actual pedaling time). I'm happy to say that the rehab + the knee braces + the modified pedaling technique mostly spared my knees.

    Needless to say, the Davis DC is still not in my future.

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