knee injury help!!

[shantelikes 2 fence]

hello

question is any advice for fast knee injury recovery. I actually hurt my knee by ducking all the way down really fast while I was fencing. I have done RICE(rest ice etc..) for a couple days and I have begun stretching it now. My question is any fast recovery options b/c I am competing in a tournament on sunday. I fence epee so bouncing and pushing off back leg was not possible the first week but I just started doing it today(2nd week). I am going to compete but any last minute things I can do before the tornament to speed up recovery?(I do move a lot for an epee person)

thankya

[D'Art]

Short answer = no.

Long answer = Have you had it checked out by a profession, who will know better than us what to do? If so, what did they say? If not, why not?

[Allen Evans]

Medical advice on a fencing forum is cheaper, and hey, how wrong could it be?

[D'Art]

Mine always seems to be wrong. No-one has ever gone for my one-stop cures all solution of decapitation.

[catwood1]

See a doctor. Do you want a random doctor who is most likely not particularly well trained or certified giving you fencing advice? Probably not. Don't ask the random not particularly well trained fencing coach for medical advice...

See a doctor.

[hulaz]

To quote my doctor: "Nothing is worse than an athlete with a deadline. It is impossible for them to understand reasonable arguments".
So I could advice you to go see a doctor, drop the tournament and make a full recovery, because you are hopefully going to fence many years still. But it would be a waste of my time. (But you should, still ...)

Anyway, a physio-dude told me to supplement my training with treatment-with-some-sort-of-warm-bag last time I had to speed up my recovery after an injury. But he also told me to visualize the injury disappearing, so I don't know whether to trust him... But it actually helped against the pain. (The warm-part, not the visualization!)

My central advice, though? Think a lot about which competitions are worth risking to injure yourself even more for. Fair if it is your last chance for a place at the Olympics. But choose wisely.

[purplejackelope]

If you're already back fencing, it probably isn't anything too serious. Rest as much as you can, and know that pushing yourself too hard WILL re-injure the knee. Try to keep your hamstring and quad muscles loose by stretching them, and don't do a stretch that aggravates the knee. Strengthening your lower quad woulnt be a bad idea, becase it can help stabilize the knee. I'm not a doctor, I'm just speaking from personal experience.

[purplejackelope]

The "probably" saves this from being dead wrong. Now it's just ... well ... potentially very wrong.

If he tore something, he wouldn't be fencing. Don't be trollin.

[egillette]

If he tore something, he wouldn't be fencing. Don't be trollin.

Actually, I fenced for a season with 4 torn ligaments in my ankle. Yep, count 'em, 4. There was no connective tissue between my fibia and my foot. It hurt like hell, but it goes to show that you can never assume you know someone's pain tolerance/stubbornness/stupidity. After the final event of the season, I finally went to the doctor. He looked at my MRIs and asked "how the hell are you walking?!"

So OP, the moral of this story: listen to all the good advice you're getting here on the internet (!), and go see a doctor. And do what (s)he tells you to do, even if it means missing an event.

[epeelion]

You could also see a physical therapist. Just had to throw my 2 cents in.

See a medical professional.

[gladius]

Actually, I fenced for a season with 4 torn ligaments in my ankle...

... and Aldo Montano had today a successful surgery http://www.federscherma.it/news.asp?i=93092&s=7 at his peroneal tendon which had plagued him for several months. He won two weeks ago the world championship! But he has the full medical staff of the Italian federation looking after him. He hardly trained ahead of the championship. The prognosis is for Aldo to be back on the strip in February.

See a medical professional.

... very wise words!

[Sinestra]

Do you enjoy fencing? Would you like to continue fencing for the foreseeable future?
Then you need to see a doctor. Don't take any chances. ESPECIALLY not with your knees.

[K O'N]

If he tore something, he wouldn't be fencing. Don't be trollin.

I fenced for two years with a torn meniscus, injured in exactly the action the OP describes. Which is not a diagnosis of her injury, by the way. I agree with the 'go see a doctor' chorus. But the fact that you're back on strip is not evidence that nothing's wrong.

K O'N

[TBean]

Unless this competition is going to qualify you for the Olympics ...don't compete - not worth it. Go see a doctor.

[hulaz]

If he tore something, he wouldn't be fencing. Don't be trollin.

I'm not trolling. Come on. I fenced one week after tearing a ligament completely, it is a matter of enough will power, stupidity and pain killers. I also stopped training one more week later to have a scan and later surgery. I also deleted the post very shortly after writing in, because I came to think that it could have been said in a better way, and that it probably wasn't that important anyway, just very bad advice which my experience contradicts. But unfortunately you answered in the meantime, sorry about that, but I'm not trolling.

[rudd]

You could also see a physical therapist. Just had to throw my 2 cents in.

See a medical professional.

The average family doctor knows nothing about sports injuries. If your insurance covers it go directly to a PT.

[K O'N]

You could also see a physical therapist. Just had to throw my 2 cents in.

See a medical professional.

Can a physical therapist arrange an MRI? I'm not being snarky, I honestly don't know. My doctor had no idea how to diagnose my knee, but at least he could get someone to take a picture.

K O'N

[rudd]

Can a physical therapist arrange an MRI? I'm not being snarky, I honestly don't know. My doctor had no idea how to diagnose my knee, but at least he could get someone to take a picture.

K O'N

It depends but usually then can or often the work with a doctor who can. A good PT can tell a lot about an injury without an MRI.

[ClassicalSports]

Even though it is probably best not to trust your own judgement on the state of the injury I won't slam you for doing so.

Instead I have this suggestion. While IcyHot is great for dulling some pain it does little else. Instead go to your nearest shop that carries stuff for horses and look for liniment. This is really strong stuff and I don't know many riders that haven't used it on themselves. This will actually cut down on swelling so that the muscles can be in proper places to prevent further injuries. Yeah it cuts down on some pain so be careful because you could cause way more injury to it this way if you apply it right before you fence. But great topical solution.

[epeelion]

A good PT can tell a lot about an injury without an MRI.

This. MRIs and X-rays are greatly overutilized and often waste money. Initial history, screening, and physical exam are often more important. A negative X-ray does not necessarily mean no injury. MRIs are better, but as I said, much better to get thoroughly checked out physically. Honestly, imaging shouldn't be done unless one suspects that the results might change the course of treatment.