Knee Injury?

[AnnaHrgetic]

Hey guys!
I'm new at fencing so I don't know which injuries are mild and which ones are severe. Here's how my knew started hurting.

Yesterday at my training session, after my last match my knee started hurting. I thought it was because I did a bad lunge (knee passed ankle) so I stretched my legs, went home and put some ice on it. The thing is that today it still hurts. It only hurts on the lateral side of my knee; when it's completely extended, when I put weight only on that leg or when I do lateral or medial rotation with the injured knee. I can walk normally but it hurts so I'm limping.

I haven't drink any pills, but I read on some fencing pages that an Ibuprofen might help, so I'll buy some on my way to college.

I don't know what to do because I'm kind of hypochondriac and I don't want to go to the hospital if it's something mild but on the other hand, I don't want it to get worse than how it is now.

Thanks for your help!

[prototoast]

I am not a doctor, I am not qualified to give medical advice, and I am not liable for anything bad that happens as a result of you following my advice.

How bad is the pain? On a scale of 1-10 (1 being no pain, 10 being giving birth to a child while on fire), if you are a 3 or less, I would just ignore it. If you're 4-6, I would take a few days off, icing it is a good idea. If you're a 6 or more, go see a doctor..

[epeelion]

PM me if you're concerned, but I would definitely give it a few days. Any swelling? Any pain when the knee is bent? Any pain when you don't have any weight on it? And yes, how bad is the pain? Also, does it hurt only on the side of the knee, or above/below the knee as well?

And can you remember exactly when it started hurting? Was it after the match in general? Did you do some other movement earlier in practice too?

[Allen Evans]

EL: Be careful about what can of worms you're opening here. Because, you know, I have this sore foot....

[epeelion]

Point taken. I've answered injury questions before though. The end result is always "this is how serious this might be, go see someone to make sure."

[Nick]

I used to be a fencer like you, then I took an arrow in the knee.

[Purple Fencer]

I used to be a fencer like you, then I took an arrow in the knee.

It took 12 hours for that joke to appear?? Slackers...

[dharmaqueen]

Please see a physician.
Getting medical advice online is a poor substitute for someone actually examining your joint.
I tore my medial meniscus over lunging resulting in further injury to the knee when I went out that night dancing. After icing and ibuprofen I felt ok, not realizing the was more damage to be had. I took the advice of my college teammates and not a physician so I have an effed up knee to show for it.
As a physician now, I would rather get an after hours call to ask me what should be done about my knee and who should i see , than have someone hobble in 3weeks after the injury.
Please people, stop posting about the injuries and ask a professional.
Though posting pics of bloody hands, wicked bruises and broken blades sticking out of limbs is still cool, as long as you don't ask people what to do about said injury.

[Nick]

It took 12 hours for that joke to appear?? Slackers...

Yeah. I wasn't sure if I should have said "arrow" or "épée"

I hope I made the right choice there.

eta I made the wrong choice by making that dumb Skyrim joke in the first place

[jkormann]

Yeah. I wasn't sure if I should have said "arrow" or "épée"

I hope I made the right choice there.

eta I made the wrong choice by making that dumb Skyrim joke in the first place

Fleche would have worked too.

[foil-luver]

I know I'm a little young to be giving any advice (I'm14), but unfortunately I have a lot of experience with knee injuries. A torn patellar tendon at 11, a broken patella at 12, and a torn meniscus and torn MCL at 13......If I can ride out the next 6 months without another injury to my left knee then I may be able to break this cycle. Anyway, if I've learned anything over the past 3 years, it's that it's better to be safe than sorry. If you get it looked at now and nothing's wrong then great, if you wait and something is wrong it will get a lot worse. Knee injuries are very...well....hmmmm.....finicky? I'm not sure if that's the right word. But I do know that the faster you get it treated, the less likely you are to have problems later.

[EldRick]

A) See a Doctor,
B) Ice it to reduce the swelling until A)

[jeff]

What EldRick and others have said. Unless the pain goes away all by itself, and very soon. It might be a minor sprain which will go away, or it might not. Also - if it's not clear - don't fence on it until you are pain free or have doctor's okay.

[Nick]

Fleche would have worked too.

Awesome.

[ClassicalSports]

I just started fencing about 6 months ago, going from a fair amount of inactivity to running/fencing. I had some serious pain in the knee so I went to get it checked out, nothing wrong but they sent me to physical therapy. Best thing I could have done for my fencing. My retreats are stronger, my lunges deeper, amazing! Go to the doctor if for no other reason to get physical therapy. As long as you have insurance it will be the cheapest personal training you will ever get!

[Redblade]

I am not a Webmaster, I am not qualified to give posting advice, and I am not liable for anything bad that happens as a result of you following my advice.

If your physical ailment has attracted only a small response from the message board, rest should be enough. On a scale of 1-10, if it's gotten a dozen full paragraphs or so, talk it over with your friends offline. But if the thread has generated a lot of feedback and it just won't go away, you should probably post the topic on a more professionally run site.