Ouch!! Got any ideas?

[DaveBD]

Hey, anybody have any information on recovering from injuries? I severly dislocated my right knee 7/24/03, playing Lacrosse. How long does this take to heal? How can I strengthen this to get back to fencing? HELP!

[MyraTrue]

ouch!! I sympathize, knee pain keeps you out like nothing else. (Played rugby, partially tore my MCL's) From personal experience with dislocating joints (its usually hip with me, but not complete) is that its going to, at the minimum, take at least a month before things start to feel more like normal. I can still fence, its just very painful.

At least fencing doesn't dislocate knees as a rule.

good luck

[Talyn]

Hehehe Unless some idiot counter-attacks while you're lunging and his foil whacks your kneecap

If something like that DID happen would that completely shatter your kneecap? I know that it takes very little force to actually shatter the kneecap.

[MyraTrue]

I had someone counter into my knee with an epee as I lunged forward. ooooow!!!!!!!!

It hurt, but it was that kind of convulsive jerk kind of pain, except afterward, my knee didn't want to bed, or move, or anything else. Like when you hit your "funny bone" in your elbow hard enough. Great bruise, but it was ok otherwise.

Scarry to think it could have been shattered.

[CarlKnoch]

I would think that the answer to your question could only come from your orthopedic surgeon. If you haven't already, go to the dr and find out what it will take to get back on track. If it's like my shoulder disloc, then it will take meds, physical therapy, and time off from the sport while you're healing.

Good luck!

[jeff]

Do what Carl said! Your knees are weight bearing unstable, pivoting joints. If you don't take care of it appropriately you could be facing more than just a short break from athletics. Go to qualified medical help to get good advice!

FWIW, I tore cartilage in my right knee many years ago - a different type of injury to be sure - and stupidly continued fencing on it for months even though it hurt. Pain is nature's way of telling you to stop - and I still have problems related to the injury.

[DaveBD]

Hey, thanks for all of the help, Doc says to "go slow" he doesn't fence, so, what is "slow'? 1/2 lunge, watch for knee overextension, keep knee in-line with foot, what about footwork? I guess I'm tired of waiting while the rest of the world fences...

[neevel]

Are you seeing a sports medicine specialist to help with your rehabilitation? That would be the ideal sort of person to help you assess where you currently stand, and what you need to do to get back to competing.

-Dave

[arcon]

Nothing beats a real doctor. We can give you all the advise in the
world but theres no subsitute for the real thing.
I had to see one after a serious injury thank goodness Insurance
paid for it .

take care,
arcon

[downunder]

Originally posted by DaveBD
Hey, thanks for all of the help, Doc says to "go slow" he doesn't fence, so, what is "slow'? 1/2 lunge, watch for knee overextension, keep knee in-line with foot, what about footwork? I guess I'm tired of waiting while the rest of the world fences...

rest it, don't fence on it at all... you'll only prolong the injury, or make it worse

[Inquartata]

I did this fencing rapier in the SCA ( and to cross-reference this to the thread about fencing outside, grass was the culprit; I lunged, the toe of my lead foot stayed where it landed but the heel slid out and to the right, leaving me trying to lunge the way no joint bends ). At least I think it was a dislocation. A brief instant of blinding pain, feeling the bones pull apart then snap back together. Then it felt fine again, albeit a little unstable.

Went back to trying to fence, but it did the same thing on a normal, half-lunge, only less dramatically. So I quit.

Within minutes it was swelled to three times its normal size and all but impossible to bend. Had to walk using an axe as a cane for the next three days. RICE. Aspirin and alcohol, ace bandage, nothing more.

The swelling soon started to go down, and it stopped wanting to come apart, but it was about six weeks until the full range of motion was back. I started fencing ( sabre ) gingerly and with a brace after about three weeks' layoff---it was all I could endure.

I had no medical insurace at the time, and since it healed after a fashion I used nothing more than RICE, aspirin, heat and glucosamine-chondroitin. Still wear a brace fencing, and even so it sometimes gives me little mini-replays of its initial injury...like when I half-stepped off one of those raised aluminum strips at Nationals. But it hasn't swelled up or stiffened after any of these.

Moral: if you don't want aching whenever you walk too far or fence too incautiously, if you like being able to squat, etc, see a qualified orthopedist and/or sports-medicine specialist. Maybe they can help you avoid my road.

[veeco]

I don't know the exact medical meaning of 'dislocation' but I had something that sounds kind of like it, although pretty mild. It happened to me while walking out of bed, of all times

Basically when I woke up, I put my foot down on the floor, and when I rose up, I felt that I shouldn't put any weight on my knee or my leg would collapse. It was painful everytime I took a step. I guess what happened is that the femur went slightly out of alignment with my knee, and therefore wasn't resting in the socket, on top of the meniscus correctly.

What I did is went to a stair, and put my foot with my "good" leg on it, while letting my "bad" foot hang in the air on the other side. I completely relaxed my "bad" leg and then started moving it from the hip left and right, forward and backwards, wiggling it until the femur popped back in place. It took a couple of minutes, but then I was happily walking, running and swimming. I even went for a long hike in the afternoon. Since then I haven't had any problem.

Of course, if you see swelling or something worse, you should see a doctor though. However in my case it seemed pretty mild and I was able to take care of it on the spot, while on vacation so it saved me a lot of trouble.

[2Sirius]

Originally posted by DaveBD
Hey, thanks for all of the help, Doc says to "go slow" he doesn't fence, so, what is "slow'?

What kind of doctor did you see? Was he an orthopedic specialist? The knee is a very complex joint, and goes through lots more ranges of motion than just bending -- think twisting, sliding, and rolling, and that's just when you walk around the room. The bone parts of the knee are very unstable (sort of like two pool balls on a saucer) and have to be held together with several important ligaments, two cartilage cups, tendons from the muscles, etc. If any of these supportive structures are severely injured, it can end your athletic career -- especially if you don't take care of the injury correctly. Certain simple tests can help the orthopedist determine which, if any, supporting structures were injured. These can be confirmed with CT, and/or MRI of the joint. Once the injury is properly diagnosed, it can be treated correctly to prevent long-term disabilities such as arthritis from ending your athletic endeavors.

Many GP's (General Practitioners) don't have the experience or skill necessary to properly diagnose or treat severe knee injuries. If you follow the wrong advice, the damage can become much worse due to abnormal wear and tear on the joint. Go see an orthopedist!

[pkt]

If you can afford to, go see a Chinese "fell and beaten" = "tid-da" in Cantonese, practitioner. All those Chinese people involved in gung-fu depend on these practitioners to recover.

They have a totally 'alien' concept to Western medicine.

Instead of letting Nature take her course then work on the break, Chinese med believe in help out Mother Nature: Put meds on the whereever and set it while it's still broken. Then maniputlate it while it's still healing. I know that hurts a lot, but the broken bits heal 100%.

It's pain now or pain in the future.

PK